Also called: CNC Machinist, Precision Machinist
Uses lathes, mills and CNC machines to turn blocks of metal into precise parts for engines, aircraft and medical devices.
You read a blueprint, clamp a block of aluminum in the mill, set up your tools and run the program. Every few parts you check dimensions with micrometers to a thousandth of an inch. By the end of the day a pile of shiny brackets sits on your cart.
BLS May 2024 median for machinists was about $56,150.
Apprenticeship, about 2 years after high school. High school plus a trade-school program or apprenticeship; NIMS credentials help.
Ways in: Apprenticeship, Trade school, 2-year college, On-the-job training, Military. Training cost: Get paid while you train.
Majors to look at: Machine Tool Technology (trade school), Precision Machining (2-year).
Shrinking (about -1% over 10 years). Combined machinist and tool-and-die employment is projected to fall about 2%, but there are many openings from retirements.
Medium risk for 10 years. Automation and AI-assisted CAM cut some routine machining; skilled machinists who set up and troubleshoot stay in short supply.
Classes: Machining CTE class, Geometry, Trigonometry, Blueprint reading.
Official data: O*NET occupation 51-4041.
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.