Team Assembler Salary (2026), outlook and how to become one

Team Assemblers earn a median of $44,650 a year (BLS OEWS, May 2025), 12% below the $50,980 median for all US occupations. That works out at $21.47/hr. The middle half earn between $37,380 and $51,200. The top 10% earn $64,880 or more.

The median hourly wage for team assemblers is $21.47 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). On a full-year basis the $44,650 annual median works out to about $3,720 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 team assemblers earn less than $33,280 a year and the bottom quarter less than $37,380 (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.

The highest state medians for Team Assemblers are District of Columbia ($50,330), Hawaii ($49,630), Alaska ($49,390) (BLS OEWS, May 2025). Adjusted for local prices using BEA Regional Price Parities, Iowa moves to the top at $55,742.

BLS does not split team assemblers' pay by specialty or employer, but its range shows how far the top end runs: the highest-paid 10% earn more than $64,880, against a median of $44,650 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). Location moves pay the most in the published data: the best-paying states are District of Columbia ($50,330), Hawaii ($49,630), Alaska ($49,390).

No. A bachelor's degree is not the norm: BLS reports a high school diploma or equivalent as the typical entry-level education for Team Assemblers. BLS also lists moderate-term on-the-job training as typical on-the-job training. In O*NET's survey of people already doing the job, 81.5% hold high school diploma or the equivalent (such as a ged).

BLS does not publish a fixed length; it depends on the route. What it does publish: the typical way in for team assemblers is a high school diploma or equivalent. Once hired, BLS lists moderate-term on-the-job training as typical. O*NET classes the work as needing some preparation.

It is growing, but slowly: 1.1% over 2025–2035 against 3.5% for all occupations (BLS EP, 2025–2035). BLS still projects about 138,700 openings a year, mostly from workers retiring or moving to other work.

Assemblers and fabricators build finished products and the parts that go into them. A core O*NET task: perform quality checks on products and parts. Employers most often ask for Computer aided design CAD software, Electronic mail software, Enterprise resource planning ERP software.

Yes, for most. In O*NET's survey of people in the job, 45% of team assemblers usually work more than 40 hours a week, 55% work exactly 40 and 0% work fewer. 86% say their schedule is regular and 14% irregular. Source: O*NET 31.0 Database, Work Context.

O*NET scores Team Assemblers highest on the Realistic, Conventional and Enterprising 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 the closest types are ESTJ, ISTJ. Personality is a fit signal, not a gate. The free NueCareer quiz scores your own profile against all 1,731 careers in the bank.

Women make up 32.4% of team assemblers, against 47.1% of all employed people: more men than in the workforce as a whole. 24.3% are 55 or older, close to the 23.2% across all jobs. The median worker is 41.7 years old (all workers: 42.1). Source: BLS Current Population Survey, 2025 annual averages, for the Census group "Other assemblers and fabricators".