Compared with the local labor market
Welder I pay vs. Texas
Across all employers in Texas, the median wage for Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers — about 52,000 people — is $53,340. Department of Public Safety pays a median base salary of $48,244 for this role, 10% below that figure — about the 33rd percentile of local pay for the occupation.
Where Department of Public Safety sits in the local pay range
$38,380
$45,750
$53,340
$64,770
$80,240
Department of Public Safety median · $48,244
The bar is the range of annual wages for Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers across every employer in Texas, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Department of Public Safety’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.
And across the country
Nationwide, the median wage for Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers — about 416,210 people — is $53,750. Department of Public Safety’s median base salary is 10% below that national figure, about the 30th percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.
$39,240
$46,790
$53,750
$63,010
$77,530
Department of Public Safety median · $48,244
Local and national wages differ for reasons beyond how well a job pays — cost of living, the mix of employers, and local demand for the occupation all move the Texas range relative to the national one.
Median total compensation for this role at Department of Public Safety is $48,244, which includes overtime and employer-paid benefits. The benchmark above excludes both, so total compensation is deliberately not compared against it.
Benchmark: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025). BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) covers all employers in the area — private, non-profit, and government alike — so this is a comparison against the whole local labor market for the occupation, not against private-sector pay. OEWS wages are straight-time pay and exclude overtime, shift differentials, and employer-paid benefits, so the government figure shown here is base pay on the same basis. Total compensation is not comparable to it. Job titles are matched to the closest standard occupation, so the comparison is between similar work rather than an identical job classification.
Compare departments
This role across Texas
Welder I is held in 2 Texas departments. In Department of Public Safety, the median of $48,244 ranks #2 of 2.
Highest-paying departments for this role
Median total compensation for the Welder I role in other Texasdepartments (highest first). Each bar links to that department’s page for this role.