Machinists salary

SOC 51-4041 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$58,750

per year, nationally

Middle half

$47,570–$67,700

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

287,050

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

0.0%

29,500 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$39,200$80,010

10th: $39,200
25th: $47,570
Median: $58,750
75th: $67,700
90th: $80,010

Getting in

Typical education to enter: High school diploma or equivalent
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: Long-term on-the-job training

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where machinists earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Hawaii	$84,410	110.0	260	0.22×
2	Alaska	$77,670	102.4	120	0.20×
3	District of Columbia	$72,900	109.9	160	0.12×
4	Massachusetts	$67,270	105.8	7,080	1.05×
5	Washington	$66,160	107.0	6,880	1.05×
6	Oregon	$63,820	103.4	2,760	0.76×
7	New Jersey	$63,190	108.8	3,210	0.41×
8	Wyoming	$63,070	92.7	290	0.55×
9	Vermont	$62,680	98.0	220	0.40×
10	Delaware	$62,650	99.8	310	0.34×
11	Connecticut	$62,130	103.6	5,240	1.67×
12	North Dakota	$61,820	89.0	560	0.71×
13	New Hampshire	$61,500	104.2	1,620	1.29×
14	Virginia	$61,290	101.1	5,660	0.75×
15	Utah	$61,280	98.9	3,810	1.19×
16	Minnesota	$61,140	98.6	12,500	2.29×
17	Louisiana	$61,110	88.2	4,640	1.30×
18	Arizona	$61,080	100.7	4,330	0.72×
19	New York	$60,920	107.9	9,400	0.53×
20	Montana	$60,920	94.6	630	0.67×
21	Colorado	$60,200	103.1	2,800	0.53×
22	Maryland	$59,810	105.0	1,380	0.27×
23	New Mexico	$59,440	92.2	690	0.43×
24	Texas	$59,180	97.1	21,700	0.84×
25	Maine	$59,160	97.0	1,780	1.50×
26	Wisconsin	$59,110	94.1	12,700	2.34×
27	Idaho	$58,810	95.5	1,070	0.68×
28	Missouri	$58,710	90.8	8,380	1.55×
29	Kentucky	$58,660	90.2	6,040	1.64×
30	Illinois	$58,520	100.0	16,520	1.47×
31	South Carolina	$57,970	93.7	3,790	0.89×
32	Ohio	$57,940	92.8	17,110	1.67×
33	Pennsylvania	$57,810	97.6	12,380	1.11×
34	Indiana	$57,800	93.3	14,320	2.42×
35	Rhode Island	$57,760	102.3	860	0.93×
36	Iowa	$57,540	87.8	2,880	1.00×
37	California	$57,190	110.7	18,950	0.56×
38	Florida	$57,140	103.4	8,400	0.46×
39	Nebraska	$55,860	90.1	1,810	0.96×
40	Alabama	$55,560	88.8	5,170	1.33×
41	Mississippi	$55,550	87.0	1,920	0.89×
42	North Carolina	$55,230	94.3	8,330	0.91×
43	Nevada	$53,050	100.0	900	0.31×
44	Georgia	$52,610	96.3	6,090	0.68×
45	Michigan	$52,360	96.2	20,350	2.50×
46	Kansas	$51,220	90.1	3,870	1.46×
47	Arkansas	$51,140	86.9	2,150	0.89×
48	Oklahoma	$51,120	87.8	4,230	1.34×
49	South Dakota	$50,890	88.6	830	0.98×
50	Tennessee	$49,600	91.9	8,270	1.37×
51	West Virginia	$47,350	89.5	1,700	1.31×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where machinists wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for machinists

The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Urban Honolulu, HI	$84,410	111.0	250	0.30×
2	Florence-Muscle Shoals, AL	$82,690	84.8	160	1.59×
3	Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA	$80,620	105.6	370	2.11×
4	Barnstable Town, MA	$77,650	98.4	30	0.20×
5	Lake Charles, LA	$75,580	85.9	280	1.51×
6	Anchorage, AK	$75,040	105.4	50	0.16×
7	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$74,560	111.1	4,250	1.10×
8	Bismarck, ND	$74,090	91.0	70	0.55×
9	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$72,060	108.3	4,870	0.98×
10	Flagstaff, AZ	$71,620	100.3	50	0.40×
11	Corpus Christi, TX	$71,590	92.7	300	0.85×
12	Albany, OR	$71,300	102.1	190	2.16×
13	Trenton-Princeton, NJ	$71,290	103.2	120	0.27×
14	Duluth, MN-WI	$69,440	88.8	330	1.43×
15	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$68,850	108.9	620	0.11×
16	Kennewick-Richland, WA	$68,060	100.1	120	0.52×
17	Warner Robins, GA	$68,060	93.8	110	0.78×
18	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$67,750	115.6	1,610	0.37×
19	Baton Rouge, LA	$67,700	90.8	870	1.15×
20	Grand Island, NE	$67,430	86.7	90	1.20×
21	Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC	$67,140	91.9	370	0.86×
22	New Orleans-Metairie, LA	$66,990	92.6	550	0.67×
23	Bozeman, MT	$66,500	102.5	40	0.27×
24	St. Joseph, MO-KS	$66,390	86.4	80	0.77×
25	Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA	$66,280	102.4	140	1.45×
26	Ogden, UT	$65,270	100.3	1,260	2.51×
27	Portland-South Portland, ME	$65,200	101.9	1,100	2.06×
28	Worcester, MA	$64,480	102.5	930	1.45×
29	Billings, MT	$64,420	93.5	140	0.79×
30	Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ	$64,400	98.9	30	0.10×
31	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$64,320	102.7	2,680	2.42×
32	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$64,170	105.4	2,090	0.94×
33	Boulder, CO	$63,990	105.2	240	0.67×
34	Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY	$63,970	99.6	580	0.70×
35	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$63,540	110.4	1,370	0.66×
36	Monroe, LA	$63,350	83.6	130	0.78×
37	Gulfport-Biloxi, MS	$63,330	90.0	420	1.45×
38	Longview-Kelso, WA	$63,190	97.5	140	1.84×
39	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$63,100	106.9	500	0.67×
40	Springfield, MA	$63,090	96.1	920	2.48×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where machinists wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.