The machinist job description: what to show on pay and shift, with BLS pay by state

Minnesota10th to 90th percentile: $22.38 to $38.64; highest 10th percentile$29.39

New York10th to 90th percentile: $19.50 to $40.60$29.29

Texas10th to 90th percentile: $18.56 to $39.94$28.45

Wisconsin10th to 90th percentile: $19.52 to $36.67$28.42

Missouri10th to 90th percentile: $21.21 to $40.46$28.23

Illinois10th to 90th percentile: $18.46 to $37.64$28.13

Ohio10th to 90th percentile: $18.30 to $36.79$27.86

Indiana10th to 90th percentile: $18.94 to $35.34$27.79

Pennsylvania10th to 90th percentile: $19.05 to $37.06$27.79

California10th to 90th percentile: $18.00 to $42.44$27.49

Florida10th to 90th percentile: $19.17 to $36.64$27.47

Michigan10th to 90th percentile: $18.45 to $36.22; lowest median of the 12$25.17

What machinists earn in the 12 largest machinist states, May 2025

Item	Value ($)	Note
Minnesota	$29.39	10th to 90th percentile: $22.38 to $38.64; highest 10th percentile
New York	$29.29	10th to 90th percentile: $19.50 to $40.60
Texas	$28.45	10th to 90th percentile: $18.56 to $39.94
Wisconsin	$28.42	10th to 90th percentile: $19.52 to $36.67
Missouri	$28.23	10th to 90th percentile: $21.21 to $40.46
Illinois	$28.13	10th to 90th percentile: $18.46 to $37.64
Ohio	$27.86	10th to 90th percentile: $18.30 to $36.79
Indiana	$27.79	10th to 90th percentile: $18.94 to $35.34
Pennsylvania	$27.79	10th to 90th percentile: $19.05 to $37.06
California	$27.49	10th to 90th percentile: $18.00 to $42.44
Florida	$27.47	10th to 90th percentile: $19.17 to $36.64
Michigan	$25.17	10th to 90th percentile: $18.45 to $36.22; lowest median of the 12

Median hourly wage, all industries, sorted high to low, with the 10th to 90th percentile range in each note. The national median is $28.24; eight of the 12 states sit below it. Michigan has the second-largest machinist workforce and the lowest median of the 12. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, occupation 51-4041 Machinists, all industries, retrieved Oct. 26, 2026.

The median machinist in the US earned $28.24 an hour in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. The spread around that number is wide. The bottom tenth earned less than $18.85 and the top tenth more than $38.47. Where your shop sits on that range, and whether your posting says so, is most of what a candidate wants to know.

A machinist job description should answer four questions in the first screen: the pay range, the shift and its hours, the machines and controls, and how the shop will train you. Then it should set the pay range against local data, which BLS publishes free for every state and most metro areas.

What machinists earn by state and metro

The chart at the top of this piece covers the 12 states with the most machinists in the May 2025 OEWS data, with hourly wages across all industries. Texas has the most, 21,700, ahead of Michigan with 20,350 and California with 18,950, out of 287,050 machinists nationally.

Michigan, despite its large workforce, has the lowest median of the 12. Minnesota’s bottom tenth starts at $22.38, almost $4 above most of the other large states, which means entry offers there have to start higher. And the top of the range varies more than the middle, with the 90th percentile running from $35.34 in Indiana to $42.44 in California.

Metro areas spread further. Among the 20 metros with the most machinists, the median runs from $24.09 in Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, Mich., and $24.33 in Indianapolis to $34.65 in Boston and $35.85 in Seattle. Chicago, the largest machinist metro with 11,270, sits at $28.62. Machine shops themselves pay a little under the all-industry figure. The national median in machine shops (NAICS 332710) is $27.23, with 65,540 machinists employed.

To look up your own area, open the OEWS query system, choose your state and metro, and pick occupation 51-4041, Machinists.

What should a machinist job description include?

We read eight machinist postings, live on Oct. 26, 2026, on seven employers’ own hiring pages. This is a small sample chosen because we could open and archive the full text, not a statistical survey. It still shows the range of what shops tell candidates.

Employer, location	Posting	Pay shown	Shift shown	Machines named	Training offered	Local median (OEWS)
Astro Machine Works, Ephrata, Pa.	CNC Machinist, 1st and night	$23 to $42	Start and end windows for both shifts	3-, 4- and 5-axis mills; live-tooling lathes	In-house apprenticeships	Pennsylvania $27.79
KEB America, Shakopee, Minn.	CNC Machinist, 1st shift	$25 to $29 mid-level; $30 to $40 experienced; $3,000 sign-on	Mon. to Thu., 5:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.	Haas, Mazak, Doosan	Educational assistance	Minneapolis-St. Paul $29.84
Alan Baird Industries, Allendale, N.J.	Machinist	$30 to $33	Not stated	Mills, lathes, grinders	None stated	New York-Newark-Jersey City $30.17
Prince Industries, Pepperell, Mass.	CNC Machinist II, 2nd shift	$29 to $33; $5,000 sign-on	2:30 p.m. to 1:00 a.m., Mon. to Thu.	Mazak, Haas, Fanuc and Mori controls	Partial tuition reimbursement	Massachusetts $32.34
D&G Machine Products, Westbrook, Maine	Manual Machinist, 1st and 2nd	$22 to $32; 15% shift differential	Named in title only	Horizontal mills	Tuition reimbursement; promotion from the floor	Maine $28.44
Component Repair Technologies, Mentor, Ohio	CNC VTL Machinist, 2nd shift	Not stated	Named in title (Mon. to Fri.)	VTLs	Dedicated machinist trainers, OJT program	Cleveland $28.00
Component Repair Technologies, Mentor, Ohio	CNC VTL Machinist, 1st shift weekend	Not stated	Named in title (Fri. to Mon.)	VTLs	Same as above	Cleveland $28.00
Feintool, Cincinnati	CNC Machinist	Not stated; asks for salary history and requirements	Not stated	CNC mills; Fanuc a plus	None stated	Cincinnati $27.55

Five of the eight state a pay range. Three give the actual hours of the shift, and three more name the shift only in the title. All eight name the machine types, and three name brands or controls. Three describe training beyond tuition help.

