Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2005

51-4041 Machinists

Set up and operate a variety of machine tools to produce precision parts and instruments. Include 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, shop mathematics, metal properties, layout, and machining procedures.

National estimates for this occupation
Industry profile for this occupation
State profile for this occupation
Metropolitan area profile for this occupation

National estimates for this occupation: Top

Employment estimate and mean wage estimates for this occupation:

Employment (1) Employment
RSE (3)
Mean hourly
wage
Mean annual
wage (2)
Wage RSE (3)
368,380 1.0 % $17.00 $35,350 0.4 %

Percentile wage estimates for this occupation:

Percentile 10% 25% 50%
(Median)
75% 90%
Hourly Wage $10.26 $13.09 $16.51 $20.53 $24.87
Annual Wage (2) $21,340 $27,220 $34,350 $42,690 $51,720

Industry profile for this occupation: Top

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

Industries with the highest levels of employment in this occupation:

Industry Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage
Machine shops and threaded product mfg. 78,000 $16.29 $33,890
Motor vehicle parts manufacturing 26,160 $18.42 $38,300
Metalworking machinery manufacturing 24,280 $17.34 $36,060
Employment services 18,050 $13.83 $28,760
Aerospace product and parts manufacturing 16,290 $18.85 $39,220

Top paying industries for this occupation:

Industry Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage
Beverage manufacturing 80 $27.52 $57,230
Natural gas distribution 170 $25.78 $53,620
Newspaper, book, and directory publishers 640 $24.51 $50,980
Local government (OES designation) 590 $23.57 $49,030
Power generation and supply 970 $23.50 $48,880

State profile for this occupation: Top

States with the highest published employment concentrations and wages for this occupation are provided. For a list of all States with employment in this occupation, see the Create Customized Tables function.

States with the highest concentration of workers in this occupation:

State Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Percent of State employment
Michigan 27,240 $19.21 $39,950 0.628%
Ohio 28,250 $16.10 $33,480 0.529%
Wisconsin 14,380 $17.41 $36,210 0.527%
Indiana 14,480 $17.41 $36,220 0.501%
Connecticut 7,560 $17.93 $37,290 0.459%

Top paying States for this occupation:

State Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Percent of State employment
District of Columbia 50 $29.17 $60,660 0.008%
Hawaii 330 $23.15 $48,150 0.057%
Alaska 200 $22.84 $47,510 0.067%
Delaware 570 $21.05 $43,790 0.137%
Washington 5,590 $19.85 $41,300 0.211%

Metropolitan area profile for this occupation: Top

Metropolitan areas with the highest published employment concentrations and wages for this occupation are provided. For a list of all Metropolitan areas with employment in this occupation, see the Create Customized Tables function.

Metropolitan areas with the highest concentration of workers in this occupation:

MSA Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Percent of MSA employment
Rockford, IL 2,340 $15.51 $32,270 1.538%
Jackson, MI 850 $14.82 $30,820 1.400%
Racine, WI 890 $17.06 $35,470 1.166%
Niles-Benton Harbor, MI 730 $14.09 $29,320 1.162%
Anniston-Oxford, AL 540 $15.72 $32,700 1.084%

Top paying Metropolitan areas for this occupation:

MSA Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Percent of MSA employment
Anchorage, AK 100 $24.38 $50,720 0.062%
Honolulu, HI 270 $24.24 $50,420 0.063%
Bremerton-Silverdale, WA 200 $24.06 $50,040 0.249%
Vallejo-Fairfield, CA 250 $23.16 $48,160 0.200%
Boulder, CO 360 $22.79 $47,410 0.230%

About May 2005 National, State, and Metropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

These estimates are calculated with data collected from employers in all industry sectors in metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas in every State and the District of Columbia. The top five employment and wage figures are provided above. The complete list is available in the downloadable Excel files (XLS).

Percentile wage estimates show the percentage of workers in an occupation that earn less than a given wage and the percentage that earn more. The median wage is the 50th percentile wage estimate—50 percent of workers earn less than the median and 50 percent of workers earn more than the median. More about percentile wages.


(1) Estimates for detailed occupations do not sum to the totals because the totals include occupations not shown separately. Estimates do not include self-employed workers.

(2) Annual wages have been calculated by multiplying the hourly mean wage by a "year-round, full-time" hours figure of 2,080 hours; for those occupations where there is not an hourly mean wage published, the annual wage has been directly calculated from the reported survey data.

(3) The relative standard error (RSE) is a measure of the reliability of a survey statistic. The smaller the relative standard error, the more precise the estimate.

Other OES estimates and related information:

May 2005 National Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

May 2005 State Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

May 2005 Metropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

May 2005 National Industry-Specific Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

List of Occupations in SOC Code Number Order

List of Occupations in Alphabetical Order

Download May 2005 Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates in Zipped Excel files

Technical notes

 

Last Modified Date: May 24, 2006