Aerospace Engineers salary

SOC 17-2011 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$134,960

per year, nationally

Middle half

$106,110–$169,690

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

67,710

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+6.1%

4,500 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$86,700$205,890

10th: $86,700
25th: $106,110
Median: $134,960
75th: $169,690
90th: $205,890

Getting in

Typical education to enter: Bachelor's degree
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: None

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where aerospace engineers earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Minnesota	$159,060	98.6	140	0.11×
2	Washington	$158,370	107.0	5,760	3.73×
3	California	$157,620	110.7	9,170	1.16×
4	District of Columbia	$157,600	109.9	290	0.96×
5	Maryland	$156,750	105.0	3,180	2.64×
6	Colorado	$156,190	103.1	4,070	3.25×
7	Massachusetts	$149,470	105.8	990	0.63×
8	Vermont	$144,400	98.0	100	0.74×
9	Virginia	$143,210	101.1	2,540	1.42×
10	Georgia	$140,460	96.3	2,230	1.05×
11	Ohio	$138,440	92.8	3,710	1.53×
12	Hawaii	$137,240	110.0	40	0.14×
13	South Carolina	$137,030	93.7	650	0.64×
14	Louisiana	$136,970	88.2	90	0.10×
15	Utah	$135,840	98.9	1,010	1.33×
16	Nebraska	$135,670	90.1	130	0.29×
17	Pennsylvania	$133,940	97.6	990	0.38×
18	New Mexico	$132,850	92.2	570	1.51×
19	Missouri	$130,680	90.8	650	0.51×
20	New York	$130,330	107.9	560	0.13×
21	Kansas	$130,330	90.1	1,730	2.76×
22	Texas	$130,270	97.1	6,750	1.10×
23	Connecticut	$129,500	103.6	1,160	1.57×
24	Florida	$129,280	103.4	3,250	0.75×
25	Michigan	$128,960	96.2	—	—
26	Tennessee	$128,510	91.9	610	0.43×
27	Alabama	$127,540	88.8	5,820	6.32×
28	New Jersey	$126,430	108.8	3,400	1.82×
29	Kentucky	$126,130	90.2	290	0.34×
30	Oklahoma	$125,470	87.8	1,090	1.46×
31	Oregon	$124,630	103.4	250	0.30×
32	Arizona	$123,170	100.7	3,110	2.21×
33	North Carolina	$122,930	94.3	650	0.30×
34	Mississippi	$109,200	87.0	90	0.19×
35	Illinois	$108,940	100.0	200	0.07×
36	Indiana	$107,400	93.3	440	0.32×
37	Arkansas	$102,040	86.9	180	0.31×
38	Alaska	$101,710	102.4	100	0.68×
39	Nevada	$96,730	100.0	270	0.40×
40	Idaho	$95,700	95.5	190	0.50×
41	Wisconsin	$88,400	94.1	120	0.10×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where aerospace engineers wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for aerospace engineers

The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$191,260	115.6	510	0.49×
2	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$181,630	110.4	930	1.89×
3	Omaha, NE-IA	$171,380	91.9	—	—
4	Boulder, CO	$167,160	105.2	800	9.56×
5	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$166,980	104.5	1,220	2.06×
6	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$166,420	108.9	2,420	1.77×
7	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$163,580	111.1	5,480	6.03×
8	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$163,280	113.6	5,200	1.91×
9	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$159,950	104.8	120	0.14×
10	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$156,190	105.8	2,010	2.86×
11	Colorado Springs, CO	$151,980	100.7	990	7.18×
12	Provo-Orem-Lehi, UT	$150,700	98.2	40	0.29×
13	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	$150,220	100.1	—	—
14	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$149,470	108.3	960	0.81×
15	New Orleans-Metairie, LA	$149,430	92.6	40	0.22×
16	Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI	$144,020	95.5	—	—
17	Cleveland, OH	$143,020	93.9	460	1.03×
18	Waterbury-Shelton, CT	$142,840	99.8	80	1.15×
19	Salt Lake City-Murray, UT	$141,010	100.9	210	0.59×
20	Greeley, CO	$140,780	100.2	50	0.87×
21	Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA	$140,540	100.3	60	0.55×
22	Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC	$139,010	97.9	800	2.40×
23	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$138,670	105.4	110	0.22×
24	Decatur, AL	$138,460	87.2	100	3.80×
25	Lexington Park, MD	$138,380	100.8	960	31.18×
26	Charleston-North Charleston, SC	$137,030	101.0	340	2.00×
27	Las Cruces, NM	$136,860	90.2	70	2.12×
28	Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ	$136,590	98.9	30	0.41×
29	San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA	$135,490	108.6	40	0.78×
30	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$135,010	111.9	800	1.20×
31	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	$134,570	103.1	3,430	1.95×
32	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$134,510	103.6	120	0.06×
33	Ogden, UT	$134,240	100.3	550	4.67×
34	Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX	$133,970	98.6	1,890	1.32×
35	Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY	$133,840	99.6	150	0.75×
36	Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN	$133,810	96.3	70	0.15×
37	Albuquerque, NM	$132,850	95.5	290	1.65×
38	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC	$132,830	97.3	100	0.17×
39	Fort Collins-Loveland, CO	$132,800	101.1	150	2.08×
40	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$132,230	106.7	200	0.43×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where aerospace engineers wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.

Civil Engineers$100,840
Industrial Engineers$102,440
Mechanical Engineers$104,110
Electrical Engineers$120,630
Engineers, All Other$122,930
Electronics Engineers, Except Computer$130,220
Computer Hardware Engineers$161,740
Environmental Engineers$107,110