Assembler Hourly Pay, Skills & Requirements (2026)
Advertised pay, starting pay, skills and experience from 6,799 US job postings by 1,977 employers. Data as of October 2026.
What US employers post for assemblers: advertised pay, the skills and experience they ask for, and the job titles they use, from 6,799 open job postings (October 2026).
- The median advertised pay for assemblers in US job postings is $21.45 an hour (1,510 postings from 526 employers, October 2026).
- The middle half of those postings offer $18.97 to $24.00 an hour.
- Postings that ask for up to 1 year of experience advertise a median of $21.59 an hour (360 postings).
- The skills that most set assembler postings apart are hand tools, attention to detail, manual dexterity.
- Postings that state a minimum ask for a median of 1 year of experience.
Assembler job postings in the US, October 2026
- $21.45/hr
- Median advertised pay (1,510 postings)
- $18.97–$24.00
- Middle 50% of postings
- $21.59/hr
- Starting pay (postings asking up to 1 year)
- 6,799
- US job postings from 1,977 employers
How much does an assembler make an hour?
The median advertised pay is $21.45 an hour, from 1,510 US job postings by 526 employers that state pay. That is about $45,000 a year at 2,080 hours.
Advertised pay in 1,510 US assembler job postings: median $45,000 a year ($21.45 an hour), middle half $40,000 to $51,000.
- Median: $45,000 ($21.45/hr)
- 25th percentile: $40,000
- 75th percentile: $51,000
The figures as a table
| Annual pay | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| $20K–$30K | 3.2% |
| $30K–$40K | 24.4% |
| $40K–$50K | 45.9% |
| $50K–$60K | 16.6% |
| $60K–$70K | 6.7% |
| $70K–$80K | 2.2% |
| $80K–$90K | 0.7% |
Midpoint of each posting's pay range, hourly pay × 2,080 hours; at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026.
| Median | Middle 50% | Postings | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Postings that state an hourly rate | $21.45 | $18.97–$24.00 | 1,282 |
| All pay postings, annualised | $45,000 | $40K–$51K | 1,510 |
What is the starting salary for an assembler?
Postings that ask for up to 1 year of experience advertise a median of $21.59 an hour (360 postings).
| Experience asked | Median advertised pay | Postings |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1 years | $21.59/hr | 360 |
| 2-4 years | $25.00/hr | 290 |
| 5+ years | withheld | 42 |
Assembler levels and pay
Levels as they appear in job titles, ordered by the median experience asked.
| Level in title | Share of postings | Median experience asked | Median pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| No level in title | 85.1% | 1 year | $21.50/hr |
| Level I | 7.6% | 1 year | $21.50/hr |
| Level II | 4.6% | 2 years | – |
Highest-paying assembler jobs
Specializations with at least 250 postings that state pay.
| Specialization | Median pay | Postings with pay | Employers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Assembly Technician | $23.00/hr | 464 | 173 |
| Assembler (general) | $20.00/hr | 728 | 319 |
Assembler pay by state
Single-location US postings; states with at least 100 postings that state pay. States with pay-transparency laws (such as California, Colorado, New York and Washington) are over-represented among postings that state pay.
| State | Median pay | Middle 50% | Postings with pay | Share of postings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York | $23.00/hr | $21.00–$25.74 | 104 | 4.8% |
| California | $22.50/hr | $20.00–$25.00 | 136 | 6.5% |
Skills employers ask for in assembler job postings
| Skill | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| Attention to detail | 32% |
| Communication | 18% |
| Hand tools | 14% |
| Problem-solving | 9% |
| Work independently | 9% |
| Manual dexterity | 8% |
| Teamwork | 8% |
| Power tools | 8% |
| Mechanical aptitude | 7% |
| Basic computer skills | 7% |
Skills named in the posting text; at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026. Methodology.
Skills that set assemblers apart
- Hand tools24.8× as often as in all postings · 14%
- Manual dexterity21.1× as often as in all postings · 8%
- Power tools20.3× as often as in all postings · 8%
- Mechanical aptitude10.7× as often as in all postings · 7%
- Hand and power tools16.7× as often as in all postings · 5%
- Basic math skills6.3× as often as in all postings · 5%
- Basic computer skills3.7× as often as in all postings · 7%
Skills named in at least 5% of these postings and at least 3 times as often as in job postings overall.
Have a assembler job posting in front of you? See which of its skills your resume is missing.
What does an assembler do?
