Machinist Apprenticeship in Alabama
Machinists set up and operate the lathes, mills, and CNC machines that turn raw metal into precision parts — aerospace components, medical devices, automotive internals. The job mixes shop-floor operation with blueprint reading, CAM programming, and quality inspection.
Machinist Apprenticeship in Alabama: Quick Facts
What apprenticeship means here
A registered machinist apprenticeship in Alabama combines paid on-the-job training with classroom instruction. Programs typically run 4.0 years and follow a time-based structure. You earn wages from day one — apprentices are employees, not students.
Alabama pay vs. national
Median machinist wages in Alabama are $53,320/year, -5% below the national median of $56,150. Wages scale with experience — journey-level workers earn substantially more than apprentices.
Where to find programs
Alabama has 9 registered apprenticeship sponsors for machinist listed in the U.S. Department of Labor's apprenticeship.gov directory. The sponsor list further down includes joint labor-management programs (JATCs), individual employers, and contractor associations.
Job-market outlook
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects 0.0% job growth for machinists nationally between 2024 and 2034, with approximately 29,500 annual openings each year (replacement plus growth combined). Apprenticeship demand tends to track local construction and infrastructure spending — Alabama-specific outlook can vary from national figures.
Alabama Wage Spread
Annual wages for Machinists in Alabama across all experience levels.
Current Machinist Apprenticeship Openings in Alabama
No machinist apprenticeship openings are currently listed on apprenticeship.gov for Alabama. The sponsors listed below accept applications on a rolling basis — contact them directly. Consider setting up an alert on apprenticeship.gov to be notified when new listings are posted.
Listings aggregated from apprenticeship.gov (US Dept. of Labor). Data refreshed daily.
Machinist Apprenticeship Sponsors in Alabama
9 machinist-related registered sponsors identified in the DOL ApprenticeshipUSA directory for Alabama. Directory lists sponsor names only — contact each organization directly to confirm current machinist apprenticeship openings.
| Organization | City |
|---|---|
| Tenneco (Tool & Die) | Athens |
| Precision Grinding, Inc., DBA PGI Steel | Birmingham |
| Steward Machine | Birmingham |
| Steward Machine Company | Birmingham |
| Dixie Machine Shop | Fort Payne |
| M1 Support Services LP and Int Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers | Fort Rucker |
| Cook's Saw Manufacturing, LLC | Newton |
| BASIC IAMAW-711 | Sheffield |
| Lewis Precision and CNC, Inc. | Theodore |
Filter by occupation code 51-4041 and state AL for the most relevant results.
Machinist Apprenticeship in Alabama
Alabama has only 9 Machinist-adjacent registered sponsors in our directory — program slots may be competitive and early applications give the best shot at placement. Direct outreach to union halls in the state's largest cities often matters more than formal application windows.
Frequently Asked Questions
Prefer Trade School Instead?
Apprenticeships pay from day one, but the classroom-first path may fit better for some. Machinists also train through trade school programs — shorter timeline, more upfront cost.