Monthly pay update
Skilled Trades Pay Update: September 2026
By Sauban Bhura, founder of Melben. Published October 19, 2026
Short answer
In September 2026, employers gave Melben 67 job orders, all in Ohio. Across 26 hourly CNC machinist orders, the median offer was $27.50 an hour, up from $26.50 in August. Welding and fabrication orders reached a $27.00 median on 11 orders, up from $23.00, though 11 orders is a small sample.
Hourly pay by trade, September 2026
67 job orders came in during September 2026, 49 of them hourly with pay set. "Too few" means fewer than 5 orders, so no number is shown.
| Trade | Job orders | Median | Middle half | Typical start to top | August median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CNC Machinist | 26 | $27.50 | $24 to $29.75 | $24.50 to $30 | $26.50 |
| Welder | 11 | $27.00 | $24.25 to $29.25 | $24.62 to $30 | $23.00 |
| Maintenance Technician | 4 | Too few | $23.00 | ||
| Production Operator | 4 | Too few | Too few | ||
| Diesel Technician | 1 | Too few | Too few | ||
| HVAC Technician | 1 | Too few | Too few | ||
| Industrial Painter | 1 | Too few | Too few | ||
CNC machinists: $27.50, a dollar above August
CNC machinist orders made up 26 of the 49 hourly orders with pay. The median offer, taken at the middle of each pay range, was $27.50 an hour. That is $1.00 above August's $26.50 on 24 orders, and level with the $27.50 median across all 62 CNC orders since mid July.
Half of September's CNC orders landed between $24.00 and $29.75. The typical range started at $24.50 and topped out at $30.00. An offer under $24 sat in the bottom quarter of what employers offered; one over $29.75 sat in the top quarter.
Welders and fabricators: a higher month
Welding and fabrication orders came in at a $27.00 median on 11 orders, up from $23.00 on 9 orders in August. The whole range moved up: half of September's orders sat between $24.25 and $29.25, against $21.00 to $23.50 in August.
Eleven orders is a small sample, and one month can swing on a few jobs. Across all 28 welding orders since mid July the median is $24.00, the steadier number to plan around.
Maintenance techs and operators
Only 4 maintenance technician orders came in with hourly pay in September, too few to print a September number. Across 14 orders since late July, the median is $27.25 an hour.
Production operator orders came in well below the skilled trades: a $17.25 median across 5 orders since late August.
Where the orders came from
All 67 September orders came from Ohio employers, asking for 98 openings in all. Cleveland and Dayton had 8 orders each and Cincinnati had 7. No other city had 5 or more.
How we count
- Source: the hourly pay ranges employers set on job orders they gave Melben in September 2026. These are offers on real openings, not surveys or self-reported salaries.
- Math: each order counts once, at the middle of its range. The median is the middle of those, the middle half runs from the 25th to the 75th percentile, and the typical start and top are the medians of the range ends.
- A trade is shown only with at least 5 orders in the month. No employer is named.
- Left out: salaried and other non-hourly orders, orders with no pay set, hourly figures over $300 (a yearly or weekly number entered by mistake), sales roles, and roles that match no trade.
- These numbers stay as published. The pay guides and the Ohio Skilled Trades Pay Report count the last 12 months and update every day.
Cite this update
Melben. Skilled Trades Pay Update: September 2026. https://melben.io/pay-updates/september-2026 (published October 19, 2026).
Looking or hiring?
Sauban Bhura founded Melben, a recruiting firm that places CNC machinists, welders, maintenance technicians and drivers with manufacturers and fleets.