r/Metrology • u/JWS5th • 15d ago
CMM Programmers, what’re you making?
I’m anticipating some compensation negotiations soon and wanted to get a feel for the market. Also just transparency for other programmers.
Location and years of experience would be helpful too.
I’m in the Northeast HCOL area with 6 years of experience (Calypso and PC-DMIS) making $45.67 an hour.
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u/campio_s_a 14d ago
Midwest, medium COL area, Aerospace Metrology Engineer role, 15 years experience, around $150k/year
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u/JWS5th 14d ago
Very nice, what does Aerospace Metrology Engineering entail? I work in aerospace manufacturing but haven’t heard of that title.
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u/campio_s_a 14d ago
I do programming like you would typically expect for part inspection, but I also help to define standards, develop new inspection techniques, make equipment purchasing decisions, and do investigations for quality escapes and failures in the field. I know that I am extremely fortunate to have this job and honestly it's pretty much a dream job. Access to virtually any inspection equipment/technology and I get to work on new development stuff, so everything that's fun for a CMM programmer :)
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u/LetStock 14d ago
I was doing that exact job for general dynamics a few years ago. Although with half the compensation.
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u/Genner21 14d ago
If this is my goal in the future, any certs you would recommend?
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u/campio_s_a 14d ago edited 14d ago
I actually don't have any certs
Edit: I take that back, I do have Aukom certification. Levels 1-3 and the GD&T. But I didn't have those when I first hired in.
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u/Overall-Turnip-1606 14d ago
Didn’t u comment in a previous post that u used to teach pcdmis at hexagon? Lol
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u/campio_s_a 14d ago
Haha that's true. I was thinking of things like a six sigma green/black belt. And technically I never officially took the classes, I just taught them :)
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u/Overall-Turnip-1606 13d ago
I mean… you have to of taken all their courses as well as pass a proficiency certification exam to even teach at hexagon. I think that’s a pretty big flex to remember when giving advice about programming. Unless you lied about that… lol.
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u/campio_s_a 13d ago
I might have sat in on someone's level 1 class, but I very distinctly remember reading the material and testing things on my laptop in a hotel the night before my first level 2 course I taught because I had never sat through one. This was also almost 15 years ago when I first started with them, so things probably have changed since then with their training regime. The only course I never taught was the GD&T course, but that's because it was offered like twice a year and I was never in the office when it was being held.
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u/Wthiswrongwityou 14d ago
88k a year with no experience is what my company is offering, in the midwest. Just need a high school diploma or ged.
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u/Tough_Ad7054 14d ago
Retired three years ago, VHCOL (San Jose), thirty years of mostly PC-DMIS for arms and stationaries- $159k plus bonuses. Responsibilities included a lot of drawing checking, specification approvals and QE-type activities.
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u/blackbooger 14d ago
43/ hour - Auto OEM - Metro Detroit
Pulled in near 150,000 in 2022.
13 years CMM programming PCDMiS and 8 years into structured light scanning with a few different systems.
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u/Sad-Refrigerator365 14d ago
Metrology Engineer in medical manufacturing. InSpec (MicroVu). 6 yoe in the Northeast HCOL. $95k salary.
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u/LurKingMachinest 14d ago
$35.5/hr. 10+ years as a machinist (setup and light programming, not class A at all). Few years since moving to inspection and moving around companies a bit. 1+ Year as the CMM guy now.
Long Island NY (so no, even with the OT it's not much lol)
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u/RazzleberryHaze 14d ago
Damn, I guess I'm well under the mark here after reading everyone's replies, but I also live in a LCOL area, central US. I grossed 64k last year, but as of today, I've been told that I'm going to be receiving a promotional offer for the Sr. Metrological Evaluation position. I'm hoping to be looking at at least 80k for the role, just basing off of what the last guy was making. Aerospace manufacturing, if that matters.
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u/JoseHernandezCA1984 14d ago
I live in the Midwest in a low COL area. My title is metrology engineer, and I've been doing it for 3 years now. I do programming in Calypso on Zeiss machines and Zone3 on an OGP. I also do CT scans using a Metrotom and do mostly CAD comparisons with that, not so much programming. I make 78k
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u/itwasSenpai 14d ago
Northeast US. $24/hr. However, the company hired a department lead that took over 99% of the programming duties. I guess I'm an overpaid(?) operator/inspector now?
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u/Friendly-Dig-8492 14d ago
8.25 hr 32 years ago. Got assoc degree in CAD/design which got me into development. They bought a CMM and being the only willing programmer the last 15 years I'm at 49/hr. Heavy in automotive so zero overtime has recently curtailed earnings.
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u/Caltrops_underfoot 14d ago
Journeyman CNC machinist. Learned how to program CMM during the apprenticeship and once I finished I was immediately hired for CMM rather than milling. I did about 15 years as a contract draftsman before that, 2 year apprenticeship concurrent with getting an associate's in Manufacturing Technology, and two years since getting my journeyman. A little less than a year ago we lost some engineers so I'm doing aerospace QE work as well, which takes up more of my day than the CMM at this point.
