Last updated: April 19, 2026
Maintenance Technician Salary by State: 2026 Pay Data
Industrial maintenance is where a lot of manufacturing pain shows up first. A line goes down, a bottleneck forms, overtime piles up, and suddenly the pay band for the technician who can diagnose the fault matters a lot. In this dataset, Alaska leads published state median pay at $86,590, while West Virginia sits at $57,220. That's a $29,370 gap, or about 51%, before shift premiums and overtime even enter the picture.
We use O*NET OnLine wage tables backed by BLS data for state pay, plus BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook data and O*NET state trend pages for growth and openings. The closest standardized occupation to most factory maintenance technician roles is industrial machinery mechanics. Every key stat on this page links to its original source.
$63,760
National median annual pay, O*NET
16%
Projected national growth through 2034, BLS
45,700
Average annual US openings, BLS
$66,270
Average published state median in this dataset, O*NET
What's in this report
National maintenance technician pay snapshot
The national median pay for industrial machinery mechanics is $63,760, or $30.65 per hour. If someone asks, how much does a maintenance technician make in the United States, that is the cleanest national benchmark currently available. The BLS says the occupation employed about 439,600 people in 2024 and is projected to grow 16% from 2024 through 2034, much faster than average. That is a strong signal for plant managers and HR teams. Maintenance is not just another hourly line item. It is a bottleneck role with real scarcity pressure.
This job family usually covers troubleshooting conveyors, presses, CNC support equipment, motors, hydraulics, pneumatics, PLC-adjacent diagnostics, and the ugly middle ground between operations and engineering. Shops that run tight schedules know the cost of underpaying here. When you lose one experienced technician, downtime risk rises, PM completion slips, and junior techs spend more time firefighting than preventing failures.
The average salary question also needs context. Salary for a maintenance technician can move fast based on plant complexity, food safety requirements, union contracts, overtime structure, and how dependent the company is on automated equipment. In other words, the maintenance technician salary in United States manufacturing is not one flat number. It changes by state, by industry, and by how much power the technician has over uptime, troubleshooting speed, and production continuity.
1. National median annual pay is $63,760. O*NET national wage table
2. National median hourly pay is $30.65. O*NET national wage table
3. The occupation employed about 439,600 people in 2024. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook
4. BLS projects 16% growth and 45,700 annual openings. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook
5. The average published state median in this dataset is $66,270. O*NET state wage tables
Highest-paying states for maintenance technicians
The top of the pay table is not just a cost-of-living story. Alaska, Hawaii, Washington, California, and Massachusetts all rank high, but for different reasons. In some markets, a smaller industrial labor pool pushes pay up. In others, advanced manufacturing, aerospace, maritime, or high-throughput food production creates demand for technicians who can handle more complex equipment and more expensive downtime.
If you are benchmarking compensation, don't stop at median wage. Look at pay together with projected openings. A state can have a modest median but still be a hard recruiting market if plants are expanding fast or retirements are draining experienced maintenance talent.
| Rank | State | Median annual pay | Median hourly pay | Projected growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alaska | $86,590 | $41.63 | 17% |
| 2 | District of Columbia | $85,380 | $41.05 | 7% |
| 3 | Hawaii | $80,180 | $38.55 | 7% |
| 4 | Nevada | $75,490 | $36.29 | 32% |
| 5 | Washington | $75,220 | $36.16 | 15% |
| 6 | Wyoming | $74,510 | $35.82 | 18% |
| 7 | California | $73,840 | $35.50 | 17% |
| 8 | Connecticut | $73,530 | $35.35 | 21% |
| 9 | New Jersey | $73,000 | $35.10 | 17% |
| 10 | Oregon | $71,430 | $34.34 | 24% |
What stands out
Published median pay ranges from $57,220 to $86,590. That's a spread of $29,370, and it helps explain why multi-state manufacturers often struggle when they force one national pay band onto every plant. Top state source, bottom state source.
Lowest-paying states, and why they still matter
The lower end of the table includes West Virginia, Mississippi, Arkansas, South Dakota, and Kentucky. That does not mean these are easy hiring markets. Some of them have lower living costs, yes, but many also have concentrated manufacturing footprints where a small number of plants can absorb local technician talent quickly. A lower median wage can still produce hard-to-fill jobs when the work is dirty, the shift is rough, or the maintenance backlog is already high.
