• Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics

Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2023

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).

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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)
290,720	1.0 %	$ 26.25	$ 54,600	0.2 %

Percentile wage estimates for Machinists:

Percentile	10%	25%	50% (Median)	75%	90%
Hourly Wage	$ 17.64	$ 21.00	$ 24.44	$ 30.22	$ 36.45
Annual Wage (2)	$ 36,690	$ 43,680	$ 50,840	$ 62,860	$ 75,820

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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	74,570	21.90	$ 24.89	$ 51,770
Machinery Manufacturing (3331, 3332, 3334, and 3339 only)	27,450	3.53	$ 25.31	$ 52,650
Metalworking Machinery Manufacturing	20,630	12.71	$ 25.05	$ 52,100
Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing (3321, 3322, 3325, 3326, and 3329 only)	18,840	4.01	$ 24.45	$ 50,860
Aerospace Product and Parts Manufacturing	15,010	2.95	$ 30.36	$ 63,140

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	74,570	21.90	$ 24.89	$ 51,770
Metalworking Machinery Manufacturing	20,630	12.71	$ 25.05	$ 52,100
Engine, Turbine, and Power Transmission Equipment Manufacturing	7,380	7.99	$ 26.89	$ 55,920
Railroad Rolling Stock Manufacturing	1,360	6.38	$ 26.53	$ 55,170
Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing (3321, 3322, 3325, 3326, and 3329 only)	18,840	4.01	$ 24.45	$ 50,860

Top paying industries for Machinists:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Electric Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution	300	0.08	$ 52.88	$ 109,990
Scheduled Air Transportation	80	0.02	$ 50.10	$ 104,210
Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing	1,150	1.06	$ 49.31	$ 102,560
Local Government, excluding Schools and Hospitals (OEWS Designation)	880	0.02	$ 46.13	$ 95,950
Natural Gas Distribution	(8)	(8)	$ 39.51	$ 82,180

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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)
Michigan	23,720	5.46	2.85	$ 24.24	$ 50,420
California	20,500	1.14	0.60	$ 28.98	$ 60,280
Texas	18,990	1.40	0.73	$ 26.41	$ 54,930
Illinois	17,210	2.86	1.50	$ 25.59	$ 53,220
Indiana	16,450	5.21	2.72	$ 24.86	$ 51,700

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)
Michigan	23,720	5.46	2.85	$ 24.24	$ 50,420
Indiana	16,450	5.21	2.72	$ 24.86	$ 51,700
Connecticut	6,850	4.13	2.15	$ 28.98	$ 60,290
Minnesota	11,720	4.07	2.12	$ 27.99	$ 58,220
Wisconsin	10,590	3.67	1.92	$ 23.74	$ 49,380

Top paying states for Machinists:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
District of Columbia	300	0.43	0.22	$ 37.54	$ 78,090
Hawaii	260	0.42	0.22	$ 36.35	$ 75,600
Washington	7,020	2.01	1.05	$ 31.64	$ 65,800
Alaska	180	0.59	0.31	$ 31.32	$ 65,150
Wyoming	380	1.37	0.72	$ 30.78	$ 64,020

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	11,230	2.49	1.30	$ 26.18	$ 54,460
Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI	10,080	5.30	2.77	$ 25.53	$ 53,110
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	8,110	1.31	0.68	$ 27.31	$ 56,810
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	7,850	4.11	2.15	$ 28.76	$ 59,820
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX	6,530	2.05	1.07	$ 27.24	$ 56,650
Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH	5,390	1.95	1.02	$ 30.24	$ 62,900
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA	4,720	0.50	0.26	$ 28.89	$ 60,100
Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC	4,160	5.64	2.94	$ 29.12	$ 60,570
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	4,150	1.99	1.04	$ 33.85	$ 70,410
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	4,110	1.04	0.54	$ 26.63	$ 55,390

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)
Columbus, IN	1,010	19.84	10.36	$ 23.49	$ 48,860
Rockford, IL	1,730	12.43	6.49	$ 24.21	$ 50,350
Sheboygan, WI	640	10.68	5.58	$ 23.38	$ 48,620
Jackson, MI	580	10.15	5.30	$ 22.75	$ 47,320
Niles-Benton Harbor, MI	580	9.88	5.16	$ 21.80	$ 45,340
Muskegon, MI	590	9.50	4.96	$ 22.06	$ 45,890
Saginaw, MI	610	7.77	4.06	$ 23.19	$ 48,240
Bloomington, IN	550	7.54	3.94	$ 25.15	$ 52,310
Fort Wayne, IN	1,620	7.34	3.84	$ 24.60	$ 51,160
Lewiston, ID-WA	200	7.00	3.65	$ 27.98	$ 58,190