TradeFooting
Paid apprenticeship

AJAC - Production Apprenticeship Committee

Machinist (Aircraft Oriented)

Kent, Washington · Union · SOC 51-4041

Tuition
$0

Registered apprenticeships are paid employment.

Year-one pay
$17.13/hr

First step on the registered wage scale.

Journey rate
$28.55/hr

Paid once you turn out, not during the term.

Term
8,000 hours

Plus 600 hours of classroom instruction.

Four years from now

Our estimate, calculated by TradeFooting from this program's published first-step wage, journey rate and registered term. The registry publishes those three facts. The projection below is ours, and the workings are shown.

YearRateGross pay
Year 1$18.02/hr$36,044
Year 2$19.81/hr$39,613
Year 3$21.59/hr$43,182
Year 4$23.38/hr$46,751
Total earned$165,590
Tuition paid$0
Debt$0
How this is worked out
  • Assumes 2,000 paid hours a year. No overtime.
  • Pay rises evenly from the registered first step to the registered journey rate. Real schedules usually rise faster later, so the early years here are, if anything, generous and the four-year total is not overstated.
  • Gross pay before tax. Tools, dues and exam fees are not deducted.
  • The first-step and journey rates are published by the registry. The steps between them are not, so they are spread evenly across the term.

What machinists earn in Washington

$66,160median, per year

Half earn more, half less, across all experience levels. National median $58,750.

US Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS · SOC 51-4041 · survey 2025-05 · retrieved 2026-08-26

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