This matters for service companies too. If you sell CMMS, predictive maintenance, spare parts, recruiting, automation retrofit work, or maintenance training, states with lower wage medians can still be attractive markets. Lower pay often means plants are trying to do more with lean teams. That usually creates pain around breakdown response, overtime, and preventive maintenance execution.
| Rank | State | Median annual pay | Median hourly pay | Annual openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mississippi | $57,220 | $27.51 | 580 |
| 2 | Arkansas | $58,410 | $28.08 | 680 |
| 3 | New Mexico | $59,420 | $28.57 | 280 |
| 4 | South Dakota | $59,690 | $28.70 | 140 |
| 5 | Georgia | $60,100 | $28.89 | 1,450 |
| 6 | Florida | $60,340 | $29.01 | 1,750 |
| 7 | Alabama | $60,390 | $29.03 | 1,790 |
| 8 | North Carolina | $60,860 | $29.26 | 1,570 |
| 9 | South Carolina | $61,260 | $29.45 | 1,010 |
| 10 | Missouri | $61,270 | $29.46 | 590 |
Fastest-growth states for industrial maintenance demand
Growth is where the hiring pressure usually shows up first. Arizona, Nevada, Alabama, Texas, and Utah are among the strongest growth states in this dataset. That lines up with the manufacturing expansion story most plant leaders already feel on the ground, more automation, more reshoring-related investment, more lines to support, and more pressure to keep equipment availability high.
A fast-growth state is not automatically the highest-paying state yet. In practice, growth often shows up before wages fully reprice. That creates a window where companies still think they are paying market rate, but time-to-fill starts to stretch because the demand curve moved faster than compensation did.
| Rank | State | Projected growth | Current employment | Estimated future employment | Annual openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Utah | 38% | 3,680 | 5,078 | 470 |
| 2 | Nevada | 32% | 1,830 | 2,416 | 220 |
| 3 | Arizona | 30% | 3,850 | 5,005 | 460 |
| 4 | Idaho | 29% | 1,920 | 2,477 | 230 |
| 5 | Rhode Island | 28% | 810 | 1,037 | 90 |
| 6 | Tennessee | 28% | 9,000 | 11,520 | 1,040 |
| 7 | South Dakota | 27% | 1,250 | 1,588 | 140 |
| 8 | Texas | 27% | 43,080 | 54,712 | 4,910 |
| 9 | Georgia | 26% | 12,880 | 16,229 | 1,450 |
| 10 | South Carolina | 26% | 8,950 | 11,277 | 1,010 |
Estimated future employment is calculated from the published O*NET state employment base and the published state projected growth rate. Each row links to the underlying O*NET trend page.
States with the most annual maintenance technician openings
Absolute openings matter more than growth percentages when you're staffing teams or selling into maintenance-heavy plants. California, Texas, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Illinois post some of the biggest annual opening counts. These are large installed-base states. Even moderate growth can still translate into a lot of technicians needed every year because replacement demand is constant.
For agencies, software vendors, and industrial service firms, this is also a market-priority list. Large opening counts signal where hiring friction, downtime pressure, onboarding strain, and maintenance backlog risk are likely to stay persistent.
| Rank | State | Annual openings | Current employment | Median annual pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Texas | 4,910 | 43,080 | $61,590 |
| 2 | California | 2,940 | 29,300 | $73,840 |
| 3 | Michigan | 2,000 | 20,680 | $63,030 |
| 4 | Pennsylvania | 1,890 | 18,720 | $63,830 |
| 5 | Wisconsin | 1,890 | 16,970 | $64,520 |
| 6 | Alabama | 1,790 | 16,070 | $60,390 |
| 7 | Florida | 1,750 | 16,090 | $60,340 |
| 8 | North Carolina | 1,570 | 14,600 | $60,860 |
| 9 | Ohio | 1,560 | 15,730 | $63,650 |
| 10 | Indiana | 1,550 | 16,160 | $65,670 |
Regional pay patterns and maintenance pay trends
The regional pattern is pretty clear once you scan the full table. West Coast and non-contiguous markets push to the top on pay. The Midwest stays strong because of its deep installed manufacturing base. Southern states often show lower current median pay, but several of them post faster growth and large opening counts. That combination is one of the biggest pay trends in this occupation right now. Plants in growth markets are adding lines, adding automation, and then finding out that experienced maintenance coverage does not appear on demand.
