You make and repair tooling — fixtures, jigs, dies, gages, and the precision tooling that production processes depend on — using machine tools, hand work, and the practical skills of precision metalwork.
Tool Maker pay typically runs $82K–$130K at this level, and jobs in this field are projected to grow 9% through 2034.
Most days tend to involve a blend of machining, fitting and finishing, and shop floor work — running mills, lathes, grinders, EDM, and other machines to produce or repair tooling, and doing the precision hand work that finishes tools to working tolerances. You'll often spend part of the time on measurement and inspection that tool work requires.
The harder part is often the precision the work requires combined with the long arc of skill development — toolmaking takes years to develop, and the craft is genuinely demanding. You'll typically work in close coordination with engineering, production, and shop colleagues, where senior toolmakers often shape what's actually achievable.
People who tend to thrive here are mechanically grounded, patient with precision work, and committed to the craft of toolmaking. The trade-off is the workforce reality — toolmaking is a chronic shortage skill — and the physical demand of shop work. If you find satisfaction in the precision craft of producing tooling that production runs on, the work has a quiet, deep professional pride.
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Where this role sits in the broader career landscape — and where it can take you.
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Roles like this one sit within a broader occupational category. The numbers below reflect that full landscape — helpful for context, but your specific experience will depend on level, specialty, and where you work.
Roles with similar work and overlapping career paths
View all Engineering roles →You make and repair tooling — fixtures, jigs, dies, gages, and the precision tooling that production processes depend on — using machine tools, hand work, and the practical skills of precision metalwork.
Median pay for a Tool Maker is about $102K nationally, with the field ranging roughly from $69K to $161K depending on experience, employer, and metro (BLS).
Core skills for this role include Active Listening, Reading Comprehension, Critical Thinking, Judgment and Decision Making, and Mathematics.
Most people in this role hold a bachelor's degree.
Employment in this field is projected to grow about 9.1% through 2034, with roughly 286,760 people working in it today (BLS).
Closely related roles include Senior Mechanical Project Engineer, Senior Field Service Engineer, and Sheet Metal Engineer.
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