- West Virginia is 51st of the 50 states and DC, in the bottom ten for this trade.
- West Virginia pays less than all 5 neighboring states.
- BLS counts about 1,700 machinists on payrolls in West Virginia.
- At the state median wage, a machine shop needs to bill about $110.58 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Machinist pay in West 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 | $17.94 | $37,300 | $18.85 |
| 25th percentile | $18.84 | $39,180 | $22.87 |
| Median | $22.77 | $47,350 | $28.24 |
| 75th percentile | $28.80 | $59,910 | $32.55 |
| 90th percentile | $34.61 | $71,980 | $38.47 |
| Average (mean) | $24.61 | $51,190 | $28.52 |
From the bottom tenth ($17.94) to the top tenth ($34.61), the top of the scale pays about 1.9 times the bottom in West Virginia, close to the 2 times spread for machinists nationwide.
Both ends trail the national figures. The bottom tenth earn $0.91 an hour less than the bottom tenth nationally, and the top tenth $3.86 less than the national top tenth.
The average wage, $24.61, 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 West Virginia compares with other states
Over a full year, the West Virginia median of $47,350 is $11,400 less than the national $58,750.
Every other state with published figures pays at least as much. The next lowest is Tennessee at $23.85; the highest is Hawaii at $40.58.
Every one of the neighboring states pays machinists more than West Virginia. The closest is Pennsylvania at $27.79, 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 West Virginia |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Virginia | $22.77 | $47,350 | |
| Kentucky | $28.20 | $58,660 | +$5.43 an hour |
| Maryland | $28.76 | $59,810 | +$5.99 an hour |
| Ohio | $27.86 | $57,940 | +$5.09 an hour |
| Pennsylvania | $27.79 | $57,810 | +$5.02 an hour |
| Virginia | $29.47 | $61,290 | +$6.70 an hour |
How many machinists work in West Virginia
About 1,700 machinists work on payrolls in West Virginia, 0.6% of the 287,050 nationwide, the 36th largest count among the states.
The trade is a bigger part of the local job market than it is nationally: 2.4 of every 1,000 jobs in West Virginia, 1.3 times the national share.
What a machine shop in West Virginia 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 West Virginia paying the state median of $22.77, 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 | $22.77 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $50,985 |
| Break-even rate | ($50,985 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $93.99 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $93.99 ÷ 0.85 | $110.58 |
That is $110.58 per billable hour, 4.9 times the wage, and $9.61 less than the $120.18 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $28.80 in West Virginia, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $121.17.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $18.84, the rate only drops to $103.67.
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.