Start with the answer
Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders pay in New Haven, CT and Tuscaloosa, AL
The May 2025 BLS OEWS median for Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders is $48,320 per year in New Haven, CT. It is $82,250 per year in Tuscaloosa, AL. New Haven, CT is 41.3% below Tuscaloosa, AL on the published median.
Both rows use SOC 51-4122 and the same annual wage metric. Median means the middle of each area's published wage spread. It is not one worker's pay. The larger median is not proof that one place gives a better job or a better result. It is one wage fact from one source period.
BLS lists 70 wage and salary jobs in New Haven, CT and 40 in Tuscaloosa, AL. Those are survey job counts, not open posts. Read pay, job scale, local share, and price level as separate facts before you make a choice.