Employers post these jobs as Assembly Technician, Mechanical Assembler, Assembler I, Production Assembler, Assembly Operator and other titles. The largest specializations are Assembly Technician (29%), Electrical Assembler (10%), Mechanical Assembler (8%), Kitter (under 1%), SMT Technician (under 1%).
The closest official occupation is Team Assemblers (51-2092.00). Its most important tasks:
- Perform quality checks on products and parts.
- Review work orders and blueprints to ensure work is performed according to specifications.
- Rotate through all the tasks required in a particular production process.
- Determine work assignments and procedures.
- Supervise assemblers and train employees on job procedures.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (CC BY 4.0).
How much experience do you need to be an assembler?
Among 1,677 postings that state a minimum, the median is 1 year. 11% say 0 years and 53% ask for 1 year or less.
Minimum experience asked in 1,677 US assembler job postings: median 1 year, and 53% ask for 1 year or less.
The figures as a table
| Minimum experience asked | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| 0 yr | 17% |
| 1 yr | 36% |
| 2 yrs | 25% |
| 3-4 yrs | 15% |
| 5-7 yrs | 6% |
| 8-9 yrs | under 1% |
| 10+ yrs | 1% |
Postings that state a minimum (required or preferred); at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026.
We do not show a degree figure: in our checks, degree requirements in posting text were found too rarely to publish one. Why.
Full-time 93%, Part-time 7% of the 551 postings that state working hours.
Other names for an assembler: job titles employers use
| Job title | Employers using it |
|---|---|
| Assembler | 769 (38.9%) |
| Assembly Technician | 162 (8.2%) |
| Mechanical Assembler | 139 (7.0%) |
| Assembler I | 119 (6.0%) |
| Production Assembler | 95 (4.8%) |
| Assembly Operator | 84 (4.2%) |
| Assembler II | 82 (4.2%) |
| Electrical Assembler | 76 (3.8%) |
| Assembly | 45 (2.3%) |
| Assembler 1 | 44 (2.2%) |
| Electro-Mechanical Assembler | 44 (2.2%) |
| Electronic Assembler | 39 (2.0%) |
| Manufacturing Assembler | 35 (1.8%) |
| Machine Builder | 34 (1.7%) |
| Assembly Technician I | 34 (1.7%) |
| Production Assembly | 33 (1.7%) |
| Assembler 2 | 32 (1.6%) |
| Assembly Associate | 31 (1.6%) |
| Mechanical Assembly Technician | 28 (1.4%) |
| Electronics Assembler | 27 (1.4%) |
Titles read in our audit and used by at least 3 employers.
Assembler job titles compared
The titles people search for most, from the US job postings that use each exact title (October 2026).
| Job title | Open postings | Employers | Median pay | Median experience | Skills named most |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mechanical Assembler | 243 | 139 | – | – | attention to detail, hand tools, work independently |
Assembler compared with similar careers
| Career | Median pay | Median experience | Postings | Shares N of top 25 skills |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assembler | $21.45/hr | 1 year | 6,799 | – |
| Manufacturing Technician | $25.00/hr | 2 years | 3,947 | 17 |
| Machine Operator | $21.38/hr | 1 year | 20,043 | 19 |
| General Laborer | $20.00/hr | 1 year | 6,220 | 16 |
| Painter | $23.50/hr | 2 years | 3,060 | 18 |
Similar careers
| Career | Shares N of the top 25 skills | Median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing Technician | 17 | $25.00/hr |
| Machine Operator | 19 | $21.38/hr |
| General Laborer | 16 | $20.00/hr |
| Painter | 18 | $23.50/hr |
| Mason | 15 | – |
| Carpenter | 17 | $27.50/hr |
Applying for assembler jobs?
- Assembler resume examples: one-page examples for these roles
- Match your resume to a job: paste a posting and see the skills your resume is missing
- Check your resume: see how an applicant tracking system reads it
- Find assembler jobs: search open postings
Source and method
Open US job postings collected from employers' applicant tracking systems, de-duplicated, counted only when their job title was read in our audit. Shares count at most 20 postings per employer, and franchise locations of one brand count as one employer. Pay uses hourly and annual figures only; a figure is shown when leaving out the largest employer moves it by 10% or less. Every figure states its number of postings. Methodology and measured accuracy.
Accuracy check: we read 20 randomly chosen postings counted on this page in full; 18 of them were this career or a closely related one (October 2026).
Download the figures on this page (CSV): every number above with its count of postings. Aggregate figures are licensed CC BY 4.0; cite the page when you reuse them.