Also called: Industrial Millwright, Machinery Erector
Installs, moves, aligns and repairs heavy industrial machinery, from turbines to conveyor systems.
You and your crew move a 30-ton press into a new factory using rollers and cranes, then level it with precision tools to within a few thousandths of an inch. Next week you might align a giant turbine shaft at a power plant using a laser alignment tool.
Union millwrights and those working lots of overtime earn more.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Apprenticeship, about 4 years after high school. High-school diploma plus a 4-year apprenticeship, often through a union.
Ways in: Apprenticeship, Trade school, On-the-job training. Training cost: Get paid while you train.
Majors to look at: Millwright (apprenticeship), Industrial Maintenance Technology.
Growing much faster than average (about 13% over 10 years). BLS projects much faster than average growth for the industrial machinery mechanics and millwrights group.
Low risk for 10 years. Installing, aligning and moving heavy machinery is skilled physical work; more automation means more machines to install.
Classes: Shop or metals class, Geometry, Physics.
Official data: O*NET occupation 49-9044.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.