Best programs to become a machinist in Alaska
1 Alaska school offers programs that train machinists, graduating 5 people a year. Machinists in Alaska earn a median of $77,670 across about 120 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
You do not need a college degree to become a machinist. The field of study that leads most directly to this job in Alaska is Machine Shop Technology/Assistant (IPEDS completions). BLS lists a high school diploma or equivalent as the typical entry-level education.
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.
1 program in Alaska that leads to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Alaska (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Alaska page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 48.0503In Alaska → | 5 | 100.0% | 1 | $36,566 | $9,429 |
Top 1 schools in Alaska
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 1 of the 1 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alaska Vocational Technical Center Seward, AK Public · 1 feeder program | 5 | Machine Shop Technology/Assistant | $38,973 | 100% | — | — |
All 1 schools in Alaska
Every school in Alaska with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alaska Vocational Technical Center | Seward | Public | 5 | 1 |
Fields of study in Alaska that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
What machinists earn in Alaska
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $58,750. Alaska pays above the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in Alaska
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Machinists page.
How to become a machinist
- Typical entry education
- High school diploma or equivalent
- On-the-job training
- Long-term on-the-job training
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 2 majors mapped to Machinists2 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 48.0501Machine Tool Technology/Machinist
- 48.0503Machine Shop Technology/Assistant
Common questions
Answers for people weighing machinists programs in Alaska.
What degree do you need to become a machinist?+
You do not need a college degree to become a machinist. The field of study that leads most directly to this job in Alaska is Machine Shop Technology/Assistant (IPEDS completions). BLS lists a high school diploma or equivalent as the typical entry-level education.
Which college majors lead to becoming a machinist?+
The field of study that leads most directly to this job in Alaska is Machine Shop Technology/Assistant (IPEDS completions). In all, 1 feeder program graduates about 5 people a year in Alaska (IPEDS completions).
How much do machinists earn in Alaska?+
The median is $77,670 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 32.2% above the U.S. median of $58,750. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for machinists growing?+
BLS projects a +0.0% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, little or no change, with roughly 29,500 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Alaska?+
1 institutions in Alaska reported graduates from at least one of the 1 program that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do machinists work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Machinist, Tool Room Machinist, Maintenance Machinist, CNC Machinist (Computer Numeric Controlled Machinist) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 51-4041.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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