The best posts in the set do something simple. KEB splits its range into mid-level and experienced bands, so a candidate can place themselves before applying. Prince puts the shift hours near the top and the sign-on bonus in the title. Astro gives start-time windows for each shift, which matters to anyone with kids or a second job.

We cannot see how many people applied to each, so we make no claim about response. Our position is that a posting without pay and hours asks candidates to apply blind, and the ones with options will not.

Posting	Posted range (hourly)	Market	10th percentile	Median	90th percentile
Astro Machine Works	$23 to $42	Pennsylvania	$19.05	$27.79	$37.06
KEB America	$25 to $40	Minneapolis-St. Paul	$22.84	$29.84	$38.67
Alan Baird Industries	$30 to $33	New York-Newark-Jersey City	$21.60	$30.17	$44.45
Prince Industries	$29 to $33	Massachusetts	$23.04	$32.34	$44.87
D&G Machine Products	$22 to $32	Maine	$22.00	$28.44	$37.68

Five of eight postings stated pay. Astro's and KEB's top rates sit above the local 90th percentile; Prince's range straddles the Massachusetts median. KEB's range combines its mid-level ($25 to $29) and experienced ($30 to $40) bands. Source: Posting ranges as listed Oct. 26, 2026; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, occupation 51-4041, all industries.

How to set the pay range in a machinist job post

Pull the 10th percentile, median and 90th percentile for machinists in your metro, or your state if your metro is small. Then:

• Anchor an entry or operator-to-machinist band near the local 25th percentile, and an experienced setup and programming band from the median up. KEB’s two-band approach is a good model.
• If your top rate is above the local 90th percentile, say so plainly. Astro’s $42 is above Pennsylvania’s 90th percentile ($37.06), and KEB’s $40 is above Minneapolis-St. Paul’s ($38.67).
• If your range sits below the local median, fix the offer or put the rest of the package next to it: shift differential, overtime, sign-on, tuition, ownership. D&G does part of this. Its $22 to $32 range sits around the Maine median of $28.44, and its 15% shift differential would lift the top of that range to about $36.80 on an off shift. The posting lists the differential as a benefit; putting the off-shift dollar figure beside the base range would make the offer easier to compare.

Pay ranges are also becoming a legal requirement in some states. Illinois has required pay scale and benefits information in postings from employers with 15 or more employees since Jan. 1, 2025 (Illinois Department of Labor), and Minnesota requires a starting range from employers with 30 or more Minnesota employees from the same date (Greenberg Traurig summary). Check your state’s rules before you post.

A machinist job description template

Use this order. Each line is one or two sentences.

1. Title with the shift: “CNC Machinist, 2nd Shift (Mill).”
2. Pay: the range, split by experience level, plus differential, overtime and any sign-on.
3. Hours: days and start and end times, and how long new hires spend on first shift.
4. The work: what parts, what materials, what tolerances, for what industries. If your capabilities page already lists them, reuse the same wording.
5. Machines and controls: brands, axes, and whether the machinist programs, sets up or runs.
6. Training: who trains, for how long, and any apprenticeship or certification paid for.
7. Benefits: when they start (Astro’s day-one health coverage is worth copying if it is true for you).
8. How to apply: one link, a name and a phone number.

BLS projects machinist employment to grow 1 percent from 2025 to 2035, from 288,300 to 291,200, while tool and die makers decline 9 percent. Across the two occupations BLS expects about 30,400 openings a year, and it says all of them come from replacing workers who change occupations or leave the labor force.

Template line	Done well by
1. Title with the shift	Prince Industries: "CNC Machinist II, 2nd Shift," with the sign-on bonus in the title
2. Pay, split by experience level	KEB America: $25 to $29 mid-level, $30 to $40 experienced
3. Hours: days and start and end times	KEB America: Mon. to Thu., 5:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
4. The work: parts, materials, tolerances, industries	No standout in our sample
5. Machines and controls	Prince Industries: Mazak, Haas, Fanuc and Mori controls
6. Training	Component Repair Technologies: dedicated machinist trainers and an OJT program
7. Benefits and when they start	Astro Machine Works: day-one health coverage
8. How to apply: one link, a name and a phone number	No standout in our sample

The order we recommend. Each line is one or two sentences. Source: Our review of eight machinist postings, Oct. 26, 2026.

What to do Monday

1. Look up your metro’s machinist 10th percentile, median and 90th percentile in the OEWS query system.
2. Put your current machinist posting next to those numbers and next to the template above.
3. Get your pay range and shift hours approved by whoever owns hiring, and add them to the post.
4. Link the post from your careers page, and the careers page from the post. Our careers page scorecard shows what the page itself should answer.