Statewide pay Government data
Machinists in Alaska earn a statewide median of $77,670 a year, 36% above the typical U.S. metro, ranking #2 of 50 states and DC. About 120 people work in the trade statewide.
Statewide pay range
States ranked near Alaska
See all states on the machinist overview.
Pay by city Government data
BLS publishes machinist pay for 1 Alaska metro: Anchorage.
| Metro | Median pay | Real pay | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| AnchorageALASKA · AK | $75,040 | $71,182 | 50 |
Pay: BLS OEWS, May 2025 (metro-level). Real pay: BEA price parities, 2024. How we calculate
Pay outside the cities Government data
BLS also reports pay for Alaska's rural (nonmetropolitan) regions.
BLS OEWS nonmetropolitan areas, May 2025.
The job (national)
Set up and operate a variety of machine tools to produce precision parts and instruments out of metal. Includes precision instrument makers who fabricate, modify, or repair mechanical instruments. May also fabricate and modify parts to make or repair machine tools or maintain industrial machines, applying knowledge of mechanics, mathematics, metal properties, layout, and machining procedures.
Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 1.0% from 2025 to 2035, with about 26,100 openings a year. Typical training: long-term on-the-job training.
Nationally, machinists have 108 injuries or illnesses serious enough to miss work per 10,000 full-time workers, 1.3× the rate for all jobs (87). The most common cause is being struck by or caught in objects and equipment.
What the work is like Government data
How often machinists deal with each condition, from surveys of workers in the job.
Getting started usually takes medium preparation (vocational training or an apprenticeship, often 1–2+ years).
O*NET 31.0 Work Context and Job Zones (U.S. Department of Labor), national.
Serious injuries & deaths reported to OSHA Government data
Alaska runs its own workplace-safety program (an OSHA State Plan), so its injury reports aren't in the federal dataset. Nationally, in states federal OSHA covers, machine shops filed 411 severe injury reports from 2015 to 2024; the most common cause was contact with objects and equipment (79%).
OSHA Severe Injury Reports, January 2015–December 2024 (states under federal OSHA only).
Fatality investigations: OSHA Fatality Inspection Data, events 2015–2024, all states.
Where to train in Alaska Government data
5 schools in Alaska offer precision metal working (welding, machining, sheet metal) programs below the bachelor's level, 4 of them at public colleges. Many people in this trade learn through an apprenticeship instead; a program can shorten it or get you hired as a helper.
Where published, graduates earned a median of $51,824 in their first year out.
| School | Credential | Yearly cost | Recent grads | First-year pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charter College Anchorage, AK · Private for-profit | Certificate | $36,870 | 81 | $48,771 |
| Alaska Vocational Technical Center Seward, AK · Public | Certificate | $22,584 | 29 | $54,878 |
| University of Alaska Southeast Juneau, AK · Public | Certificate | $23,891 | 21 | — |
| University of Alaska Fairbanks Fairbanks, AK · Public | Certificate | $20,938 | 10 | — |
| University of Alaska Anchorage Anchorage, AK · Public | Certificate | $24,783 | 9 | — |
| University of Alaska Anchorage Anchorage, AK · Public | Associate degree | $24,783 | 1 | — |
U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (data updated October 2026). Cost is the school's average yearly cost of attendance before financial aid; earnings are the median for graduates one year after finishing, shown only where the school has enough graduates to publish. “—” means not published.
Licensing in Alaska Official source
The main state licensing office in Alaska is the Alaska Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing. Contractors register with the state; electrical and mechanical administrators are licensed. It can point you to the right license for machinists.
Official Alaska licensing site ↗
Requirements for machinists vary by state and sometimes by city; always confirm with the official agency.
Union membership
In 2025, 18.1% of wage and salary workers in Alaska were union members, above the U.S. rate of about 10% (#3 of 51 states and D.C.), and 20.7% were covered by a union contract. These figures cover all jobs in the state, not only machinists.
BLS Union Members, 2025 (Current Population Survey), table 5.
Cities in Alaska
All trades in Alaska.