Aerospace Engineering and Operations Technologists and Technicians salary

SOC 17-3021 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$82,890

per year, nationally

Middle half

$67,680–$111,280

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

11,280

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+8.1%

900 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.

$59,050$125,160

10th: $59,050
25th: $67,680
Median: $82,890
75th: $111,280
90th: $125,160

Getting in

Typical education to enter: Associate'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 engineering and operations technologists and technicians 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	Washington	$125,160	107.0	1,590	6.18×
2	Alaska	$105,780	102.4	40	1.74×
3	Nevada	$102,980	100.0	50	0.46×
4	California	$99,000	110.7	1,560	1.18×
5	Colorado	$98,990	103.1	660	3.17×
6	Maryland	$91,820	105.0	200	1.00×
7	Oregon	$81,100	103.4	120	0.81×
8	Virginia	$81,040	101.1	270	0.91×
9	Massachusetts	$79,420	105.8	30	0.13×
10	Connecticut	$79,410	103.6	70	0.53×
11	Ohio	$79,310	92.8	900	2.24×
12	Florida	$78,560	103.4	770	1.06×
13	Kansas	$78,350	90.1	580	5.59×
14	Texas	$78,350	97.1	950	0.93×
15	Utah	$76,680	98.9	400	3.18×
16	Arizona	$75,230	100.7	380	1.60×
17	Minnesota	$71,240	98.6	—	—
18	Michigan	$69,840	96.2	70	0.21×
19	New Mexico	$66,460	92.2	—	—
20	New York	$64,480	107.9	330	0.47×
21	Indiana	$62,520	93.3	480	2.06×
22	Alabama	$62,130	88.8	140	0.93×
23	Pennsylvania	$60,770	97.6	80	0.18×
24	Oklahoma	$45,590	87.8	30	0.26×

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 engineering and operations technologists and technicians wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for aerospace engineering and operations technologists and technicians

The 33 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	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$125,160	111.1	1,570	10.39×
2	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$123,350	105.8	390	3.31×
3	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$119,980	106.4	130	1.07×
4	Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV	$102,980	100.2	40	0.51×
5	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$98,940	113.6	690	1.53×
6	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	$98,800	103.1	280	0.95×
7	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$92,360	111.9	—	—
8	Bakersfield-Delano, CA	$88,410	100.9	70	2.68×
9	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$85,320	108.9	190	0.83×
10	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$83,260	102.7	60	1.37×
11	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$83,260	104.5	100	1.00×
12	Colorado Springs, CO	$83,250	100.7	40	1.69×
13	Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL	$82,490	100.0	480	27.08×
14	San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX	$81,820	94.7	50	0.60×
15	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$81,100	105.4	70	0.85×
16	Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ	$79,530	103.3	—	—
17	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$79,420	108.3	30	0.17×
18	Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN	$79,310	95.4	190	2.33×
19	Akron, OH	$78,760	93.4	40	1.57×
20	Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH	$78,590	92.7	170	6.12×
21	Wichita, KS	$78,350	88.9	510	22.77×
22	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$78,080	104.8	200	1.42×
23	Cleveland, OH	$77,260	93.9	50	0.72×
24	Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX	$76,920	98.6	230	0.97×
25	Ogden, UT	$76,760	100.3	180	8.92×
26	Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC	$76,180	97.9	60	1.15×
27	Tucson, AZ	$75,230	96.9	210	7.54×
28	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$75,060	112.6	100	0.15×
29	Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX	$74,320	98.1	90	0.91×
30	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$72,550	103.6	—	—
31	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	$66,220	114.2	80	0.41×
32	Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN	$65,240	95.7	110	1.39×
33	Huntsville, AL	$62,130	93.1	80	4.16×

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 engineering and operations technologists and technicians wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

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

Aerospace Engineering and Operations Technologists and Technicians salary

What the range looks like

Getting in

Where aerospace engineering and operations technologists and technicians earn the most

Best paying metro areas for aerospace engineering and operations technologists and technicians

Similar occupations

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