Welder / Fabricator
Joins and shapes metal to specification, from structural steel to pressure vessels. Certifications gate the higher-paid work.
- Pay band (est.)
- $48k–$95k
- Time to competence
- 3 years
- Licence
- None
- Setting
- site
- Leverage
- low
- Place constraint
- medium
- Physical demand
- 80/100
- Hours burden
- 60/100
Factor percentiles
Percentile against the whole curated set. Higher is better on that factor only.
- Play19th
Absorbing rather than merely paid.
- Specific knowledge8th
A combination of skills that is hard to copy.
- Leverage14th
Output that scales through code, media, capital or crew.
- Demand57th
Durability and shortage, scored conservatively.
- Pay28th
Mid-career floor and the range above it.
- Body16th
Inverse of physical demand and hours.
- Autonomy6th
Control of methods and time.
- People fit24th
Distance from your preferred people level.
- Place flexibility19th
Remote fit and freedom from specific metros.
- Time to skill91th
Inverse of years to competence.
- Meaning load57th
Care, craft and stewardship weight. Not a moral score.
- Downside tolerance1th
Inverse of named risk to body, market or platform.
Downside
Fumes, burns, eyes; pay depends on travel to industrial work.
Examine this against your weights
The percentiles above use the default weights. Set your own on the ranking and this vocation moves with them.
- Place constraint is medium. Where you live is analysed at locationistics.com.
- Hours burden is 60/100 and people intensity 25/100. Who you are with is analysed at relationistics.com.
Source note: BLS-style outlook and wage patterns; estimate. All figures are estimates for comparison.