- The natural gas distribution industry is the highest-paying industry for all machinist jobs in the United States as of May 2009. According to income data on the Bureau of Labor Statistics website, the average salary of machinists working in the natural gas distribution industry was $70,600 in May 2009.
- Machinists employed by elementary and secondary schools enjoy the second-highest mean annual wage across all machinist jobs and industries in the United States. In May 2009, the Bureau of Labor Statistics website reported $63,610 as the average salary for machinists working in elementary and secondary schools.
- The metal ore mining industry is the third-highest-paying industry for machinist jobs in the United States. Salary data on the Bureau of Labor Statistics website indicates that metal ore mining machinists earned an average annual salary of $55,140 in May 2009. However, there were only 50 machinist jobs in this industry in the same year.
- The average hourly wages of machinists in the United States were $18.10 in May 2009. The middle 50 percent of machinists earned between $18.10 and $22.60. The lowest 10 percent earned no more than $11.34, while the top 10 percent brought in more than $27.52. Comparatively, the hourly mean wage of machinists in the natural gas distribution, elementary and secondary schools, and metal ore mining industries ranged from $26.51 to $33.94 in May 2009.