Aerospace Engineer: Geographic

Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.

Avg Entry (P10)

$---

Avg Median

$---

Avg Senior (P90)

$---

Coverage

288

U.S. cities

Key Findings

• 1 National median Aerospace Engineer salary: $146,204 (2026)
• 2 Entry (P10): $78,950 → Senior (P90): $231,002 — a $152,052 career spread
• 3 Highest-paying city:
  Sunnyvale, California at $267,120
• 4 Top-paying state:
  California with $176,999 average across 61 cities
• 5 $ 162,540 separates the highest and lowest-paying cities
• 6 Coverage: 288 U.S. cities across 46 states — sourced from BLS OEWS data

Not all Aerospace Engineer salaries are created equal. The national median salary for Aerospace Engineers in 2026 is $146,204, with entry-level positions averaging $78,950 and senior roles reaching $231,002. But those numbers flatten a reality with enormous geographic variation — Sunnyvale pays a median of $267,120, while other markets fall well below the national average. We tracked 288 cities to build the complete picture.

Positioned in Engineering within the broader Engineering industry, Aerospace Engineers typically hold Bachelor's in aero eng. The employment landscape is shaped by growing, and the day-to-day is on-site/hybrid. Those factors — education investment, demand trajectory, and work structure — all feed into the salary numbers below.

$162,540 separates the highest and lowest-paying cities. A Aerospace Engineer in Sunnyvale, California earns a median of $267,120 — $162,540 more than their counterpart in Toledo, Ohio ($104,580). That gap alone is more than many cities' annual rent. For early-career professionals, the geographic pay premium is worth the math.

Salary Breakdown

The three-tier salary picture for Aerospace Engineers in 2026: $78,950 at entry (P10), $146,204 at midpoint, and $231,002 at the senior end (P90). State averages smooth out the extremes — here's what they reveal:
The $152,052 range from bottom to top isn't just experience — it's geography, specialization, and industry mixed together. The median itself lands $65,837 above the national median household income of $80,367.

The state breakdown adds another layer. The top 3 paying cities (Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, Irvine) average $249,480 — while the bottom 3 (Toledo, Detroit, Akron) average $105,420. That $144,060 gap means choosing the right city could be the equivalent of a major promotion. For early-career professionals, the geographic pay premium is worth the math.

Geographic Premium

A Aerospace Engineer in Sunnyvale, California earns a median of $267,120 — $162,540 more than their counterpart in Toledo, Ohio ($104,580). That gap alone is more than many cities' annual rent.

The national average entry-level (P10) salary for Aerospace Engineer is $78,950, while senior-level (P90) earners average $231,002. That $152,052 trajectory represents the earning growth a career in this field can deliver.

California pays the highest average median salary for Aerospace Engineers at $176,999 across 61 tracked cities. The gap between #1 and #5 (New Jersey at $155,610) is $21,389.

At the 90th percentile, Aerospace Engineers pull in an average of $231,002. In the top-paying markets, that figure climbs even higher — making this one of the more lucrative career trajectories in its field.

Geography shapes Aerospace Engineer pay in predictable and not-so-predictable ways. California tops the state leader board at $176,999 median, with 61 cities providing data. Massachusetts and Hawaii follow. On the flip side, Mississippi and Ohio anchor the bottom — reflecting lower local cost structures and smaller metro premiums.

When you adjust the top-paying cities for cost of living, the ranking reshuffles. Sunnyvale ($267,120 nominal, 212 cost index) delivers $126,000 in purchasing power — maintaining its lead even after cost adjustment. This is the metric that matters for anyone considering a geo-based career move.

Purchasing Power