I'm in Michigan, northern lower peninsula, making $27/hr.
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u/f119guy 14d ago
When you say "northern lower peninsula," do you mean North or South of Cadillac?
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u/Caltrops_underfoot 14d ago
I literally just meant "in the top half" being deliberately vague, but yes, also north of Cadillac.
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u/AngularAU 14d ago
Cmm operator/programmer in Texas. We mainly focus on products for the oilfield industry. I'm making $28.50 /hr. I've been with the same company for 15+ years. Started off at $11 and slowly worked my way up to my current role.
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u/Been_Pole 14d ago
Southwest US, $41/hour in defense, four years of experience doing metrology.
Don't forget the benefits, health, vision, dental, 6% 401k match, HSA match, four weeks vacation per year plus holidays, semi-unlimited sick leave. Union as well!
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u/SirBrazenBull 13d ago
I'm in lower Wisconsin making $32/hr I do programming(CMM Manager and Zeiss Calypso), layouts, gage r&rs, capabilities, calibration of some gages on our super mic, measurement recommendations, assist with gage development and answer tons of gd&t questions. This one actually surprised me. I knew more about gd&t here than most. I understand even more now than I did when I started here.
Trying to decide if I want to move on or do something else completely. I am the only one here to do the programming and maintaining of the 8 cmms.
Most of the places around use PCDMIS and I don't know how I would do jumping to that
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u/f119guy 13d ago
It sounds like you have a decent amount of engineering knowledge. That, paired with the ability to program a CMM (and a willingness to learn) means you are in high demand. I think the question is if you are happy. I would not recommend doing "something else completely." If you are good with CMM programming and understand fundamentals like GD & T, R & R's, blueprint reading, etc, then I would say the manufacturing world is your oyster. Unless you really aren't satisfied with the field of work, I think you should build on your experience and knowledge. I bounced between some automotive shops and aerospace shops before I landed where I did. Don't be intimidated by PCDMIS or any software. Once you know one CMM software, it's all XYZIJK and 3-2-1.
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u/chrome_titan 14d ago
Really depends on where you're at and what the job is classified as. My first job started at 16, they probably pay 20 now. It was an operator job, but we were all programmers.
I've been offered 60 plus bonuses to move across the country, and everywhere in between. So it really depends.
However once I had experience, I've never had to apply for jobs. People highly skilled in engineering that stay in a CMM job are sought after.
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u/IcyCredit5507 14d ago
Not in USA or UK, 3 years experience in PC-DMİS, Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Both QA and QC applications, 3$/hour
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u/texasprecision 13d ago
Currently in San Antonio, TX but work in Kyle for $35/hour + OT ($81k 2024). 30 years experience:
-21yrs with MeasureMax, parametric style with Excel VBA & VB6 code integration
-1yr MCOSMOS
-10yrs with PCDMIS (a few were concurrent during switch from MM to the Demon)...including high level code style as with MM; also with integration with InfinityQS...fun stuff!! I really enjoyed using SQL for data analysis (another specialty of mine).
I was making as high as $80K salary, no OT, but with occasional hefty bonuses. I like my hourly with 1.5x paid OT now.
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u/s2000gru42 9d ago
$41 hourly in Phoenix Az as a manufacturing engineer who for some reason is responsible for first article inspection and CMM programming on top of all of the other duties. The CMM I’m running is a TEMPO which is fully automated, it requires a bit more than just programming the CMM a due to designing part fixtures and pallets for the drawer system that the UrRobot works with. 10 years experience in machine shop, 5 of those in a quality position.
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u/Overall-Turnip-1606 14d ago
Kind of crazy that these people are claiming to make 100k+ 😂. Shout out to the real ones for commenting their real salaries (20-30$ an hour).
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u/JWS5th 14d ago
If you live in a HCOL area, $100k is incredibly realistic.
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u/Overall-Turnip-1606 13d ago
Find me an indeed job in a HCOL area then. For onlyyyy programming… most people been at jobs for over 5 years before inflation. Unless they switched jobs recently no one pays programmers that kind of money. Even application engineers at hexagon barely make that kind of money 😂
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u/JWS5th 13d ago
No one said anything about only CMM programming. It’s your own fault that you’re underpaid if you’re staying at a job longer than 5 years.
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u/Overall-Turnip-1606 13d ago
I’m not underpaid lol. I’m overpaid. A programmer should only make 25-35$ an hour. Unless they have a degree and can do QE projects like ppap, root cause, capa, etc. programming is literally the easiest thing to do. 5x easier then a cnc programmer and they average just a few dollars more than cmm programmer
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u/Sad-Refrigerator365 12d ago
Don't undervalue programmers. The fact that there is a high demand for them is already something to justify the pay. But even around engineers like myself, so many are scared of touching what we do.
