Career
Machinists
Make precise metal parts with machine tools.
$58,750
Median pay
+1.0%
Job growth, 2025–35
26,100
Openings a year
High school diploma or equivalent
Typical education
None required
Typical time after high school
Here's what you actually need to know.
The work
What people in this job do
- Calculate dimensions or tolerances, using instruments, such as micrometers or vernier calipers.
- Machine parts to specifications, using machine tools, such as lathes, milling machines, shapers, or grinders.
- Measure, examine, or test completed units to check for defects and ensure conformance to specifications, using precision instruments, such as micrometers.
- Set up, adjust, or operate basic or specialized machine tools used to perform precision machining operations.
- Program computers or electronic instruments, such as numerically controlled machine tools.
The outlook
How the forecast changed this year
The deeper question
What kind of person does this path ask you to become?
What this work centers on
O*NET interest profile, scored 1–7.
The work
Do you want most of your days spent on objects & tools, then information & systems?
Responsibility
Are you willing to be the one responsible for this?
“Calculate dimensions or tolerances, using instruments, such as micrometers or vernier calipers.”
Development
What would you need to build over the next 5–10 years?
Operation and Control, Critical Thinking, Operations Monitoring, Monitoring.
Trade-offs
What does it ask of you in exchange?
No degree beyond high school, though long-term on-the-job training is typical, for a median of $58,750 a year and 26,100 openings nationally each year.
Paths in
Degrees that lead here
- Machine Tool Technology/MachinistCIP 48.0501
- Machine Shop Technology/AssistantCIP 48.0503
Paths across
Careers that use similar skills
- Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Operators$50,690 · -9.4%
- Milling and Planing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic$52,800 · -13.2%
- Tool and Die Makers$64,050 · -9.2%
- Lathe and Turning Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic$50,620 · -11.3%
- Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Programmers$68,120 · +5.9%
Ask anything about this career.
“Would this make sense if I don't want to sit at a desk all day?” Answers will come from the sources on this page, with citations. Coming soon.
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Sources
- BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34 (archived), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- O*NET 31.0 Database (August 2026), National Center for O*NET Development / U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 Crosswalk, NCES and BLS. Retrieved 2026-10-01.