How much do aerospace manufacturing engineers make in 2026?
Aerospace manufacturing engineers are counted in the BLS aerospace engineers series, where OEWS May 2025 reports a national median of $134,960 a year ($64.89 an hour) for SOC 17-2011, a bottom 10% near $86,700 and a top 10% at $205,890 across 67,710 workers. This site shares that code with our aerospace engineer record, and it pools design, analysis, systems, test and manufacturing engineering into one figure. Manufacturing engineering within aerospace is a distinct discipline with its own economics. The problem is not whether a part can be designed but whether it can be built repeatably, at rate, within tolerance, by people, with tooling that is affordable and processes that are qualified. Engineers in this role develop and qualify manufacturing processes, design tooling and assembly sequences, resolve producibility problems that the design did not anticipate, support rate increases where output has to double without quality falling, and own the process documentation that quality and regulators depend on. It has become more valuable as aerospace production rates have been the industry's binding constraint rather than design capability. Defence programme work generally requires a security clearance, which narrows the eligible pool and improves an individual's market position. Employment is projected to grow 6.1% through 2034 with roughly 4,500 openings a year. → Full aerospace manufacturing engineer career guide, career path, credentials & placement →
Note: $134,960 blends every experience level and every setting in this occupation. For pay by level alone, see Pay by Level below.
- Aerospace Manufacturing Engineers earn a national median $134,960/yr ($64.89/hr) (BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 17-2011); the P10 to P90 range is $86,700 to $205,890.
- The published figure pools design, analysis, systems, test and manufacturing engineering, so it describes aerospace engineering broadly rather than this specialism.
- The discipline solves producibility rather than design: qualified processes, affordable tooling, repeatable assembly and documentation that quality and regulators rely on.
- Production rate, not design capability, has been aerospace's binding constraint, which has raised the value of engineers who can deliver rate increases without quality loss.
US Aerospace Manufacturing Engineer Pay Distribution · BLS OEWS May 2025
Pay by Level · BLS OEWS May 2025
How much do aerospace manufacturing engineers earn at each level?
BLS OEWS publishes one blended wage for the whole occupation and does not break pay out by credential or practice level. The levels below distribute the published percentile range across the credential tiers this role actually hires at.
Level medians are aligned to the BLS OEWS May 2025 percentile distribution for SOC 17-2011; GlobalCybers does not yet publish a verified placement sample for this role, so no verified median is shown.
Methodology & Sources
How the numbers on this page are built
Published (BLS): BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 17-2011, United States national estimate. Public, methodologically rigorous, but sampled on a rolling 3-year basis and published ~10 months after collection — so it reflects wages that are already 1–2 years old by the time you read them.
Level and certification medians: distributed across the published BLS percentile range for this SOC code (P10 through P90) according to the credential tiers this occupation actually hires at. They are modeled reference points, not separately surveyed wages.
State and metro figures: modeled — the BLS national median multiplied by the GlobalCybers state wage index, and for metros by the published metro index for that state. They are estimates of local pay, not BLS state or metropolitan-area observations, and are labelled as modeled in the tables below.
No verified placement sample:GlobalCybers does not yet publish a placement median for this role, so no "verified" figure appears anywhere on this page.
Pay by Career Level
How much does an aerospace manufacturing engineer earn at each career stage?
Aerospace manufacturing engineering pay follows programme criticality and clearance eligibility. Each median is anchored to the BLS OEWS distribution for SOC 17-2011.
By State
Which states pay aerospace manufacturing engineers the most in 2026?
These are modeled state estimates — the pooled national aerospace engineer median scaled by the GlobalCybers state wage index — not BLS state observations. Aerospace manufacturing employment concentrates at a small number of major sites, so proximity to those employers matters far more than a state's general wage level.
6 of 51 state guides shown, ranked by median. Bar is relative to California ($155,200), the highest-paying state shown. See all role salary guides →
By Metro
Which cities pay aerospace manufacturing engineers the most?
Modeled metro estimates: the national median scaled by the state wage index and then by that state's published metro index. They estimate local wage levels and are not BLS metropolitan-area observations. Aerospace manufacturing clusters are few and well known, and this occupation follows them closely.
BLS OEWS MSA estimates, May 2025. Nominal pay — weigh each metro against its cost of living before relocating.
Certification Impact
Which certifications raise an aerospace manufacturing engineer’s pay the most?
Median annual pay before and after each credential, based on GlobalCybers placement data cross-referenced with BLS. License upgrades move the needle most; stackable certs add on top.
Impacts are not additive, the licensing rows share the same career ladder. Browse all 167 certifications →
Trade Comparison
How does aerospace manufacturing engineer pay compare to related roles?
BLS OEWS national median across the closest trades. Aerospace Manufacturing Engineers sit mid-pack on median but carry one of the widest P10–P90 spreads, licensing and specialization drive the upside.
BLS OEWS May 2025. Verify aerospace manufacturing engineer wages on BLS.gov →
Take-Home Pay
What does an aerospace manufacturing engineer actually take home after taxes?
The medians above are gross base wage.
Estimates use 2026 federal brackets, standard deduction, and 7.65% FICA. Actual take-home varies with filing status, deductions, and local tax.
FAQ
Aerospace Manufacturing Engineer Salary, Frequently Asked Questions
Aerospace Manufacturing Engineer career research journey
Do your homework, then let the network do the rest.Get the job, then keep rising
FreeSet your intent, matching jobs come to you. No applying.
A roadmap to your next licence tier and higher pay band.
Once placed, we cover all certification, licence & career-guide fees.
Hiring aerospace manufacturing engineers?
Get a verified shortlist of 3–5 qualified candidates in 48 hours
GlobalCybers verifies active state licenses, trade certifications, Intent and right-to-work status before any candidate reaches your portal. Flat $2,999/mo RPO (Recruitment Process Outsourcing), up to 3 concurrent roles, or a free trial (pay on hire). 90-day written guarantee.
Related · Aerospace Manufacturing Engineer
Everything for aerospace manufacturing engineers in one place
Salary data, licensing, interview prep, and hiring, all cross-linked so you (and search engines) can move through the full aerospace manufacturing engineer cluster.