2026 Edition · An annual reference on what work pays

Machinists

United States. Estimated employment 287,050, with pages for 5 metro areas below.

Data released May 2025 BLS OEWS · SOC 51-4041
Fig. 1 — The wage rule

Where you sit in the distribution

Drag the marker, or type a figure
$58,750 · 50th
$39,20010th
$47,57025th
$58,75050th
$67,70075th
$80,01090th

That is the medianhalf of machinists in the US earn more.

Table 1 — By metro area

Where it pays

Every published Machinists page, by median pay. Employment is the BLS estimate for the metro.

Metro areaMedianEmployment
Chicago, IL$59,52011,270
Champaign, IL$58,910100
Peoria, IL$51,680500
Rockford, IL$49,7001,800
Kankakee, IL$47,930100
Sources

How this page was made

Wage data
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 release. Public domain.
Employment
287,050 employed in this occupation nationally (BLS estimate; excludes the self-employed).
Occupation
SOC 51-4041, Machinists. Mapped to our taxonomy as machinists.

Percentiles are reported exactly as released and are never interpolated between published values. We take no payment from employers, recruiters or anyone else for how any figure is presented.