Occupation / job
Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Programmers
Median annual pay. Half earn less than this.
Hourly at a standard 2,080-hour year. We do not yet have unpaid-time or cost data for this, so this is not an adjusted figure.
The middle half. A quarter earn below this range.
Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 · view
What this figure cannot tell you
It covers people EMPLOYED in this occupation. Anyone who trained for it and was never hired is not in the median above, and neither is anyone doing the work self-employed. No verified count of qualified people exists for this occupation, so this page shows none rather than an estimate. Why that matters · The occupations where we could source it
Who this suits
A midpoint of $68,120 against $50,020 means Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Programmers pays $1,508 a month more than the typical American job. At that distance the entry requirement is the real subject, because it is what the premium is buying.
At 28,500 employed, this is a mid-sized occupation. In a normal city that means several possible employers and a genuine market rate, which is the point at which knowing the numbers on this page starts to be worth money.
These roles suit people who want a fixed site, a known task and a shift that ends, and who would rather be reliable than promoted.
No verified preparation time is on file for Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Programmers. The wage survey behind every figure on this page asks employers what they pay, not what they required, so the honest answer here is that we do not know.
Who should not do this
The middle half runs $58,270 to $81,890 — $1,968 a month between the quarters, a 1.4x ratio. Spreads this narrow are usually set by a grade or a scale, so the negotiation you are imagining probably is not available.
The bottom quarter of Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Programmers earns $58,270 or more — $8,250 clear of the $50,020 national midpoint. Three quarters of the field is well paid and the last quarter is still paid better than most of the country.
Avoid it if repetitive work over years would grind you down, which for many people it does.
There is no failure rate on this page because there is nothing honest to divide by. BLS counted 28,500 people employed as Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Programmers; it did not count the people who trained for it and are doing something else, and a rate built without that denominator would be a number we made up.
What the spread tells you
Top quarter to bottom quarter is 1.4x. In a band that narrow, $68,120 is a genuinely representative number for Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Programmers and the main variable left is where you live.
Put in money rather than ratios: $58,270 at the 25th percentile, $68,120 at the midpoint, $81,890 at the 75th. $23,620 separates the quarter of Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Programmers at the bottom from the quarter at the top.
Getting to $81,890, the 75th percentile, is worth $13,770 a year more than the $68,120 midpoint and $23,620 more than the $58,270 a quarter of Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Programmers settle for.
$13,770 separates $68,120 from the $81,890 top quarter, while only $9,850 separates it from $58,270. The range leans upward, which means the middle of Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Programmers has more room above it than a symmetric reading of the median would suggest.
On a 2,080-hour year the midpoint for Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Programmers is $32.75 an hour. The quarters sit at $28.01 and $39.37, and the all-occupation midpoint at $24.04.
What these figures are, and what they are not
The $68,120 figure is what employers pay employees. It is before tax and before deductions, it excludes the self-employed entirely, and it says nothing about anyone who does this work on their own account.
The hourly number on this page is $68,120 divided by a 2,080-hour year and nothing more. We hold no unpaid-hours or cost data for Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Programmers, so it is arithmetic rather than an effective rate.
How this is calculated · Self-employment failure rates · What credentials cost and pay back · Look up something else