Trade licensing overview · machinist
How machinist licensing works — New Mexico
How this trade is regulated in New Mexico. none-in-pilot-states The framework below describes the national pathway most machinists in New Mexico 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 Mexico · 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 Mexico 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 Mexico
New Mexico machining is built on national-laboratory work (Sandia, Los Alamos), defense and aerospace at Kirtland and Holloman AFBs, oil-and-gas service equipment in the Permian Basin, and a small job-shop base in Albuquerque. Federal-laboratory and contractor work is a larger share of total machining than in most states.
Where they work
Albuquerque and the Rio Grande corridor anchor Sandia National Laboratories, Kirtland AFB, and Air Force Research Lab-adjacent machining. Los Alamos hosts Los Alamos National Laboratory machining (LANS/Triad). Roswell and Carlsbad in the southeast tie into Permian Basin oil-and-gas service equipment. Las Cruces holds White Sands Missile Range-adjacent work and NMSU spinouts. Northern New Mexico has thin machining footprint outside of national-laboratory-related operations.
Pay context
BLS OES reports a New Mexico median of $57,520 for machinists. National-laboratory and cleared defense-contractor positions commonly pay well above the statewide median; oil-and-gas service work varies widely with commodity cycles. Cost of living in Albuquerque sits below national averages; Los Alamos sits above due to housing scarcity.
Training pathway
Central New Mexico Community College (Albuquerque) runs CNC and machining programs. New Mexico State University-DACC serves Las Cruces. San Juan College (Farmington) and Eastern New Mexico-Roswell offer related coursework. The New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions sponsors employer-specific training tied to national-lab contractors. Many working machinists in New Mexico hold security clearances tied to LANL or Sandia work.
Considerations
If you want national-laboratory or defense-research machining and you can obtain or hold a security clearance, New Mexico has substantial wage leverage. If you want production-manufacturing variety or aerospace prime work, New Mexico is thin and most career-stage machinists migrate to Arizona, Colorado, or Texas. Verify clearance-eligibility requirements early; clearance lead time is the limiting factor on many lab and contractor positions.
New Mexico machinist snapshot
| MSA | Employed | Median wage |
|---|---|---|
| Albuquerque, NM | 370 | $52,990 |
| Farmington, NM | 70 | $57,520 |
| Las Cruces, NM | 40 | $45,740 |
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.