What Is an Underwater Welder's Income?
Involving flames and large metal structures, welding can be a dangerous profession. Put it underwater and it becomes more precarious still. Underwater welders repair, install and upgrade metal components in submerged structures, using specialized equipment to melt metal and fuse components together. They may work in salt or fresh water environments.
Other People Are Reading
-
Average Pay
-
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) classifies underwater welders alongside their fellow commercial divers, including those who perform underwater photographic surveys and those who rig explosives. The mean annual salary for the profession was $56,400, which translates into an hourly pay rate of $27.12. Those in the top 10 percent of earners received in excess of $89,560, while their counterparts in the bottom 10 percent earned less than $31,890. At the time of publication, the American Welding Society claimed that underwater welders could earn $100,000 a year or more.
Pay by Industry
-
The two sectors of the industry in which commercial divers such as underwater welders are most likely to work in are, according to the BLS, support activities for mining, and heavy and civil engineering construction. The annual pay rates for these sectors were given as $59,630 and $66,100, respectively. Welders working within highway, street and bridge construction earned a mean of $52,860 per year, while their counterparts employed within utility system construction — such as gas pipeline or electrical cable submersion — received a mean of $65,700. Those working within support activities for water transportation — repairing the hulls of ships, for instance — earned $43,750.
-
Pay by Location
-
The BLS listed New Jersey as the state in which commercial divers, such as underwater welders, were likely to earn the best pay rates, with an annual mean of $79,010, while its neighbour, New York State, was listed with a mean of $66,750. Between them in the list, on the opposite coast, was California with a yearly mean of $76,500. Louisiana and Texas were reported to have similar pay levels, $55,830 and $55,450, respectively, while Florida was among the states with the lowest rates, with a mean of just $44,420 a year.
Training
-
To become an underwater welder and begin earning the available salaries, an individual must become certified as both a welder and a commercial diver, according to the American Welding Society. Commercial diving training is more rigorous than certification for recreational divers, teaching specific skills, such as handling equipment and first aid, associated with commercial diving. Candidates will often learn the precise requirements of underwater welding on-the-job, but the American Welding Society does lists schools which offer courses in the trade.
-
References
Resources
- Photo Credit PhotoObjects.net/PhotoObjects.net/Getty Images
