Career Explorer Production
Human edge, steady
Tool and die makers
Analyze specifications, lay out metal stock, set up and operate machine tools, and fit and assemble parts to make and repair dies, cutting tools, jigs, fixtures, gauges, and machinists' hand tools.
Changing faster than most: more resilient than 39% of the 831 careers we score. AI exposure is low (the Bureau of Labor Statistics rates it moderate), and US jobs are projected to change by -9.2% by 2035, expected to shrink. The work leans on physical dexterity and creative vision.
AI struggles with much of this work. Hiring is expected to grow slower than average, or to shrink.
- Median pay (2025)
- $64,050
- Job growth to 2035
- -9.2%
- Openings a year
- 4,300
- People doing it (2025)
- 56,700
- Usual route in
- College certificate, then long on-the-job training
Where people already use AI for this work
- Measure physical characteristics of materials, products, or equipment
- Read documents or materials to inform work processes
- Select materials or equipment for operations or projects
From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).
Work AI rarely helps with
- Operate cutting or grinding equipment
- Smooth surfaces of objects or equipment
- Inspect completed work or finished products
What the work looks like
- Verify dimensions, alignments, and clearances of finished parts for conformance to specifications, using measuring instruments such as calipers, gauge blocks, micrometers, or dial indicators.
- Set up and operate conventional or computer numerically controlled machine tools such as lathes, milling machines, or grinders to cut, bore, grind, or otherwise shape parts to prescribed dimensions and finishes.
- Visualize and compute dimensions, sizes, shapes, and tolerances of assemblies, based on specifications.
- Study blueprints, sketches, models, or specifications to plan sequences of operations for fabricating tools, dies, or assemblies.
- Fit and assemble parts to make, repair, or modify dies, jigs, gauges, and tools, using machine tools, hand tools, or welders.
From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.
What the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects
- Fewer of these jobs, as manufacturers use software programs to perform some tasks previously done by tool and die makers, such as specification analyses or setting up machines for cutting metal, allowing the same amount of output to be produced by fewer tool and die makers.
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- Patternmakers, woodHuman edge, steady, Index 59, -2.0%
- Aircraft structure, surfaces, rigging, and systems assemblersHuman edge, steady, Index 46, -5.6%
- Jewelers and precious stone and metal workersHuman edge, steady, Index 51, -3.2%
- Welding, soldering, and brazing machine setters, operators, and tendersHuman edge, steady, Index 43, -8.9%
Also known as: Tool and Die Machinist, Tool and Die Maker, Tool and Fixture Specialist, Tool Maker, Die Machinist, Die Repair Laborer, Die Repair Technician (Die Repair Tech), Jig and Fixture Repairer.
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Sources: US Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections 2025 to 2035; O*NET 31.0; Microsoft Research (2025); Anthropic Economic Index (2026); Eloundou and colleagues (Science, 2024); Felten, Raj and Seamans (2023). How we score. Updated 12 October 2026.