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The differences between ship fitters and combination welders can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a ship fitter and a combination welder. Additionally, a combination welder has an average salary of $45,432, which is higher than the $45,247 average annual salary of a ship fitter.
The top three skills for a ship fitter include hand tools, tack-weld and tack welding. The most important skills for a combination welder are arc welding, tack, and minor maintenance.
| Ship Fitter | Combination Welder | |
| Yearly salary | $45,247 | $45,432 |
| Hourly rate | $21.75 | $21.84 |
| Growth rate | 2% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 9,742 | 7,117 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 40% | High School Diploma, 36% |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
Ship fitters are civilian or enlisted people who work on materials like high yield strength steel and high-tensile steel. These people fabricate, assemble, and build structural parts of ships. They are the ones who coordinate a fixed tank working on ships and submarines, as well as the sonar dome work. They serve as part of a team composing shipbuilders. It is their duty to lead and assist in welding copper, PVC, flange piping, and steel. They should also refurbish the older rigs with advanced technologies.
Combination welders are the ones who prepare the welding materials to weld together metal components and maintain their equipment, such as a welding torch, grinder, or thermal cutters. They should know the various processes like oxy-fuel welding, arc welding, etc., to weld various metal components. Before starting their torches, they position the metals to stay in place using clamps. These welders work to fabricate or repair cracks, holes or increase the size of metal products like machine parts, plant equipment, automobiles, etc.
Ship fitters and combination welders have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Ship Fitter | Combination Welder | |
| Average salary | $45,247 | $45,432 |
| Salary range | Between $31,000 And $64,000 | Between $32,000 And $62,000 |
| Highest paying City | Mount Laurel, NJ | Bremerton, WA |
| Highest paying state | New Jersey | Wyoming |
| Best paying company | BWX Technologies | Maxum Enterprises, LLC |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Construction |
There are a few differences between a ship fitter and a combination welder in terms of educational background:
| Ship Fitter | Combination Welder | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 40% | High School Diploma, 36% |
| Most common major | Business | Precision Metal Working |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between ship fitters' and combination welders' demographics:
| Ship Fitter | Combination Welder | |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 87.7% Female, 12.3% | Male, 96.7% Female, 3.3% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.4% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 17.7% Asian, 2.7% White, 63.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.6% | Black or African American, 9.8% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 24.3% Asian, 2.6% White, 57.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.6% |
| LGBT Percentage | 3% | 3% |