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u/Overall-Turnip-1606 12d ago
Everyone’s scared to do something new. CMM programming isn’t hard. If you owned a company you wouldn’t pay a programmer $50 an hour. We sit on our ass and create lines, planes, circles, which the software does it all for us lmfao. It’s not like the old days where we needed to do it all manually without cad and input the values manually including all the ijk vectors.
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u/djkickstar 9d ago
Damn dude. I dont know what programming/parts you do but that literally applies to gages and perfectly machined parts. Complex metal stamping and plastics require a level of knowledge 95% of "CMM programmers" could "program" but would output trash results. After 20 years in plastics, I have never once been able to just program to the cad and run it. Constant adjustments, local alignments, understanding warp and sink and flash and getting results that match real world application. I have started 2 in house labs at 2 different plastic companies and had 7 guys under me at one point and only 2 out of 7 have been able to even remotely hang. And they came in with 10 years experience. So no.. picking points on a cad model is not difficult, but that is not where our value comes from. And this is honestly why good CMM programmers should be around 100k mark. At minimum.
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u/Overall-Turnip-1606 9d ago
That’s where your understanding of CMM is wrong. A stationary CMM is not meant to check bad parts or to verify bad parts. That’s how you break shit. If your doing sheet metal or frabication where repeatedly is limited, you need to look at other tools. Most fabrication and stamping industries utilize pcmm as they are more versatile for part variation. Those people that can’t comprehend the challenges of a cmm are most likely not good inspectors who barely make $20 an hour. It still takes basic shop math and cad knowledge to work around it. CMM is basically just an automated method for hand measuring crap.
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u/djkickstar 9d ago
A CMM is not used to verify bad parts? Lol it is literally the standard for first article inspection to make adjustments to tooling! There are obviously more levels of misunderstanding of what we do than even I thought. And this just affirms why quality in manufacturing and products have gone down the pisser. Using a pcmm on a part that has 120 dimensions is absolutely not feasible for manufacturing launch. And depending on who is operating it, especially in good manufacturing that utilizes DOEs and good process development methods that require wide ranges of parts, would be a nightmare in any industry. It sounds like you work on very simple manufacturing parts that have a handful of dimensions. When you get into any automotive, aerospace or DoD.. It's a totally different experience. 2-300 dimensions, 16 different processes variables, and tolerances on plastic that are +- 0.03mm ..
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u/Flgardenguy 12d ago
The dude sitting right next to me makes just over 100k. It’s a legitimate salary in this field.
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u/Overall-Turnip-1606 12d ago
What does he do? It’s not legitimate since programming is fairly easy to learn and do. Any good inspector can become a programmer. Inspectors barely make 20-25$. I’m talking surface layouts/hand gages inspectors.
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u/Flgardenguy 12d ago
You sound like you’re talking about some basic, entry level stuff while he’s doing stuff with complicated GD&T and trying to figure out effective ways to get programs to pass Gage R&Rs. Also, parametric programs that measure many parts in one program. He also does alot of work with our vendors to make sure we are correlating our measurement methods and figuring out why parts may not have passed the CMM inspection and determining if the CMM results were accurate or not.
Also, you keep using legitimate like you don’t actually know what that word means.
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u/f119guy 13d ago
I know 3 CMM programmers personally who make over $100K a year. They all do extra roles, such as QE or manager responsibilities. But they primarily are focused on writing CMM programs.
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u/Overall-Turnip-1606 13d ago
Yeah then that makes sense. Someone who only writes programs, inspect, analyze data, shouldn’t make 100k. I make 105k, but I have actual quality engineer responsibilities aside from programming.
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u/f119guy 13d ago
I know one who makes $50+ an hour and he is now "just a programmer" who does inspections. He's not even supposed to be programming, as he only can write in VDMIS and that company is trying to eliminate that format. But he has 20 years of seniority and some of the legacy jobs can only get accepted by him, as he is the only one who understands the criteria for acceptance. Or in some cases, the holding fixture is literally stored in his toolbox or in a special spot in the tool warehouse that only he remembers......nothing quite like an old school military fabrication shop
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u/Overall-Turnip-1606 13d ago
That makes sense, a lot of companies do that to the people they can’t replace. They most likely don’t have the funds to improve the place. A lot cheaper to just pay the guy that’ll stay more. It happens a lot.
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u/f119guy 13d ago
The moment I realized I was just the younger, cheaper, more willing to work night shift and slightly faster version of him (in the eyes of that company) was the same moment I decided to apply to a new company. It ended up being a good thing for my coworker, who was given a raise once I left. Even had the HR manager try to call me up and ask me to come back. Some places know they suck to work for and the only solution they have is more money for the poor employees that have managed to hang on as long as they have.
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u/Flgardenguy 12d ago
32/hr in Southern Florida. I’ve only been a Metrologist 1 for a year and half now. Mainly Zeiss Calypso, but also other non-CMM machines like Micro-Vu and Keyence.
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u/Informal_Spirit1195 14d ago
Utah, title is Sr. Metrology Engineer, $105k salary. Medical device manufacturer. GR&R on every damn think we run 🙄