Machinist Salary (2026), outlook and how to become one

Machinists earn a median of $58,750 a year (BLS OEWS, May 2025), 15% above the $50,980 US median across all occupations. That works out at $28.24/hr. The middle half earn between $47,570 and $67,700. The top 10% earn $80,010 or more.

The median hourly wage for machinists is $28.24 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). On a full-year basis the $58,750 annual median works out to about $4,900 a month before tax.

BLS does not publish a starting salary. The nearest measure is the low end of the pay range: the lowest-paid 10% of machinists earn less than $39,200 a year and the bottom quarter less than $47,570 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). New workers often start near that end, but where a particular job starts depends on the employer, the state and the credentials you bring, so read these as the bottom of the range rather than a guaranteed entry wage.

Rarely. Even the 90th percentile is $80,010, so fewer than 10% of machinists earn $100,000 or more (BLS OEWS, May 2025). No state's median reaches $100,000; the highest is Hawaii at $84,410.

The highest state medians for Machinists are Hawaii ($84,410), Alaska ($77,670), District of Columbia ($72,900) (BLS OEWS, May 2025).

BLS does not split machinists' pay by specialty or employer, but its range shows how far the top end runs: the highest-paid 10% earn more than $80,010, against a median of $58,750 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). Location moves pay the most in the published data: the best-paying states are Hawaii ($84,410), Alaska ($77,670), District of Columbia ($72,900).

No. A bachelor's degree is not the norm: BLS reports a high school diploma or equivalent as the typical entry-level education for Machinists. BLS also lists long-term on-the-job training as typical on-the-job training. In O*NET's survey of people already doing the job, 35.9% hold high school diploma or the equivalent (such as a ged).

It is growing, but slowly: 1.0% over 2025–2035 against 3.5% for all occupations (BLS EP, 2025–2035). BLS still projects about 26,100 openings a year, mostly from workers retiring or moving to other work.

Machinists and tool and die makers set up and operate a variety of computer-controlled and mechanically controlled equipment to produce precision metal parts, instruments, and tools. A core O*NET task: calculate dimensions or tolerances, using instruments, such as micrometers or vernier calipers. Employers most often ask for Computer aided design CAD software, Computer aided manufacturing CAM software, Electronic mail software.

Yes, for most. In O*NET's survey of people in the job, 44% of machinists usually work more than 40 hours a week, 56% work exactly 40 and 0% work fewer. 95% say their schedule is regular and 5% irregular. Source: O*NET 31.0 Database, Work Context.

O*NET scores Machinists highest on the Realistic, Conventional and Investigative interest areas, so the work mixes hands-on, practical work with tools, machines or the outdoors with organising, following procedures and working precisely with data. On NueCareer's MBTI-to-interest mapping that lines up most closely with ISTJ personalities. Personality is a fit signal, not a gate. The free NueCareer quiz scores your own profile against all 1,731 careers in the bank.

No programme is required. BLS describes 2-year degree programmes and shorter certificate programmes at community and technical colleges, and employer-sponsored apprenticeships with paid on-the-job training and related technical instruction lasting several years.

Not a state license. No state licenses machinists, and NIMS credentials are national. The practical variation is in employers rather than in law: some shops use NIMS credentials as an objective basis for wage progression and for filtering new hires, and some do not use them at all. Work on defence or aerospace contracts adds separate requirements that have nothing to do with machining credentials, such as citizenship or export-control eligibility.

The NIMS credential exam and performance evaluation. Most NIMS credentials require both. The exam covers the knowledge requirements listed on the relevant job role page. The performance evaluation takes one of three forms: a Credentialing Achievement Record of skills checks observed by an evaluator, a project part machined to print and then inspected, or a performance measure of tasks observed on actual or simulated workplace activities. NIMS writes and maintains both components; registered organisations purchase credentials, assign them to candidates and designate the proctors and evaluators.

Women make up 5.8% of machinists, against 47.1% of all employed people: a heavily male-dominated occupation. 31.4% are 55 or older (23.2% across all jobs), so a larger-than-usual share of the workforce reaches retirement age over the next decade. Those exits are counted in the BLS openings figure. The median worker is 45.7 years old (all workers: 42.1). Source: BLS Current Population Survey, 2025 annual averages.