- North Carolina is 42nd of the 50 states and DC, in the bottom ten for this trade.
- North Carolina pays more than 2 of its 4 neighboring states.
- BLS counts about 8,330 machinists on payrolls in North Carolina.
- At the state median wage, a machine shop needs to bill about $117.23 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Machinist pay in North Carolina, 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 | $17.84 | $37,110 | $18.85 |
| 25th percentile | $21.78 | $45,300 | $22.87 |
| Median | $26.56 | $55,230 | $28.24 |
| 75th percentile | $30.13 | $62,680 | $32.55 |
| 90th percentile | $36.33 | $75,570 | $38.47 |
| Average (mean) | $26.38 | $54,880 | $28.52 |
From the bottom tenth ($17.84) to the top tenth ($36.33), the top of the scale pays about 2 times the bottom in North Carolina, close to the 2 times spread for machinists nationwide.
Both ends trail the national figures. The bottom tenth earn $1.01 an hour less than the bottom tenth nationally, and the top tenth $2.14 less than the national top tenth.
The average, $26.38, is close to the median, so pay sits fairly evenly around the middle.
How North Carolina compares with other states
Over a full year, the North Carolina median of $55,230 is $3,520 less than the national $58,750.
In the state ranking, North Carolina sits 42nd, between Mississippi ($26.71) and Nevada ($25.51). The range runs from $22.77 in West Virginia to $40.58 in Hawaii.
Against its neighboring states, North Carolina is in the middle: South Carolina and Virginia pay more, and Georgia 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.
| Neighboring state | Median hourly | Median yearly | Against North Carolina |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Carolina | $26.56 | $55,230 | |
| Georgia | $25.29 | $52,610 | −$1.27 an hour |
| South Carolina | $27.87 | $57,970 | +$1.31 an hour |
| Tennessee | $23.85 | $49,600 | −$2.71 an hour |
| Virginia | $29.47 | $61,290 | +$2.91 an hour |
How many machinists work in North Carolina
About 8,330 machinists work on payrolls in North Carolina, 2.9% of the 287,050 nationwide, the 13th largest count among the states.
That is 1.7 of every 1,000 jobs in North Carolina, close to the trade's share of jobs nationally.
What a machine shop in North Carolina 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 North Carolina paying the state median of $26.56, 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 | $26.56 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $59,471 |
| Break-even rate | ($59,471 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $99.65 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $99.65 ÷ 0.85 | $117.23 |
That is $117.23 per billable hour, 4.4 times the wage, and $2.95 less than the $120.18 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $30.13 in North Carolina, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $123.50.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $21.78, the rate only drops to $108.84.
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.