Installation, maintenance and repair
Millwright
Install, dismantle, or move machinery and heavy equipment according to layout plans, blueprints, or other drawings.
Median pay
$65,700
Growth to 2035
+1%
little or no change
Openings a year
3,200
Time to qualify*
4 years
* From a bachelor's degree in an unrelated field.
Pay
Millwright
Getting in
- Typical entry education
- High school diploma or equivalent
- On-the-job training
- Apprenticeship
- Prior experience
- None
What the work is like
Dealing with the public
Unpleasant or angry people
Time pressure
Cost of a mistake
Freedom to make decisions
Repeating the same tasks
Time sitting
Time standing
Outdoors in all weather
Hazardous conditions
Exposure to disease
Millwright: 82% usually work over 40 hours a week
Core tasks
- Replace defective parts of machine, or adjust clearances and alignment of moving parts.
- Align machines or equipment, using hoists, jacks, hand tools, squares, rules, micrometers, lasers, or plumb bobs.
- Insert shims, adjust tension on nuts and bolts, or position parts, using hand tools and measuring instruments, to set specified clearances between moving and stationary parts.
- Signal crane operator to lower basic assembly units to bedplate, and align unit to centerline.
- Conduct preventative maintenance and repair, and lubricate machines and equipment.
- Assemble and install equipment, using hand tools and power tools.
- Assemble machines, and bolt, weld, rivet, or otherwise fasten them to foundation or other structures, using hand tools and power tools.
- Move machinery and equipment, using hoists, dollies, rollers, and trucks.
Also called: Maintenance Mechanic · Maintenance Millwright · Millwright · Millwright Business Representative (Millwright Business Rep) · Millwright Foreman · Millwright General Foreman · Millwright Instructor · Precision Millwright
Outlook and AI
Millwrights held 40,700 jobs in 2025. BLS projects 41,000 by 2035 (+1%, little or no change; all jobs: +3.5%).
Compare with
- Millwright vs. Aircraft structure, surfaces, rigging, and systems assemblers
- Millwright vs. Maintenance and repair workers, general
- Millwright vs. Industrial machinery mechanic
- Millwright vs. Engine and other machine assemblers
- Millwright vs. Boilermaker
- Millwright vs. Machinist
- Millwright vs. Structural iron and steel workers
- Millwright vs. Mobile heavy equipment mechanics, except engines
- Millwright vs. Structural metal fabricators and fitters
- Millwright vs. Welding, soldering, and brazing machine setters, operators, and tenders