This is where manufacturers can misread the market. A company sees that its state median is lower than Washington or California and assumes it has room to hold the line. But the local fight is not always against a coastal wage table. It is against other companies for maintenance talent in the same labor shed. Companies for maintenance hiring in Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, and Texas often compete on schedule quality, overtime burden, and advancement path as much as on base pay.
Another useful way to read the data is to separate stability from acceleration. States like Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Indiana still produce a heavy share of openings because the manufacturing footprint is large. States like Arizona, Idaho, Nevada, and Utah show faster acceleration. If you recruit nationally, that tells you where wage pressure is likely to keep moving. If you sell maintenance software or reliability services, it tells you where the pain is most likely to compound.
Practical takeaway
Maintenance technician salary in United States manufacturing should be read as a moving market, not a static benchmark. Use state medians for budgeting, growth rates for forecasting, and opening counts for sales and recruiting prioritization. Wage source, trend source example.
How maintenance pay compares with other manufacturing roles
Industrial maintenance technicians sit in an interesting pay lane. They typically earn more than machinists and welders at the national median, but far less than plant managers. That makes sense. Good maintenance technicians combine skilled-trades hands-on ability with systems thinking. They do not usually own the whole operation, but when equipment reliability slips, they are often the first people leadership turns to.
Nationally, maintenance pay is about 14% higher than machinist pay and about 25% higher than welder pay based on the cited national wage tables below. That's one reason many manufacturers lose mechanically strong production talent into maintenance tracks over time.
| Role | Median annual pay | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Industrial maintenance technicians | $63,760 | Original wage table |
| Machinists | $56,150 | Original wage table |
| Welders | $51,000 | Original wage table |
| Industrial production managers | $121,440 | Original wage table |
Maintenance technician salary by state, full table
This is the bookmarkable section. Every state row links directly to the wage source and the trend source. Colorado currently shows trend data on the O*NET side but no published wage estimate in the wage table, so we leave those pay cells blank instead of guessing.
| State | Median annual pay | Median hourly pay | Projected growth | Annual openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $60,390 | $29.03 | 25% | 1,790 |
| Alaska | $86,590 | $41.63 | 17% | 20 |
| Arizona | $64,840 | $31.17 | 30% | 460 |
| Arkansas | $58,410 | $28.08 | 22% | 680 |
| California | $73,840 | $35.50 | 17% | 2,940 |
| Colorado | Not published | Not published | 22% | 520 |
| Connecticut | $73,530 | $35.35 | 21% | 320 |
| Delaware | $65,560 | $31.52 | 23% | 90 |
| District of Columbia | $85,380 | $41.05 | 7% | 10 |
| Florida | $60,340 | $29.01 | 23% | 1,750 |
| Georgia | $60,100 | $28.89 | 26% | 1,450 |
| Hawaii | $80,180 | $38.55 | 7% | 60 |
| Idaho | $62,570 | $30.08 | 29% | 230 |
| Illinois | $66,770 | $32.10 | 18% | 890 |
| Indiana | $65,670 | $31.57 | 14% | 1,550 |
| Iowa | $65,090 | $31.30 | 23% | 730 |
| Kansas | $70,170 | $33.74 | 20% | 580 |
| Kentucky | $64,060 | $30.80 | 19% | 850 |
| Louisiana | $63,830 | $30.69 | 22% | 680 |
| Maine | $65,190 | $31.34 | 10% | 120 |
| Maryland | $64,080 | $30.81 | 22% | 350 |
| Massachusetts | $70,540 | $33.92 | 17% | 200 |
| Michigan | $63,030 | $30.30 | 14% | 2,000 |
| Minnesota | $68,160 | $32.77 | 21% | 710 |
| Mississippi | $57,220 | $27.51 | 23% | 580 |
| Missouri | $61,270 | $29.46 | 16% | 590 |
| Montana | $69,880 | $33.60 | 24% | 100 |
| Nebraska | $63,130 | $30.35 | 22% | 280 |
| Nevada | $75,490 | $36.29 | 32% | 220 |
