Updated
PERM occupation, SOC 51-4041.00, #494 of 1,410 by filings
Machinists
- Biggest sponsor
- CS PRECISION MANUFACTURING, INC. · 19% of its filings
- Busiest state
- NE · 19% of its filings
- Major group
- Production · SOC 51
Weighing an offer for this job?
Where it falls among certified offers, and the four wage levels DOL sets for it by area.
This rate is level with the field
Over 40 decided filings, this rate can't be told apart from the field in either direction.
Why
The 95% interval runs up to a 12.9% denial rate, which still covers the 3.20% the field as a whole records.
Median wage
$50,877
all PERM $103,272
Filings
42
#494 of 1,410
Approval
97.5%
field 96.8%
Median days
490
13 slower than the field
What it pays
Where its median offer sits among every occupation, then the whole ladder of certified offers by year and by state.
Median offered wage
$50,877above 34%
Approval rate
97.5%ahead of 60%
Median days to decision
490 daysahead of 7%
Each bar counts occupations at that value. More
Who files it
The sponsors and firms with the most PERM filings under this code, the places the work sits, and who the workers were.
Sponsors filing it
- CS PRECISION MANUFACTURING, INC. 8 filings
- D-Tek Manufacturing 3 filings
- Cajun Sugar Company, LLC 2 filings
- American Industrial Motorworks Inc. 1 filings
- ATI Performance Products, Inc. 1 filings
- BCnC USA Inc 1 filings
How this is counted
The employers with the most applications under this code. 16 of 42 filings, 38% of the total.
Firms filing it
- Najla Abu-Shaaban & Associates PC 8 filings
- Law Offices of Brenda J. DeArmas-Ricci 3 filings
- Marcin Muszynski Esquire 3 filings
- Robert Mullins International 3 filings
- Kurczaba & Brozek Law Offices, LLC 2 filings
- BUSINESS AND IMMIGRATION LAWYERS PC 1 filings
How this is counted
The law firms named on the most applications under this code. 20 of 42 filings, 48% of the total.
Where the jobs are
- Nebraska 8
- California 6
- Texas 6
- Florida 4
- Louisiana 3
- Connecticut 2
How this is counted
The worksite state on the application, which is where the job is and not where the company is headquartered. Volume by state across everyone is on the state map. These 6 states cover 29 of 42 filings.
Where the work is
- Gering, NE 8
- Santa Clara, CA 3
- Dallas, TX 2
- New Iberia, LA 2
- South Windsor, CT 2
- Alsip, IL 1
How this is counted
The worksite city on the application, which is where the job is. These 6 cities cover 18 of 42 filings.
- Every sponsor that files it, by state, approval rate, offered wage and time to a decision
- Every filing for it, PERM, wage requests and H-1B, case by case
Newspapers it advertised in
- 8 cases
STAR-HERALD
- 3 cases
The Dallas Morning News
- 3 cases
The Mercury News
- 2 cases
The Acadiana Advocate Newspaper
- 2 cases
Chicago Sun-Times
- 2 cases
Hartford Courant
How this is counted
The newspaper or professional journal named for each case's two print ads, one count per paper per case, however the filer spelled it.
Additional steps it used
- 5 cases
Job search websites
- 4 cases
Local or ethnic newspapers
- 2 cases
The employer's website
- 2 cases
Radio or TV ads
- 1 cases
Private employment firms
- 1 cases
Trade or professional organizations
How this is counted
The steps a professional job needs beyond the job order and the ads, by the number of cases that name each.
How long before filing it began
- 0.0%
Under 30 days
- 0.0%
30 to 59 days
- 21%
60 to 89 days
- 17%
90 to 119 days
- 7.1%
120 to 149 days
- 55%
150 to 180 days
- 0.0%
Over 180 days
How this is counted
Days from the first recruitment step to the filing. 20 C.F.R. § 656.17(e) puts the job order and ads 30 to 180 days before filing.
The job itself
What O*NET says the work is, what the market pays it by BLS's survey, its outlook, and DOL's wage levels year by year.
