We've got a 5-axis guy that's a savant: give him something complicated for aerospace or the military and he'll nail it. When I say "genius", I really mean it. He can make things I didn't know existed, using techniques I've never heard of, and he can do it all to within a tenth or two all day, every day.
He's been in the business somewhere between 30-35 years (at the same company) and makes about $26/hr. That may sound stingy, but he can work however much overtime he wants, we've got quarterly profit sharing (it all adds up to about an extra paycheck a year), a Christmas bonus, 50% of all the guys' personal tools are paid for by the company, our insurance is RIDICULOUSLY generous, cheap, and thorough and our 401K match is pretty damn impressive. To boot, the company even pays the $6ish quarterly fee for handling the account. Coffee's free, and the place is as clean as a whistle.
All told, our "fringe" benefits work out to be about $20k/year in a very pleasant and low-stress working environment (this guy's obligated to work 4 10's, there's a little mandated OT but not much). $20k works out to be about a $10/hr hidden wage paid by the company.
AFAIK, here in the Cleveland/Akron area we pay slightly below what a guy at another shop would make with all that experience, but everything that's done for us (a LOT) makes up for it. In comparison, the non-5axis guys that run HBM's and VTL's and stuff make about $21, with all the fringe benefits as well.