- Tennessee is 50th of the 50 states and DC, in the bottom ten for this trade.
- Tennessee pays less than all 8 neighboring states.
- BLS counts about 8,270 machinists on payrolls in Tennessee.
- At the state median wage, a machine shop needs to bill about $112.47 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Machinist pay in Tennessee, 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 | $18.06 | $37,560 | $18.85 |
| 25th percentile | $20.77 | $43,200 | $22.87 |
| Median | $23.85 | $49,600 | $28.24 |
| 75th percentile | $29.43 | $61,220 | $32.55 |
| 90th percentile | $33.86 | $70,430 | $38.47 |
| Average (mean) | $25.57 | $53,180 | $28.52 |
Pay is bunched up in Tennessee. The top tenth earn $33.86 an hour or more, about 1.9 times the $18.06 at the bottom tenth. Nationally that gap is 2 times, so the step from the bottom of the scale to the top is shorter here than in most places.
Both ends trail the national figures. The bottom tenth earn $0.79 an hour less than the bottom tenth nationally, and the top tenth $4.61 less than the national top tenth.
The average wage, $25.57, sits 7% 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 Tennessee compares with other states
Over a full year, the Tennessee median of $49,600 is $9,150 less than the national $58,750.
In the state ranking, Tennessee sits 50th, between South Dakota ($24.47) and West Virginia ($22.77). The range runs from $22.77 in West Virginia to $40.58 in Hawaii.
Every one of the neighboring states pays machinists more than Tennessee. The closest is Arkansas at $24.59, and the biggest gap is with Virginia.
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 Tennessee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tennessee | $23.85 | $49,600 | |
| Alabama | $26.71 | $55,560 | +$2.86 an hour |
| Arkansas | $24.59 | $51,140 | +$0.74 an hour |
| Georgia | $25.29 | $52,610 | +$1.44 an hour |
| Kentucky | $28.20 | $58,660 | +$4.35 an hour |
| Mississippi | $26.71 | $55,550 | +$2.86 an hour |
| Missouri | $28.23 | $58,710 | +$4.38 an hour |
| North Carolina | $26.56 | $55,230 | +$2.71 an hour |
| Virginia | $29.47 | $61,290 | +$5.62 an hour |
How many machinists work in Tennessee
About 8,270 machinists work on payrolls in Tennessee, 2.9% of the 287,050 nationwide, the 14th largest count among the states.
The trade is a bigger part of the local job market than it is nationally: 2.5 of every 1,000 jobs in Tennessee, 1.4 times the national share.
What a machine shop in Tennessee 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 Tennessee paying the state median of $23.85, 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 | $23.85 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $53,403 |
| Break-even rate | ($53,403 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $95.60 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $95.60 ÷ 0.85 | $112.47 |
That is $112.47 per billable hour, 4.7 times the wage, and $7.71 less than the $120.18 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $29.43 in Tennessee, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $122.27.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $20.77, the rate only drops to $107.06.
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.