| New Hampshire | $61,360 | $29.50 | 21% | 220 |
| New Jersey | $73,000 | $35.10 | 17% | 1,070 |
| New Mexico | $59,420 | $28.57 | 24% | 280 |
| New York | $67,010 | $32.22 | 4% | 0 |
| North Carolina | $60,860 | $29.26 | 22% | 1,570 |
| North Dakota | $65,070 | $31.29 | 23% | 230 |
| Ohio | $63,650 | $30.60 | 16% | 1,560 |
| Oklahoma | $62,530 | $30.06 | 16% | 470 |
| Oregon | $71,430 | $34.34 | 24% | 610 |
| Pennsylvania | $63,830 | $30.69 | 17% | 1,890 |
| Rhode Island | $63,870 | $30.71 | 28% | 90 |
| South Carolina | $61,260 | $29.45 | 26% | 1,010 |
| South Dakota | $59,690 | $28.70 | 27% | 140 |
| Tennessee | $62,830 | $30.21 | 28% | 1,040 |
| Texas | $61,590 | $29.61 | 27% | 4,910 |
| Utah | $69,670 | $33.49 | 38% | 470 |
| Vermont | $62,520 | $30.06 | 18% | 60 |
| Virginia | $62,940 | $30.26 | 17% | 1,210 |
| Washington | $75,220 | $36.16 | 15% | 1,030 |
| West Virginia | $61,400 | $29.52 | 22% | 360 |
| Wisconsin | $64,520 | $31.02 | 25% | 1,890 |
| Wyoming | $74,510 | $35.82 | 18% | 200 |
FAQ
How much does a maintenance technician make per year in the United States?
Based on the O*NET wage table, the national median maintenance technician pay proxy, industrial machinery mechanics, earns $63,760 per year in the United States. That is the best standardized answer to how much does a maintenance technician make when you need a national benchmark.
What state pays maintenance technicians the most?
Alaska currently has the highest published median annual pay in this dataset at $86,590. Washington, California, Hawaii, and the District of Columbia are also near the top of the list.
What affects salary for a maintenance technician the most?
The biggest drivers are equipment complexity, overtime structure, plant automation level, and local labor supply. Maintenance technicians who can keep higher-value equipment running usually command better pay. Industry also matters. Food processing, aerospace, semiconductor, advanced assembly, and high-speed packaging environments tend to pay more for troubleshooting depth and uptime responsibility.
Are maintenance technician pay trends rising?
The long-term demand picture says yes. The BLS outlook and linked O*NET state trend pages show faster-than-average national growth and large annual opening counts. That does not guarantee every state raises wages at the same speed, but it does support the broader pay trends manufacturers are already feeling in recruiting.
If you want to learn about salaries in more detail, start with the national benchmark and then move to the state table. A maintenance technician in United States manufacturing can make an average that looks reasonable on paper, then see very different real pay after overtime, shift differential, energy or utility sector exposure, and benefit packages are factored in. The highest paying companies for maintenance work usually combine better wages with better benefits, steadier schedules, and more technically demanding equipment. That is why a headline number per year in United States data should always be read next to the hourly figure per hour in United States data, not by itself. It also explains why America keeps seeing recruiting pressure in this role even when some plants try to hold pay flat.
Cite this page
Suggested citation:
Manufacturing Lead Generation. “Maintenance Technician Salary by State (2025-2026): Industrial Maintenance Pay Data.” Accessed April 19, 2026. https://manufacturingleadgeneration.com/maintenance-technician-salary-by-state/
Sources
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, Industrial Machinery Mechanics, Machinery Maintenance Workers, and Millwrights.
- O*NET OnLine national and state wage tables for 49-9041.00 Industrial Machinery Mechanics.
- O*NET OnLine state employment trend pages for 49-9041.00 Industrial Machinery Mechanics.
- Projections Central long-term employment projections, referenced by O*NET state trend pages.
- CareerOneStop national machinist wage table.
- CareerOneStop national welder wage table.
- O*NET national industrial production manager wage table.
