Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers in California
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$47,155
after federal, FICA and California tax
Tax takes
$10,905
18.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$41,885
California costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in California — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$58,060
Kept after tax
$47,155
Worth in national money
$41,885
State rank
24
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- California sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $58,060, ranking 24 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 313 among 492 occupations California publishes pay for.
- California is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $58,060 the take-home is $47,155; in national-average money that behaves like $41,885. The average comes to $61,120, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- California occupies the middle band for welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers: a median of $58,060, ranking 24 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Position 313 of 492 in California places welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Take-home for welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers in California, on $58,060, is $47,155; deflated by the state's price level, $41,885. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $61,120 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $44,520 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $58,060 |
| Top tenth earn over | $81,940 |
| This salary | $58,060 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in California | $47,155 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $48,831 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$8,365 |
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $55,974 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$10,117 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 113 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $58,060 as a midpoint for California, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $44,520 and the ninetieth is $81,940 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $47,155 take-home in California comes from $58,060. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 313 of 492.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $41,885 uses one figure for the whole of California. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 492 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 313.
- The California median of $58,060 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $44,520 to $81,940. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $47,155, from $58,060, assumes a single California filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 313 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 24 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $41,885, worked from $58,060, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular California address, on work sitting at 313 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $61,120, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $44,520 at the tenth percentile, $81,940 at the ninetieth.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. California costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $41,885 rather than its face figure.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; California then takes its own share, leaving $47,155.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in California is $61,120. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($44,520 to $81,940) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to California rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
California's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $41,885 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $47,155 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and California income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.