How much do millwrights make in Florida in 2026?

The median millwright salary in Florida is $62,000 per year, which works out to roughly $29.81 per hour based on a standard 2,080-hour work year. That number comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, released May 2025. It is the most reliable benchmark available for this trade in this state.

The full spread tells you more than the median alone. Millwrights at the 25th percentile earn $52,220 annually, or about $25.11 per hour. Those at the 75th percentile earn $68,270 annually, or about $32.82 per hour. That gap — roughly $16,000 between the bottom quarter and the top quarter — reflects real differences in experience, specialty, employer type, and the complexity of the machinery you're working on.

If you're coming in with fewer than five years on the tools, expect to land somewhere in the $52,000–$58,000 range. Millwrights who have spent years aligning precision equipment, working with laser alignment tools, or doing heavy rigging on paper mills, food processing plants, or phosphate operations in central Florida tend to push into the upper quartile and beyond. Florida's industrial base — phosphate mining in Polk County, aerospace manufacturing on the Space Coast, port facilities in Jacksonville, Tampa, and Miami — creates steady demand for millwrights who can handle complex installs and tight tolerances.

Employer type matters a great deal here. Industrial contractors who bid large maintenance shutdowns or new equipment installs typically pay differently than in-house maintenance millwrights at a single facility. Contractor work can mean more hours — including overtime — which lifts your effective annual take-home even if the base rate looks similar on paper. A millwright earning $29.81 straight time who logs 200 hours of overtime at time-and-a-half adds over $8,900 to annual income, pushing total compensation well past the 75th percentile figure without a raise.

Shift differentials are another factor that doesn't show up in the base wage data. Facilities running 24/7 operations — chemical plants, power generation, large food manufacturers — routinely pay a 5–15% premium for second and third shift millwrights. Over a full year, a 10% shift differential on a $62,000 base salary adds $6,200.

Certifications can also separate your rate from the pack. Millwrights who hold documented competency in precision shaft alignment, vibration analysis, or rigging and crane signaling are more valuable on shutdown crews and can negotiate accordingly. Florida's industrial employers tend to be willing to pay for proven skills because downtime on a production line is expensive.

No union scale data is available for millwrights in Florida at this time. Union contracts in neighboring states like Louisiana and Texas set scale rates that can run $5–$10 per hour higher than the Florida median, which is worth knowing if you're mobile and considering where to work.

The bottom line: a Florida millwright at the median earns $62,000 a year, $29.81 an hour. Entry-level workers sit around $52,220 ($25.11/hr), and the top quartile clears $68,270 ($32.82/hr). Overtime, shift differentials, and specialty skills can push your real annual earnings noticeably above any of those benchmarks.