- United States287,050 jobs
- Northwest Nebraska nonmetropolitan areaGering
- San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CASanta Clara
- Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TXDallas
- Southwest Louisiana nonmetropolitan areaNew Iberia
- Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CTSouth Windsor
- middle half of pay (BLS)
- median
- 10th to 90th percentile
- DOL's Levels I to IV, left to right
- median PERM offer
| Area | BLS median | Level I | Level II | Level III | Level IV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | $58,750 | ||||
| Northwest Nebraska nonmetropolitan area | — | $39,312 | $45,240 | $51,189 | $57,117 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | $63,540 | $47,798 | $58,365 | $68,910 | $79,477 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | $59,830 | $43,493 | $52,208 | $60,944 | $69,659 |
| Southwest Louisiana nonmetropolitan area | $59,670 | $44,762 | $51,896 | $59,051 | $66,186 |
| Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT | $64,320 | $47,278 | $56,306 | $65,333 | $74,360 |
How these figures fit together
BLS surveys employers on what they pay everyone in a job; DOL builds its four levels from the same survey a year later (the July 2026 wage year uses BLS's May 2025 estimates). DOL publishes levels by area, not nationally, so the United States line has none. Levels are hourly in DOL's tables; here they're shown a year at 2,080 hours, as DOL computes them. The metros are the ones holding the most of this job's PERM filings, placed by Census's county files.
The block is the middle half of what employers report paying everyone in this job, citizen or not; the ticks under it are DOL's four prevailing wage levels for that metro, the floors a PERM or H-1B offer is held to. More
DOL's levels for this job in Northwest Nebraska nonmetropolitan area, year by year
Each July DOL resets the four levels from BLS's newest survey. A determination keeps the figures of the year it was issued in.
| Wage year | Level I | Level II | Level III | Level IV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | $39,312 | $45,240 | $51,189 | $57,117 |
| 2025-26 | $36,421 | $42,307 | $48,194 | $54,080 |
| 2024-25 | $32,677 | $39,000 | $45,323 | $51,646 |
| 2023-24 | $31,741 | $38,168 | $44,595 | $51,022 |
| 2022-23 | $31,554 | $37,107 | $42,682 | $48,235 |
| 2021-22 | $29,141 | $32,781 | $36,421 | $40,061 |
What the job is
Set up and operate a variety of machine tools to produce precision parts and instruments out of metal. Includes precision instrument makers who fabricate, modify, or repair mechanical instruments. May also fabricate and modify parts to make or repair machine tools or maintain industrial machines, applying knowledge of mechanics, mathematics, metal properties, layout, and machining procedures.
- Preparation
- Medium Preparation Needed
- O*NET Job Zone 3
- DOL's education basis
- High school diploma or equivalent
- Wage year 2026-27
- Jobs, 2025 to 2035
- +1.0%
- About 26,100 openings a year (BLS)
- Typical entry
- High school diploma or equivalent
- BLS
The work, most important first
- Calculate dimensions or tolerances, using instruments, such as micrometers or vernier calipers.
- Machine parts to specifications, using machine tools, such as lathes, milling machines, shapers, or grinders.
- Measure, examine, or test completed units to check for defects and ensure conformance to specifications, using precision instruments, such as micrometers.
- Set up, adjust, or operate basic or specialized machine tools used to perform precision machining operations.
- Program computers or electronic instruments, such as numerically controlled machine tools.
- Study sample parts, blueprints, drawings, or engineering information to determine methods or sequences of operations needed to fabricate products.
The education workers in it report
- 14%
Less than a High School Diploma
- 36%
High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED)
- 33%
Post-Secondary Certificate
- 17%
Some College Courses
Titles people use for it
CNC Machinist (Computer Numeric Controlled Machinist), Machinist, Maintenance Machinist, Tool Room Machinist, CNC Machinist (Computer Numerically Controlled Machinist), Gear Machinist, Machine Repair Person, Manual Lathe Machinist.
Related jobs: Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Operators, Milling and Planing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic, Tool and Die Makers, Lathe and Turning Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic, Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Programmers, Multiple Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic.
This section includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database and O*NET OnLine by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. PERM Tracker has modified some of this information (the shares are rounded and only the top tasks are shown); what changed. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.
Against other jobs
Where this sits in the ranking
Ranked 494 of 1,410 by volume: 493 filed at least as many filings, and 916 filed no more.
- Just above
- Marine Engineers and Naval Architects 42 filings
- Just below
- Highway Maintenance Workers 42 filings
Other production roles
Occupations sharing this one's SOC major group, which is carried in the first two digits of the code. More
Occupations sharing this one's SOC major group, which is carried in the first two digits of the code. Wages inside a group still swing hard, because the group holds every seniority level and every metro.
