Tool and Die Makers salary

SOC 51-4111 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$64,050

per year, nationally

Middle half

$51,490–$78,770

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

56,930

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

-10.8%

4,700 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.

$44,680$92,680

10th: $44,680
25th: $51,490
Median: $64,050
75th: $78,770
90th: $92,680

Getting in

Typical education to enter: Postsecondary nondegree award
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 tool and die makers 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	Washington	$109,390	107.0	1,510	1.16×
2	Kansas	$83,890	90.1	660	1.25×
3	Maine	$79,910	97.0	80	0.33×
4	Connecticut	$77,540	103.6	1,880	3.03×
5	California	$77,030	110.7	1,790	0.27×
6	New Jersey	$74,460	108.8	540	0.35×
7	Oregon	$73,930	103.4	300	0.41×
8	North Dakota	$73,130	89.0	70	0.45×
9	Minnesota	$71,020	98.6	1,150	1.06×
10	New Hampshire	$69,910	104.2	250	0.99×
11	Vermont	$69,300	98.0	140	1.22×
12	Nebraska	$69,150	90.1	360	0.97×
13	Wisconsin	$68,120	94.1	2,450	2.27×
14	New York	$68,080	107.9	1,270	0.36×
15	Indiana	$68,050	93.3	4,090	3.49×
16	Massachusetts	$67,230	105.8	850	0.64×
17	Kentucky	$66,570	90.2	1,900	2.59×
18	Oklahoma	$65,870	87.8	330	0.52×
19	Michigan	$65,590	96.2	9,420	5.84×
20	South Carolina	$65,250	93.7	870	1.03×
21	Iowa	$65,000	87.8	760	1.32×
22	Alabama	$64,800	88.8	690	0.89×
23	Virginia	$64,050	101.1	390	0.26×
24	Florida	$63,890	103.4	440	0.12×
25	Colorado	$63,800	103.1	160	0.15×
26	Rhode Island	$63,430	102.3	260	1.43×
27	Ohio	$62,280	92.8	5,520	2.72×
28	Nevada	$61,350	100.0	220	0.39×
29	Illinois	$61,170	100.0	5,220	2.34×
30	Pennsylvania	$61,160	97.6	3,380	1.52×
31	North Carolina	$61,060	94.3	1,580	0.87×
32	Missouri	$60,810	90.8	1,280	1.19×
33	Tennessee	$60,760	91.9	2,930	2.44×
34	Georgia	$60,020	96.3	850	0.48×
35	South Dakota	$59,770	88.6	60	0.36×
36	Arizona	$59,140	100.7	310	0.26×
37	Maryland	$58,110	105.0	70	0.07×
38	Mississippi	$57,980	87.0	300	0.70×
39	Idaho	$57,800	95.5	50	0.15×
40	Arkansas	$56,840	86.9	290	0.61×
41	Utah	$56,740	98.9	270	0.43×
42	Texas	$55,470	97.1	1,710	0.33×
43	New Mexico	$47,960	92.2	40	0.12×
44	Louisiana	$46,950	88.2	170	0.24×
45	West Virginia	$46,190	89.5	40	0.17×

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 tool and die makers wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for tool and die makers

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	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$116,850	111.1	1,090	1.42×
2	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$97,560	115.6	130	0.15×
3	Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY	$87,240	99.6	60	0.35×
4	Kansas City, MO-KS	$85,740	92.5	450	1.12×
5	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$85,010	111.9	100	0.18×
6	Lima, OH	$84,730	89.7	70	3.61×
7	Wichita, KS	$83,890	88.9	440	3.92×
8	Lexington-Fayette, KY	$83,510	92.9	290	2.78×
9	Stockton-Lodi, CA	$82,820	105.1	40	0.38×
10	Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY	$81,510	95.8	250	1.27×
11	Lafayette-West Lafayette, IN	$80,060	93.4	80	2.25×
12	Lincoln, NE	$80,030	91.6	130	1.95×
13	Portland-South Portland, ME	$79,910	101.9	40	0.41×
14	Ogden, UT	$79,480	100.3	60	0.61×
15	Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT	$79,020	100.4	60	1.19×
16	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$78,960	106.9	170	1.14×
17	Burlington, NC	$78,140	93.2	40	1.80×
18	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$78,060	102.7	770	3.49×
19	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$78,020	113.6	950	0.41×
20	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$77,780	105.4	260	0.58×
21	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$77,620	108.3	370	0.37×
22	New Haven, CT	$77,410	104.6	230	2.22×
23	Savannah, GA	$77,040	95.2	50	0.70×
24	Waterbury-Shelton, CT	$76,420	99.8	550	9.39×
25	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$76,380	112.6	660	0.19×
26	Sheboygan, WI	$75,490	94.0	220	10.11×
27	Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN	$75,250	93.1	610	2.41×
28	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$74,840	104.8	930	1.30×
29	Jackson, MS	$74,560	89.0	70	0.70×
30	Charleston-North Charleston, SC	$74,320	101.0	160	1.10×
31	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	$74,070	102.6	510	0.48×
32	Oklahoma City, OK	$73,760	90.4	130	0.53×
33	Jacksonville, FL	$73,250	99.5	40	0.13×
34	Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA	$73,170	91.7	90	0.63×
35	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI	$73,120	100.3	4,900	7.03×
36	Huntsville, AL	$73,050	93.1	80	0.78×
37	Appleton, WI	$73,010	92.4	80	1.80×
38	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$72,390	110.5	50	0.41×
39	Saginaw, MI	$71,910	90.9	250	8.47×
40	Columbus, IN	$71,180	93.0	180	9.65×

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 tool and die makers wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

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