- Only 4 states pay machinists more at the median.
- Washington pays more than both neighboring states.
- BLS counts about 6,880 machinists on payrolls in Washington.
- At the state median wage, a machine shop needs to bill about $126.45 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Machinist pay in Washington, 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 | $23.25 | $48,360 | $18.85 |
| 25th percentile | $28.25 | $58,760 | $22.87 |
| Median | $31.81 | $66,160 | $28.24 |
| 75th percentile | $38.62 | $80,340 | $32.55 |
| 90th percentile | $48.61 | $101,110 | $38.47 |
| Average (mean) | $34.38 | $71,510 | $28.52 |
From the bottom tenth ($23.25) to the top tenth ($48.61), the top of the scale pays about 2.1 times the bottom in Washington, close to the 2 times spread for machinists nationwide.
Both ends of the scale beat the national figures: $23.25 against $18.85 at the bottom tenth, and $48.61 against $38.47 at the top.
The average wage, $34.38, 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 Washington compares with other states
Over a full year, the Washington median of $66,160 is $7,410 more than the national $58,750.
In the state ranking, Washington sits 5th, between Massachusetts ($32.34) and Oregon ($30.68). The range runs from $22.77 in West Virginia to $40.58 in Hawaii.
Washington pays machinists more than any of its neighboring states, Idaho and Oregon. 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 Washington. 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.
How many machinists work in Washington
About 6,880 machinists work on payrolls in Washington, 2.4% of the 287,050 nationwide, the 16th largest count among the states.
That is 1.9 of every 1,000 jobs in Washington, close to the trade's share of jobs nationally.
What a machine shop in Washington should charge
Higher wages in Washington go straight into the price. Take a machine shop in Washington paying the state median of $31.81 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 | $31.81 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $71,226 |
| Break-even rate | ($71,226 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $107.48 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $107.48 ÷ 0.85 | $126.45 |
That is $126.45 per billable hour, 4 times the wage, and $6.27 more than the $120.18 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $38.62 in Washington, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $138.41.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $28.25, the rate only drops to $120.20.
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.