- #491 FirstLine Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers 43 filings · 7 denied
- #527 Extruding, Forming, Pressing, and Compacting Machine Setters, Operators, and Ten 33 filings · none denied
- #533 Molders, Shapers, and Casters, Except Metal and Plastic 32 filings · none denied
- #442 RECYCLING AND RECLAMATION WORKER 56 filings · 2 denied
- #551 Food Processing Workers, All Other 28 filings · none denied
- #435 Sewing Machine Operators 58 filings · 1 denied
The same job on H-1B
11 certified H-1B labor condition applications for this occupation since FY2020, offering a median of $44,554 a year; the middle half ran $38,054 to $48,941. By state and year in the salary explorer.
Notes on these numbers
Reading the wage
A floor, not a salary survey: every level and metro mixed. DOL's four wage levels for this job, by area.
What the median is
The median wage employers committed to in federal filings for this occupation. It mixes every experience level and every metro, and it's a floor: the employer must offer at least the prevailing wage DOL determines for the occupation, level and county. Across all PERM filings the middle half of offered wages runs $45,178 to $141,357, so a figure inside that band is unremarkable whichever occupation it belongs to. The levels page reads DOL's OFLC wage search live.
What these numbers don't say
4 notes
- The code is the identity
- This one is SOC 51-4041.00. Two SOC codes can carry the same job title, so a title that looks duplicated on the ranking is two different occupations. Match on the code when you're checking a specific filing.
- A median isn’t an offer
- It's the middle of all 42 wages committed to for this occupation across the country, entry level and principal alike. The same role's medians swing hard by worksite, which the state map shows directly.
- Approval isn’t about the occupation
- The denial rate moves with what happened in the filing rather than with the job title, so nothing here is a property of Machinists. The measured factors are on the denial risk page, published as separate rates.
- Nothing here is pending
- All 42 counted here carry a decision date, because every case in DOL's disclosure files does, so a case still waiting is in none of them. The largest filer of this occupation is CS PRECISION MANUFACTURING, INC.. Where the queue stands today is on the processing times page.
The window these figures cover: DOL's PERM disclosure files for fiscal years 2024 to 2026, through the third quarter of 2026, 373,939 decided cases. Nothing pending is counted here. How each figure is built
Weighing an offer?
Compare it against this median, then check the state map, where the same occupation's medians swing hard by worksite.
Setting one?
All 1,410 occupations sort together on the wages page, and denial rates show how outcome moves with the offered wage.
Filings newer than DOL's last published file can't be attributed to this occupation until DOL publishes them. The live list on the case search page carries them by employer.
Case data: DOL quarterly disclosure files (flag.dol.gov) · data through Jun 30, 2026 · quarterly
Employers and firms: Derived from DOL's disclosure files · data through Jun 30, 2026 · rebuilt with each quarterly load
O*NET occupation data: O*NET Database, USDOL/ETA (onetcenter.org) · data through Aug 16, 2026 · twice a year
BLS market pay: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (bls.gov) · data through May 31, 2025 · yearly, each spring
BLS employment projections: BLS Employment Projections (bls.gov) · data through Dec 31, 2025 · yearly, each autumn
DOL wage tables: DOL OFLC wage data downloads (flag.dol.gov) · data through Jul 1, 2026 · yearly, each july
What each source includes
Case data: Decided PERM cases only. A case still waiting isn't in here, so counts and durations describe finished cases.
Employers and firms: Employers, law firms and occupations ranked from decided cases only.
O*NET occupation data: What O*NET says each occupation is and takes: its description, tasks, Job Zone and the education workers report. A description of the job everywhere, not of any one employer's opening.
BLS market pay: What employers report paying everyone in each job, nationally, by state and by metro, from BLS's yearly survey (May of the year named). Citizens and immigrants alike; not PERM offers.
BLS employment projections: BLS's ten-year projection of each job's employment and yearly openings, and the entry education it calls typical. A projection, not a count.
DOL wage tables: The four prevailing wage levels DOL publishes for every job in every area, each wage year from 2021-22, as DOL's own tables print them. The floors an offer is held to, not what anyone was paid.
Cite this page
Waiting on a PERM case?
- When it'll likely be decided
- An email when DOL moves it