How much do tool and die makers make in 2026?
Tool and die makers have their own BLS wage series: OEWS May 2025 gives the SOC 51-4111 national median as $64,050 a year ($30.79 an hour), with the bottom 10% near $44,680 and the top 10% at $92,680. This trade requires an honest framing, because the numbers point in two directions at once. It is among the most demanding skilled trades in manufacturing — building and maintaining the dies, moulds, jigs and fixtures that mass production depends on, working to tolerances measured in thousandths, combining precision machining, grinding, fitting, heat treatment knowledge and problem-solving that takes years to develop. And yet employment is projected to decline substantially, by 10.8% through 2034. The causes are structural: tooling work has moved offshore over decades, additive manufacturing and rapid tooling have replaced some traditional die work, and consolidation has concentrated the remaining work in fewer shops. What still pays well is die maintenance and repair in production plants — stamping and moulding operations cannot run without it and cannot easily offshore an urgent repair — plus mould making for medical and precision applications and tooling work in aerospace and defence. Experienced toolmakers also transition readily into CNC programming, manufacturing engineering and machine building, where their process understanding is genuinely rare. Employment is projected to change by -10.8% through 2034 with roughly 4,700 openings a year. → Full tool and die maker career guide, career path, credentials & placement →
Note: $64,050 blends every experience level and every setting in this occupation. For pay by level alone, see Pay by Level below.
- Tool and Die Makers earn a national median $64,050/yr ($30.79/hr) (BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 51-4111); the P10 to P90 range is $44,680 to $92,680.
- Employment is projected to decline 10.8% through 2034 — a genuine structural decline driven by offshoring, rapid tooling and consolidation, not a cyclical dip.
- Die maintenance and repair inside production plants remains resilient, because stamping and moulding operations cannot offshore an urgent repair.
- Toolmakers transition readily into CNC programming, manufacturing engineering and machine building, where their process understanding is genuinely scarce.
US Tool and Die Maker Pay Distribution · BLS OEWS May 2025
Pay by Level · BLS OEWS May 2025
How much do tool and die makers earn at each level?
BLS OEWS publishes one blended wage for the whole occupation and does not break pay out by credential or practice level. The levels below distribute the published percentile range across the credential tiers this role actually hires at.
Level medians are aligned to the BLS OEWS May 2025 percentile distribution for SOC 51-4111; GlobalCybers does not yet publish a verified placement sample for this role, so no verified median is shown.
Methodology & Sources
How the numbers on this page are built
Published (BLS): BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 51-4111, United States national estimate. Public, methodologically rigorous, but sampled on a rolling 3-year basis and published ~10 months after collection — so it reflects wages that are already 1–2 years old by the time you read them.
Level and certification medians: distributed across the published BLS percentile range for this SOC code (P10 through P90) according to the credential tiers this occupation actually hires at. They are modeled reference points, not separately surveyed wages.
State and metro figures: modeled — the BLS national median multiplied by the GlobalCybers state wage index, and for metros by the published metro index for that state. They are estimates of local pay, not BLS state or metropolitan-area observations, and are labelled as modeled in the tables below.
No verified placement sample:GlobalCybers does not yet publish a placement median for this role, so no "verified" figure appears anywhere on this page.
Pay by Career Level
How much does a tool and die maker earn at each career stage?
Tool and die pay follows precision capability and the criticality of the tooling maintained. Each median is anchored to the BLS OEWS distribution for SOC 51-4111.
By State
Which states pay tool and die makers the most in 2026?
State figures are modeled estimates — the BLS national median multiplied by the GlobalCybers salary-calculator state wage index — not BLS state observations. Tooling employment concentrates in traditional manufacturing states with stamping and moulding operations, so the industrial geography matters more than the wage index.
6 of 51 state guides shown, ranked by median. Bar is relative to California ($73,660), the highest-paying state shown. See all 51 state salary guides →
By Metro
Which cities pay tool and die makers the most?
Metro figures are modeled — national median times state wage index times published metro index — not BLS MSA observations. Tool rooms sit inside manufacturing plants and in specialist shops clustered around automotive, appliance and medical device manufacturing.
BLS OEWS MSA estimates, May 2025. Nominal pay — weigh each metro against its cost of living before relocating.
Certification Impact
Which certifications raise a tool and die maker’s pay the most?
Median annual pay before and after each credential, based on GlobalCybers placement data cross-referenced with BLS. License upgrades move the needle most; stackable certs add on top.
Impacts are not additive, the licensing rows share the same career ladder. Browse all 167 certifications →
Trade Comparison
How does tool and die maker pay compare to related roles?
BLS OEWS national median across the closest trades. Tool and Die Makers sit mid-pack on median but carry one of the widest P10–P90 spreads, licensing and specialization drive the upside.
BLS OEWS May 2025. Verify tool and die maker wages on BLS.gov →
Take-Home Pay
What does a tool and die maker actually take home after taxes?
The medians above are gross base wage.
Estimates use 2026 federal brackets, standard deduction, and 7.65% FICA. Actual take-home varies with filing status, deductions, and local tax.
FAQ
Tool and Die Maker Salary, Frequently Asked Questions
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