- Virginia ranks 14th of the 50 states and DC for median pay in this trade.
- Virginia pays more than 5 of its 6 neighboring states.
- BLS counts about 5,660 machinists on payrolls in Virginia.
- At the state median wage, a machine shop needs to bill about $122.34 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Machinist pay in Virginia, 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 | $21.69 | $45,120 | $18.85 |
| 25th percentile | $23.99 | $49,900 | $22.87 |
| Median | $29.47 | $61,290 | $28.24 |
| 75th percentile | $34.36 | $71,470 | $32.55 |
| 90th percentile | $41.53 | $86,380 | $38.47 |
| Average (mean) | $30.18 | $62,770 | $28.52 |
From the bottom tenth ($21.69) to the top tenth ($41.53), the top of the scale pays about 1.9 times the bottom in Virginia, close to the 2 times spread for machinists nationwide.
Both ends of the scale beat the national figures: $21.69 against $18.85 at the bottom tenth, and $41.53 against $38.47 at the top.
The average, $30.18, is close to the median, so pay sits fairly evenly around the middle.
How Virginia compares with other states
Over a full year the gap to the national median is small: $61,290 in Virginia against $58,750 nationally, $2,540 more.
In the state ranking, Virginia sits 14th, between New Hampshire ($29.57) and Utah ($29.46). The range runs from $22.77 in West Virginia to $40.58 in Hawaii.
Against its neighboring states, Virginia is in the middle: the District of Columbia pays more, and Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia pay less.
Every state ranked, with the national pay range: national machinist salary by state.
| Neighboring state | Median hourly | Median yearly | Against Virginia |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virginia | $29.47 | $61,290 | |
| District of Columbia | $35.05 | $72,900 | +$5.58 an hour |
| Kentucky | $28.20 | $58,660 | −$1.27 an hour |
| Maryland | $28.76 | $59,810 | −$0.71 an hour |
| North Carolina | $26.56 | $55,230 | −$2.91 an hour |
| Tennessee | $23.85 | $49,600 | −$5.62 an hour |
| West Virginia | $22.77 | $47,350 | −$6.70 an hour |
How many machinists work in Virginia
About 5,660 machinists work on payrolls in Virginia, 2.0% of the 287,050 nationwide, the 19th largest count among the states.
It is a smaller part of local jobs than in most of the country, at 1.4 per 1,000 jobs, 0.75 times the national share.
What a machine shop in Virginia should charge
Say you run a machine shop in Virginia and pay the state median of $29.47 an hour. Here is the labor rate calculator's math on 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 | $29.47 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $65,987 |
| Break-even rate | ($65,987 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $103.99 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $103.99 ÷ 0.85 | $122.34 |
That is $122.34 per billable hour, 4.2 times the wage, and $2.16 more than the $120.18 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $34.36 in Virginia, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $130.93.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $23.99, the rate only drops to $112.72.
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.