Trade licensing overview · machinist
How machinist licensing works — Wyoming
How this trade is regulated in Wyoming. none-in-pilot-states The framework below describes the national pathway most machinists in Wyoming 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 Wyoming · 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 Wyoming 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 Wyoming
Wyoming machining is small, tied almost entirely to oil-and-gas service equipment, mining-equipment maintenance (trona, coal, uranium), wind-energy-equipment work, and a thin general job-shop base. There is no aerospace, medical-device, or production-manufacturing prime in the state. Most positions are maintenance and short-run repair rather than production programming.
Where they work
Casper and the Powder River Basin hold the densest base, with oil-and-gas service equipment and energy-related machining. Cheyenne holds smaller job shops, F.E. Warren AFB-adjacent work, and supplier shops. Gillette anchors coal-mining-equipment maintenance. Rock Springs and Green River support trona-mining and chemical-equipment machining. Sheridan and Cody hold small supplier and ag-equipment shops. The wind-energy build-out across southeast Wyoming has added some component and tower-related machining demand.
Pay context
BLS OES reports a Wyoming median of $64,020 for machinists, among the higher in the country for a state with limited production-manufacturing. The wage reflects scarcity of skilled labor and the energy-and-mining maintenance focus of the work. No state income tax improves take-home; cost of living in Casper, Cheyenne, and Gillette is below national averages.
Training pathway
Casper College, Laramie County Community College (Cheyenne), Western Wyoming Community College (Rock Springs), and Eastern Wyoming College (Torrington) all offer welding-and-machining coursework, with Casper College's program the most established for production CNC. Wyoming has a small registered-apprenticeship system; most entry is community college plus direct hire or on-the-job training inside maintenance shops. NIMS credentialing is recognized at most major employers.
Considerations
If you want oil-and-gas, mining, or wind-energy-equipment maintenance machining in a low-population, low-cost-of-living state with no state income tax, Wyoming pays at a respectable median for the population size. If you want production-manufacturing depth, programmer career ladders, or aerospace specialty work, the state is thin and most career-stage machinists migrate to Colorado, Utah, or Texas. Verify travel expectations; many Wyoming machinist roles include remote field rotation.
Wyoming machinist snapshot
| MSA | Employed | Median wage |
|---|---|---|
| Casper, WY | 120 | $61,140 |
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.