- Arkansas is 47th of the 50 states and DC, in the bottom ten for this trade.
- Arkansas pays more than 2 of its 6 neighboring states.
- BLS counts about 2,150 machinists on payrolls in Arkansas.
- At the state median wage, a machine shop needs to bill about $113.77 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Machinist pay in Arkansas, bottom to top
The BLS machinist group covers people who set up and run machine tools such as lathes, mills and grinders to make precision metal parts. Tool and die makers and CNC programmers are counted separately.
| Pay level | Hourly | Yearly | National hourly |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $18.15 | $37,760 | $18.85 |
| 25th percentile | $21.77 | $45,280 | $22.87 |
| Median | $24.59 | $51,140 | $28.24 |
| 75th percentile | $29.51 | $61,380 | $32.55 |
| 90th percentile | $37.69 | $78,400 | $38.47 |
| Average (mean) | $26.53 | $55,180 | $28.52 |
From the bottom tenth ($18.15) to the top tenth ($37.69), the top of the scale pays about 2.1 times the bottom in Arkansas, close to the 2 times spread for machinists nationwide.
Both ends trail the national figures. The bottom tenth earn $0.70 an hour less than the bottom tenth nationally, and the top tenth $0.78 less than the national top tenth.
The average wage, $26.53, sits 8% above the median. A smaller group of higher earners pulls the average up, so the median is the better guide to what a typical machinist makes.
How Arkansas compares with other states
Over a full year, the Arkansas median of $51,140 is $7,610 less than the national $58,750.
In the state ranking, Arkansas sits 47th, between Kansas ($24.63) and Oklahoma ($24.58). The range runs from $22.77 in West Virginia to $40.58 in Hawaii.
Against its neighboring states, Arkansas is in the middle: Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Texas pay more, and Oklahoma and Tennessee pay less.
BLS wages are not adjusted for living costs. Lower pay often comes with lower housing costs, so the gap in take-home value can be smaller than the gap in wages.
Every state ranked, with the national pay range: national machinist salary by state.
How many machinists work in Arkansas
About 2,150 machinists work on payrolls in Arkansas, 0.7% of the 287,050 nationwide, the 32nd largest count among the states.
That is 1.6 of every 1,000 jobs in Arkansas, close to the trade's share of jobs nationally.
What a machine shop in Arkansas should charge
A lower wage helps the price less than you might expect, because the overhead does not shrink with it. Here is a machine shop in Arkansas paying the state median of $24.59, on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers: 40-hour weeks, 10 paid days off, 2 unbilled hours a day, 7.65% payroll taxes, $90,000 a year of overhead and 15% profit.
| Step | Math | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Paid hours | 40 × 52 | 2,080 |
| Hours at work | 2,080 − 10 days × 8 | 2,000 |
| Billable hours | 2,000 × 6 ÷ 8 | 1,500 |
| Labor cost | $24.59 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $55,060 |
| Break-even rate | ($55,060 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $96.71 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $96.71 ÷ 0.85 | $113.77 |
That is $113.77 per billable hour, 4.6 times the wage, and $6.41 less than the $120.18 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $29.51 in Arkansas, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $122.41.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $21.77, the rate only drops to $108.82.
At this wage, overhead is most of the price: $60 of every billed hour goes to it before anyone is paid. Spreading the same overhead over more billable hours, with a second person or less drive time, brings the rate down fastest.
Run it with your own numbers in the labor rate calculator. It is free and shows every step.
Where these numbers come from
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.
The figures are the BLS state estimates for SOC 51-4041, machinists, across all industries, read straight from the May 2025 state data file. They cover wage and salary workers, not the self-employed. Where BLS did not publish a figure, this page leaves it out.
All states in one table: machinist salary by state.