Trade licensing overview · machinist
How machinist licensing works — Montana
How this trade is regulated in Montana. none-in-pilot-states The framework below describes the national pathway most machinists in Montana follow.
Machinists are not state-licensed in the United States. Competency is demonstrated through NIMS (National Institute for Metalworking Skills) credentials, employer-administered machining and inspection tests, or completion of a DOL-registered Machinist apprenticeship.
Machinist wages in Montana · BLS OES A01 2024
Wages are state-level annual figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program (A01 2024). Specific machinist earnings in Montana vary by metro area, employer type, union membership, and years of experience. Verify the current state and metro figures on the BLS OES site (bls.gov/oes).
What this trade actually looks like in Montana
Montana machining is small and tied largely to mining-equipment maintenance, oil-and-gas service equipment in eastern Montana, ag-equipment shops, and a few defense-adjacent operations near Malmstrom AFB. There is no large aerospace or production-manufacturing base; most machining is repair, maintenance, and short-run work for primary industries.
Where they work
Billings and the Yellowstone Valley hold the densest job-shop base, tied to oil-and-gas service, energy equipment, and refining. Great Falls supports Malmstrom AFB-adjacent work. Missoula and Bozeman have smaller pockets including instrument and outdoor-equipment shops. Butte and Anaconda hold mining-equipment maintenance. The Bakken-adjacent eastern Montana (Sidney, Glendive) ties into oilfield-service machining. Statewide volume is limited.
Pay context
BLS OES reports a Montana median of $61,230 for machinists, above the national median for a state with limited production-manufacturing. The wage reflects scarcity of skilled labor and maintenance-heavy oilfield, mining, and Air Force-adjacent work. Cost of housing in Bozeman and Missoula has risen sharply; eastern Montana cost of living remains low.
Training pathway
Helena College (University of Montana) and Great Falls College MSU run welding-and-machining programs. Highlands College of Montana Tech (Butte) supports mining-related machining. Most working machinists in Montana trained at out-of-state programs or learned on the job. Registered apprenticeships in machining are sparse; on-the-job training inside maintenance shops is common.
Considerations
If you want maintenance and repair work tied to mining, oil and gas, or ag equipment in a low-cost-of-living state, Montana pays at a respectable median for the population size. If you want production-manufacturing depth, programmer career ladders, or aerospace specialty work, Montana is thin and most career-stage machinists relocate to Washington, Colorado, or Idaho. Verify travel expectations; many Montana machinist roles include remote field work.
Montana machinist snapshot
| MSA | Employed | Median wage |
|---|---|---|
| Billings, MT | 110 | $54,670 |
| Bozeman, MT | 60 | $64,420 |
| Missoula, MT | 40 | $62,780 |
| Great Falls, MT | 30 | $51,970 |
STATE LICENSE STATUS
No pilot state (TX, CA, FL, NY, IL) issues a person-level machinist license. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics classifies machinists under SOC 51-4041 and lists typical entry through long-term on-the-job training, apprenticeship, or community-college machine-tool programs (https://www.bls.gov/ooh/production/machinists-and-tool-and-die-makers.htm). Because there is no statutory license, hiring shops typically verify skill through a bench test, print-reading and GD&T questions, and (increasingly) NIMS credential records (https://www.nims-skills.org). ITAR-regulated aerospace and defense shops add employer-specific background and citizenship checks per 22 CFR 120-130; those are job requirements, not state licenses.
NIMS CREDENTIALS
NIMS (National Institute for Metalworking Skills) issues 52 stackable, ANSI-accredited credentials covering Machining Level I, II, and III; CNC Milling and CNC Turning Operator and Programmer; Tool & Die; Mold Making; Stamping; Grinding; and Industrial Technology Maintenance (https://www.nims-skills.org/credentialing). Each credential requires an online theory exam plus a performance/part-inspection component verified by a NIMS-credentialed evaluator (https://www.nims-skills.org). Machining Level I is the recognized entry credential and is used by many registered apprenticeships as a first-year benchmark. NIMS credentials are accepted as Related Technical Instruction (RTI) evidence by many DOL-registered Machinist programs (https://www.apprenticeship.gov). The International Machine Tool Manufacturers Association (IMTMA, https://www.imtma.org) and the National Tooling and Machining Association (NTMA, https://www.ntma.org) both reference NIMS as the industry-standard skills benchmark.
CNC PROGRAMMING
CNC (computer numerical control) programming is the core skill for production machining. G-code and M-code fundamentals (ISO 6983 / EIA RS-274) are the baseline language read by Fanuc, Siemens, Haas, and Mazak controls (https://www.iso.org/standard/34608.html). Most production programs are generated in CAM software: Mastercam (https://www.mastercam.com), Autodesk Fusion 360 (https://www.autodesk.com/products/fusion-360), and SolidWorks CAM (https://www.solidworks.com) are the most commonly listed in BLS machinist job postings (https://www.bls.gov/ooh/production/machinists-and-tool-and-die-makers.htm). 5-axis simultaneous programming is typical in aerospace structural and impeller work and is covered by NIMS CNC Milling Programmer Level III (https://www.nims-skills.org/credentialing). NIMS also offers a stand-alone Job Planning, Benchwork, and Layout credential that is a prerequisite for Machining Levels II and III.
APPRENTICESHIP PATHWAY
The U.S. Department of Labor registers Machinist apprenticeships under RAPIDS occupation code 0296 with a typical term of 8,000 on-the-job-training hours plus 576 hours of Related Technical Instruction; Tool and Die Maker (RAPIDS 0295) typically requires 10,000 OJT hours (https://www.apprenticeship.gov/apprenticeship-job-finder). Community-college Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degrees in Machine Tool Technology are a common parallel or substitute pathway and frequently articulate into NIMS credentials. The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM, https://goiam.org) represents machinists in parts of aerospace, defense, and rail, though most U.S. production machinists work in non-union shops. NTMA and the Precision Metalforming Association (PMA) both sponsor employer-led apprenticeships registered through DOL.
ADJACENT ROLES
Tool-and-die maker is the most demanding adjacent role, requiring roughly 10,000 OJT hours and tight-tolerance grinding, heat-treat, and fixture-building experience (https://www.bls.gov/ooh/production/machinists-and-tool-and-die-makers.htm). CNC programmer roles split into shop-floor edit/offset programmers and off-line CAM programmers; NIMS CNC Milling and CNC Turning Programmer credentials cover both (https://www.nims-skills.org/credentialing). Manual mill and lathe operator positions are still common in prototype, R&D, and repair shops. Quality-control and gauge inspector roles require formal GD&T training per ASME Y14.5-2018, Dimensioning and Tolerancing (https://www.asme.org/codes-standards/find-codes-standards/y14-5-dimensioning-tolerancing); ASME also publishes Y14.5.1 Mathematical Definition of Dimensioning and Tolerancing Principles. AS9100 (aerospace) and ISO 13485 (medical device) quality-system training are often required before a machinist is cleared to run regulated parts.