Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2020

51-4041 Machinists

Set up and operate a variety of machine tools to produce precision parts and instruments out of metal. Includes precision instrument makers who fabricate, modify, or repair mechanical instruments. May also fabricate and modify parts to make or repair machine tools or maintain industrial machines, applying knowledge of mechanics, mathematics, metal properties, layout, and machining procedures. Machinists who primarily program or operate computer numerically controlled (CNC) equipment are classified in "Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Operators and Programmers" (51-9160).

National estimates for Machinists
Industry profile for Machinists
Geographic profile for Machinists

National estimates for Machinists:

Employment estimate and mean wage estimates for Machinists:

Employment (1)	Employment RSE (3)	Mean hourly wage	Mean annual wage (2)	Wage RSE (3)
360,340	1.2 %	$ 22.98	$ 47,800	0.4 %

Percentile wage estimates for Machinists:

Percentile	10%	25%	50% (Median)	75%	90%
Hourly Wage	$ 14.06	$ 17.26	$ 22.04	$ 27.85	$ 33.20
Annual Wage (2)	$ 29,240	$ 35,900	$ 45,840	$ 57,930	$ 69,050

Industry profile for Machinists:

Industries with the highest published employment and wages for Machinists are provided. For a list of all industries with employment in Machinists, see the Create Customized Tables function.

Industries with the highest levels of employment in Machinists:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Machine Shops; Turned Product; and Screw, Nut, and Bolt Manufacturing	92,070	26.84	$ 21.97	$ 45,690
Machinery Manufacturing (3331, 3332, 3334, and 3339 only)	35,200	4.89	$ 22.66	$ 47,140
Metalworking Machinery Manufacturing	24,190	14.49	$ 22.32	$ 46,420
Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing (3321, 3322, 3325, 3326, and 3329 only)	22,820	5.05	$ 22.06	$ 45,880
Employment Services	21,350	0.67	$ 19.56	$ 40,680

Industries with the highest concentration of employment in Machinists:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Machine Shops; Turned Product; and Screw, Nut, and Bolt Manufacturing	92,070	26.84	$ 21.97	$ 45,690
Metalworking Machinery Manufacturing	24,190	14.49	$ 22.32	$ 46,420
Engine, Turbine, and Power Transmission Equipment Manufacturing	8,590	9.34	$ 22.63	$ 47,070
Other Transportation Equipment Manufacturing	1,990	6.18	$ 24.75	$ 51,480
Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing (3321, 3322, 3325, 3326, and 3329 only)	22,820	5.05	$ 22.06	$ 45,880

Top paying industries for Machinists:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Natural Gas Distribution	40	0.04	$ 46.38	$ 96,470
Scheduled Air Transportation	380	0.09	$ 42.94	$ 89,320
Local Government, excluding schools and hospitals (OEWS Designation)	1,030	0.02	$ 40.76	$ 84,780
Electric Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution	440	0.11	$ 38.03	$ 79,100
Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing	1,230	1.13	$ 33.74	$ 70,180

Geographic profile for Machinists:

States and areas with the highest published employment, location quotients, and wages for Machinists are provided. For a list of all areas with employment in Machinists, see the Create Customized Tables function.

States with the highest employment level in Machinists:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
California	34,730	2.11	0.82	$ 23.99	$ 49,900
Illinois	28,680	5.10	1.97	$ 21.81	$ 45,370
Texas	26,040	2.15	0.83	$ 23.35	$ 48,570
Ohio	23,740	4.62	1.78	$ 21.79	$ 45,330
Michigan	22,920	5.84	2.25	$ 21.95	$ 45,650

States with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in Machinists:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Indiana	18,450	6.32	2.44	$ 22.31	$ 46,400
South Carolina	11,870	5.89	2.27	$ 19.38	$ 40,320
Michigan	22,920	5.84	2.25	$ 21.95	$ 45,650
Connecticut	8,950	5.81	2.24	$ 25.32	$ 52,660
Illinois	28,680	5.10	1.97	$ 21.81	$ 45,370

Top paying states for Machinists:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Alaska	160	0.52	0.20	$ 30.90	$ 64,270
Maryland	2,210	0.88	0.34	$ 28.04	$ 58,320
Delaware	320	0.75	0.29	$ 27.81	$ 57,850
Massachusetts	8,480	2.53	0.98	$ 27.55	$ 57,300
Wyoming	490	1.88	0.72	$ 27.10	$ 56,370

Metropolitan areas with the highest employment level in Machinists:

Metropolitan area	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI	19,650	4.50	1.74	$ 21.90	$ 45,550
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	15,220	2.61	1.01	$ 22.95	$ 47,740
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX	9,670	3.26	1.26	$ 24.78	$ 51,530
Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI	9,390	5.28	2.04	$ 23.12	$ 48,090
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	7,660	4.14	1.60	$ 25.94	$ 53,950
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA	6,620	0.75	0.29	$ 25.38	$ 52,800
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	6,150	1.72	0.66	$ 22.17	$ 46,110
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	5,580	2.85	1.10	$ 28.36	$ 58,990
Cleveland-Elyria, OH	5,550	5.65	2.18	$ 20.93	$ 43,530
Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN	5,230	5.09	1.96	$ 24.57	$ 51,110

Metropolitan areas with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in Machinists:

Metropolitan area	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Rockford, IL	2,630	19.56	7.55	$ 21.34	$ 44,380
Jackson, MI	900	19.42	7.50	$ 19.78	$ 41,140
Columbus, IN	810	17.31	6.68	$ 19.95	$ 41,500
Monroe, MI	470	13.42	5.18	$ 29.57	$ 61,500
Muskegon, MI	670	12.33	4.76	$ 18.79	$ 39,090
Sumter, SC	440	12.30	4.75	$ 18.38	$ 38,220
Elmira, NY	360	11.35	4.38	$ 22.08	$ 45,920
Carson City, NV	320	11.22	4.33	$ 19.37	$ 40,280
Greenville-Anderson-Mauldin, SC	4,340	11.10	4.28	$ 20.34	$ 42,300
Morristown, TN	470	10.80	4.17	$ 20.16	$ 41,940