Best Metal Worker programs in Virginia, ranked by enrollment
All metal workers and plastic workers not listed.
9 schools in Virginia run programs that feed this job, graduating 220 people a year. The job pays a median of $51,690 in Virginia across about 130 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Virginia that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
1 programs in Virginia that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Virginia (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 Virginia page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 48.0599In Virginia → | 220 | 100.0% | 9 | $36,566 | $9,429 |
Top 9 schools in Virginia
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 5 of the 9 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Central Virginia Community College Lynchburg, VA Public · 1 feeder programs | 101 | Precision Metal Working, Other | $37,281 | 45% | — | — |
| 2 | Wytheville Community College Wytheville, VA Public · 1 feeder programs | 34 | Precision Metal Working, Other | — | 47% | — | — |
| 3 | New River Community College Dublin, VA Public · 1 feeder programs | 27 | Precision Metal Working, Other | — | 50% | — | — |
| 4 | Virginia Highlands Community College Abingdon, VA Public · 1 feeder programs | 24 | Precision Metal Working, Other | $21,472 | 40% | — | — |
| 5 | Danville Community College Danville, VA Public · 1 feeder programs | 11 | Precision Metal Working, Other | — | 39% | — | — |
| 6 | Tidewater Community College Norfolk, VA Public · 1 feeder programs | 9 | Precision Metal Working, Other | $23,785 | 32% | — | — |
| 7 | Southwest Virginia Community College Cedar Bluff, VA Public · 1 feeder programs | 8 | Precision Metal Working, Other | — | 46% | — | — |
| 8 | Brightpoint Community College Chester, VA Public · 1 feeder programs | 5 | Precision Metal Working, Other | $39,273 | 38% | — | — |
| 9 | Patrick & Henry Community College Martinsville, VA Public · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Precision Metal Working, Other | $37,030 | 42% | — | — |
All 9 schools in Virginia
Every school in Virginia 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central Virginia Community College | Lynchburg | Public | 101 | 1 |
| Wytheville Community College | Wytheville | Public | 34 | 1 |
| New River Community College | Dublin | Public | 27 | 1 |
| Virginia Highlands Community College | Abingdon | Public | 24 | 1 |
| Danville Community College | Danville | Public | 11 | 1 |
| Tidewater Community College | Norfolk | Public | 9 | 1 |
| Southwest Virginia Community College | Cedar Bluff | Public | 8 | 1 |
| Brightpoint Community College | Chester | Public | 5 | 1 |
| Patrick & Henry Community College | Martinsville | Public | 1 | 1 |
What metal workers and plastic workers, all other earn in Virginia
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $45,950. Virginia pays above the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in Virginia
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, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Metal Workers and Plastic Workers, All Other page.
How to become a Metal Worker
- Typical entry education
- High school diploma or equivalent
- On-the-job training
- Moderate-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 3 majors mapped to Metal Workers and Plastic Workers, All Other3 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
- 48.0599Precision Metal Working, Other
Common questions
Answers for people weighing metal workers and plastic workers, all other programs in Virginia.
What degree do you need to become a Metal Worker?+
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 Precision Metal Working, Other, which awarded 220 degrees in Virginia in 2024-25, 100.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Metal Worker?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Precision Metal Working. Together they graduate about 220 people a year in Virginia.
How much do metal workers and plastic workers, all other earn in Virginia?+
The median is $51,690 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 12.5% above the U.S. median of $45,950. 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 metal workers and plastic workers, all other growing?+
BLS projects a -9.5% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, decline, with roughly 1,700 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Virginia?+
9 institutions in Virginia 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.
Do you need training or experience beyond a degree?+
BLS lists 'None' for related work experience and 'Moderate-term on-the-job training' for on-the-job training typically needed to reach competency.
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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