- Only 6 states pay machinists more at the median.
- New Jersey pays more than all 3 neighboring states.
- BLS counts about 3,210 machinists on payrolls in New Jersey.
- At the state median wage, a machine shop needs to bill about $123.94 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Machinist pay in New Jersey, 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 | $22.20 | $46,170 | $18.85 |
| 25th percentile | $24.57 | $51,110 | $22.87 |
| Median | $30.38 | $63,190 | $28.24 |
| 75th percentile | $38.14 | $79,330 | $32.55 |
| 90th percentile | $43.63 | $90,740 | $38.47 |
| Average (mean) | $32.08 | $66,720 | $28.52 |
From the bottom tenth ($22.20) to the top tenth ($43.63), the top of the scale pays about 2 times the bottom in New Jersey, close to the 2 times spread for machinists nationwide.
Both ends of the scale beat the national figures: $22.20 against $18.85 at the bottom tenth, and $43.63 against $38.47 at the top.
The average, $32.08, is close to the median, so pay sits fairly evenly around the middle.
How New Jersey compares with other states
Over a full year, the New Jersey median of $63,190 is $4,440 more than the national $58,750.
In the state ranking, New Jersey sits 7th, between Oregon ($30.68) and Wyoming ($30.32). The range runs from $22.77 in West Virginia to $40.58 in Hawaii.
New Jersey pays machinists more than any of its neighboring states, Delaware, New York and Pennsylvania. Someone working near the border can earn more by taking work on this side of it.
These are wages as paid, not adjusted for what it costs to live in New Jersey. Rent, home prices and taxes decide how far a higher wage goes.
Every state ranked, with the national pay range: national machinist salary by state.
| Neighboring state | Median hourly | Median yearly | Against New Jersey |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Jersey | $30.38 | $63,190 | |
| Delaware | $30.12 | $62,650 | −$0.26 an hour |
| New York | $29.29 | $60,920 | −$1.09 an hour |
| Pennsylvania | $27.79 | $57,810 | −$2.59 an hour |
How many machinists work in New Jersey
About 3,210 machinists work on payrolls in New Jersey, 1.1% of the 287,050 nationwide, the 28th largest count among the states.
It is a smaller part of local jobs than in most of the country, at 0.7 per 1,000 jobs, 0.41 times the national share.
What a machine shop in New Jersey should charge
Higher wages in New Jersey go straight into the price. Take a machine shop in New Jersey paying the state median of $30.38 and run it through the labor rate calculator with its 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 | $30.38 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $68,024 |
| Break-even rate | ($68,024 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $105.35 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $105.35 ÷ 0.85 | $123.94 |
That is $123.94 per billable hour, 4.1 times the wage, and $3.76 more than the $120.18 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $38.14 in New Jersey, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $137.57.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $24.57, the rate only drops to $113.74.
Overhead, at $60 of every billed hour, and the unbilled hours move this rate more than a raise does. A dollar more in wages adds about $1.76 to the rate.
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.