Trade licensing overview · machinist
How machinist licensing works — New Jersey
How this trade is regulated in New Jersey. none-in-pilot-states The framework below describes the national pathway most machinists in New Jersey 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 New Jersey · 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 New Jersey 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 New Jersey
New Jersey machining is built on pharmaceutical-equipment work, defense and aerospace supplier shops, marine and naval-shipyard adjacency to Philadelphia, and a long base of small precision job shops across the northern and central parts of the state. Tool-and-die and Swiss-precision work remains real here, particularly in pharma-adjacent Bergen, Morris, and Somerset counties.
Where they work
Northern New Jersey (Bergen, Passaic, Morris, Somerset, Union counties) holds the densest cluster, with pharmaceutical-equipment and instrument shops. Central New Jersey (Middlesex, Mercer, Monmouth) holds defense-supplier and Picatinny Arsenal-adjacent machining. South Jersey ties into Philadelphia-area employer pull and includes Lockheed Martin Moorestown. The Atlantic coast has small marine-machining shops. Statewide volume is moderate but specialty depth is real.
Pay context
BLS OES reports a New Jersey median of $62,010 for machinists, among the higher in the country. Pharma-equipment, defense-supplier, and Swiss-precision shops anchor the upper end of the range. Cost of housing and statewide property taxes cut significantly into the headline number; verify total cost before accepting an offer.
Training pathway
Bergen Community College, Middlesex County College, Camden County College, Brookdale Community College, and Rowan College of South Jersey all run CNC machining programs. The New Jersey Manufacturing Extension Program sponsors short-cycle training. The New Jersey Department of Labor's Apprenticeship Office registers some machinist programs. The Tooling Manufacturers Institute and individual IAM lodges represent some shops.
Considerations
If you want pharma-equipment or defense-supplier work in a Northeast precision-shop tradition, New Jersey is a credible option. If you want low cost of living, statewide housing and tax structure cut significantly into nominal wages; verify total cost before accepting an offer. Many New Jersey machinists live in Pennsylvania and commute; the cross-river math affects take-home pay.
New Jersey machinist snapshot
| MSA | Employed | Median wage |
|---|---|---|
| New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ | 4,460 | $62,320 |
| Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD | 3,960 | $59,500 |
| Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ | 750 | $57,370 |
| Trenton-Princeton, NJ | 100 | $60,580 |
| Vineland, NJ | 50 | $61,920 |
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.