Illinois·Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Occupations·SOC 49-9044

Best Millwright programs in Illinois, ranked by enrollment

Install, dismantle, or move machinery and heavy equipment according to layout plans, blueprints, or other.

21 schools in Illinois run programs that feed this job, graduating 372 people a year. The job pays a median of $66,640 in Illinois across about 2,160 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledMillwrightMillwright ForemanMillwright InstructorMaintenance MillwrightMoverMechanicGear RepairerMachine Mover
Graduates / yr
372
in Illinois
Median pay · Illinois
$66,640
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
2,160
people employed
Schools
21
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
44%
across those schools
Median net price
$25,788
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Illinois that lead to this job

Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.

1 programs in Illinois that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Illinois (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 Illinois page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1
CIP 47.0303In Illinois
372
100.0%
21$51,920$9,786

Top 21 schools in Illinois

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 1 of the 21 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Joliet Junior College
Joliet, IL Public · 1 feeder programs
72Industrial Mechanics and Maintenance Technology/Technician21%
2Rend Lake College
Ina, IL Public · 1 feeder programs
72Industrial Mechanics and Maintenance Technology/Technician$61,67763%
3Universal Technical Institute of Illinois Inc
Lisle, IL Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
44Industrial Mechanics and Maintenance Technology/Technician63%$25,788
4Kaskaskia College
Centralia, IL Public · 1 feeder programs
37Industrial Mechanics and Maintenance Technology/Technician49%
5Elgin Community College
Elgin, IL Public · 1 feeder programs
27Industrial Mechanics and Maintenance Technology/Technician41%
6Heartland Community College
Normal, IL Public · 1 feeder programs
26Industrial Mechanics and Maintenance Technology/Technician54%
7Illinois Central College
East Peoria, IL Public · 1 feeder programs
24Industrial Mechanics and Maintenance Technology/Technician49%
8City Colleges of Chicago - Richard J Daley College
Chicago, IL Public · 1 feeder programs
16Industrial Mechanics and Maintenance Technology/Technician27%
9Illinois Valley Community College
Oglesby, IL Public · 1 feeder programs
10Industrial Mechanics and Maintenance Technology/Technician42%
10Southwestern Illinois College
Belleville, IL Public · 1 feeder programs
10Industrial Mechanics and Maintenance Technology/Technician36%
11Illinois Eastern Community Colleges
Olney, IL Public · 1 feeder programs
8Industrial Mechanics and Maintenance Technology/Technician63%
12College of Lake County
Grayslake, IL Public · 1 feeder programs
5Industrial Mechanics and Maintenance Technology/Technician37%
13John Wood Community College
Quincy, IL Public · 1 feeder programs
5Industrial Mechanics and Maintenance Technology/Technician49%
14Moraine Valley Community College
Palos Hills, IL Public · 1 feeder programs
3Industrial Mechanics and Maintenance Technology/Technician40%
15Richland Community College
Decatur, IL Public · 1 feeder programs
3Industrial Mechanics and Maintenance Technology/Technician60%
16Chicago Professional Center
Prospect Heights, IL Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
2Industrial Mechanics and Maintenance Technology/Technician
17Kankakee Community College
Kankakee, IL Public · 1 feeder programs
2Industrial Mechanics and Maintenance Technology/Technician32%
18Lincoln Land Community College
Springfield, IL Public · 1 feeder programs
2Industrial Mechanics and Maintenance Technology/Technician48%
19Prairie State College
Chicago Heights, IL Public · 1 feeder programs
2Industrial Mechanics and Maintenance Technology/Technician21%
20John A Logan College
Carterville, IL Public · 1 feeder programs
1Industrial Mechanics and Maintenance Technology/Technician46%
21Parkland College
Champaign, IL Public · 1 feeder programs
1Industrial Mechanics and Maintenance Technology/Technician32%

All 21 schools in Illinois

Every school in Illinois 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.

All schools in Illinois that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Joliet Junior CollegeJolietPublic721
Rend Lake CollegeInaPublic721
Universal Technical Institute of Illinois IncLislePrivate for-profit441
Kaskaskia CollegeCentraliaPublic371
Elgin Community CollegeElginPublic271
Heartland Community CollegeNormalPublic261
Illinois Central CollegeEast PeoriaPublic241
City Colleges of Chicago - Richard J Daley CollegeChicagoPublic161
Illinois Valley Community CollegeOglesbyPublic101
Southwestern Illinois CollegeBellevillePublic101
Illinois Eastern Community CollegesOlneyPublic81
College of Lake CountyGrayslakePublic51
John Wood Community CollegeQuincyPublic51
Moraine Valley Community CollegePalos HillsPublic31
Richland Community CollegeDecaturPublic31

What millwrights earn in Illinois

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in Illinois
$66,640
Mean annual
$70,530
Jobs in state
2,160
What the range looks like
10th pct$44,490Median$66,64090th pct$105,940
Versus the national median
+1.4%

U.S. median $65,700. Illinois pays above the national figure.

Job concentration
1.37×

Concentrated here: Illinois employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.

Metro areas in Illinois

Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN
$74,730median
1,490 jobs
Decatur, IL
$63,190median
180 jobs
Peoria, IL
$61,870median
60 jobs
Rockford, IL
$66,560median
60 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
0.0%
Little or no change
Openings per year
3,600
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
0
41,300 → 41,300
Typical entry education
High school diploma or equivalent
Plus apprenticeship

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, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Millwrights page.

How to become a Millwright

Job zone 2 of 5 · SVP Below 6.0
Typical entry education
High school diploma or equivalent
On-the-job training
Apprenticeship

Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.

Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience. For example, landscaping and groundskeeping workers might require very little training or previous experience, while agricultural equipment operators can benefit from on-the job training.

Ranges from a few days to one year of on-the-job training.

Top skills

Critical ThinkingActive ListeningMonitoringReading ComprehensionSpeakingLearning Strategies

The same job in other states

Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.

Related careers in Illinois

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 1 majors mapped to Millwrights1 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 47.0303Industrial Mechanics and Maintenance Technology/Technician

Common questions

Answers for people weighing millwrights programs in Illinois.

What degree do you need to become a Millwright?+

High school diploma or equivalent is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Industrial Mechanics and Maintenance Technology/Technician, which awarded 372 degrees in Illinois in 2024-25, 100.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a Millwright?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Heavy/Industrial Equipment Maintenance Technologies/Technicians. Together they graduate about 372 people a year in Illinois.

How much do millwrights earn in Illinois?+

The median is $66,640 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 1.4% above the U.S. median of $65,700. 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 millwrights growing?+

BLS projects a +0.0% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, little or no change, with roughly 3,600 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in Illinois?+

21 institutions in Illinois reported graduates from at least one of the 1 programs 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 millwrights work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Millwright, Millwright Foreman, Millwright Instructor, Maintenance Millwright among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 49-9044.

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 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected 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 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, 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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