Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers in Oklahoma
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$40,393
after federal, FICA and Oklahoma tax
Tax takes
$9,327
18.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$45,753
Oklahoma costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Oklahoma — 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
$49,720
Kept after tax
$40,393
Worth in national money
$45,753
State rank
44
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Oklahoma. The middle earner gets $49,720. That is 44 of 51 states, and about 7.5% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 258 among 492 occupations Oklahoma publishes pay for.
- Oklahoma is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $49,720 the take-home is $40,393; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $45,753 would nationally. The average comes to $52,860, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers, Oklahoma sits in the lower band at $49,720, ranking 44 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 7.5%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Position 258 of 492 in Oklahoma 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.
- Post-tax income for welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers in Oklahoma, on $49,720, is $40,393 — equivalent to $45,753 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $52,860 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 | $37,860 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $49,720 |
| Top tenth earn over | $70,640 |
| This salary | $49,720 |
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 Oklahoma | $40,393 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $42,130 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,398 |
The raise and the real gain point in opposite directions here.
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 | $47,558 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,900 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers in Oklahoma earn under $49,720 and half over. The published range runs $37,860 at the tenth percentile to $70,640 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $40,393 take-home in Oklahoma comes from $49,720. 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 258 of 492.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $45,753 uses one figure for the whole of Oklahoma. 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 258.
- Figures are distribution medians for welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers in Oklahoma, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $37,860 to $70,640; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Retained pay of $40,393, from $49,720, assumes a single Oklahoma 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 258 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 44 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $45,753, worked from $49,720, 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 Oklahoma address, on work sitting at 258 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $52,860, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $37,860 and the top tenth $70,640, so most people doing this work in Oklahoma sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Oklahoma is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $45,753 in national terms.
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; Oklahoma then takes its own share, leaving $40,393.
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 Oklahoma is $52,860. 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 ($37,860 to $70,640) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Oklahoma rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Oklahoma's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $45,753 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $40,393 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Oklahoma 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.