Trade licensing overview · machinist
How machinist licensing works — Utah
How this trade is regulated in Utah. none-in-pilot-states The framework below describes the national pathway most machinists in Utah 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 Utah · 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 Utah 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 Utah
Utah machining is built on aerospace and defense (Northrop Grumman, L3Harris, Hill AFB Ogden Air Logistics Complex), medical-device shops along the Wasatch Front, semiconductor-related precision work tied to Texas Instruments and Micron expansion, and a steady job-shop base. Hill AFB and the rocket-motor cluster are the largest single pulls.
Where they work
Ogden and Layton anchor Hill AFB Ogden Air Logistics Complex, Northrop Grumman rocket motor production (formerly Orbital ATK/Thiokol legacy), and L3Harris. Salt Lake City and the I-15 corridor hold medical-device shops (Edwards Lifesciences, Merit Medical) and supplier work. Lehi and Provo (Silicon Slopes) hold semiconductor-equipment and precision-instrument machining. St. George holds smaller pockets. Statewide, aerospace and defense outpace medical device by absolute count.
Pay context
BLS OES reports a Utah median of $60,450 for machinists. Northrop Grumman, Hill AFB-adjacent contractors, and medical-device shops anchor the upper end of the range. Cost of housing along the Wasatch Front has risen sharply over the past five years; cost of living in St. George and rural Utah remains lower.
Training pathway
Davis Technical College (Kaysville), Ogden-Weber Technical College, Salt Lake Community College, Utah Valley University (Orem), and Bridgerland Technical (Logan) all run NIMS-aligned machining programs. The Utah System of Technical Colleges runs short-cycle training tied to specific employers including Northrop Grumman and Hill AFB. The Utah Office of Apprenticeship registers machinist apprenticeships through individual employers.
Considerations
If you want aerospace, defense, or medical-device machining in a low-cost-of-living state with strong technical-college infrastructure, the Wasatch Front is one of the stronger Mountain West options. If you want union representation as a default, Utah is right-to-work and IAM density is moderate at Hill AFB-adjacent contractors. Wasatch Front housing has risen sharply; verify total-cost math before accepting an offer.
Utah machinist snapshot
| MSA | Employed | Median wage |
|---|---|---|
| Ogden, UT | 1,260 | $61,950 |
| Salt Lake City-Murray, UT | 1,250 | $61,040 |
| Provo-Orem-Lehi, UT | 360 | $61,820 |
| Logan, UT-ID | 320 | $57,600 |
| St. George, UT | 100 | $48,990 |
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.