USA · Engineering · Salary

Mechanical engineers: pay by state and city

What mechanical engineers — the main job for this pathway — earn across the U.S., from the latest BLS wage survey (May 2025).

U.S. median$104,110
BLS OEWS · May 2025
Occupational Employment and Wage StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Period
May 2025
SOC
17-2141 Mechanical engineers
File
oe.data.0.Current (download.bls.gov)
View official data
U.S. average (mean)$113,610
Jobs in the survey296,810
Most jobsMichigan34,630 jobs · median $104,890

Pay where you want to work

Pick a state or search a metro area. The bar shows the spread from the lowest-paid 10% to the top 10% in that place.

United States

Mechanical engineers · annual wages, May 2025
BLS OEWS · May 2025
Occupational Employment and Wage StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Period
May 2025
SOC
17-2141 Mechanical engineers
File
oe.data.0.Current (download.bls.gov)
View official data
Lowest 10% below
$73,990
25th percentile
$84,130
Median
$104,110
75th percentile
$132,590
Top 10% above
$164,340
Middle half of workersMedianMean $113,610Jobs 296,810

BLS publishes this occupation for 53 state-level areas (50 states, DC and territories where available) and 472 metro and nonmetro areas. Places it does not publish are not estimated here.

Where the jobs are, and where pay is highest

Median annual pay, May 2025. Highest-pay lists only include places with at least 500 jobs. BLS wages are not adjusted for living costs, which are usually higher where pay is higher.

States with the most jobs

  1. Michigan34,630 jobs$104,890
  2. California30,530 jobs$130,900
  3. Texas22,080 jobs$112,410
  4. Ohio14,390 jobs$99,100
  5. Pennsylvania13,550 jobs$97,920

Highest-paying states

  1. New Mexico2,710 jobs$157,710
  2. District of Columbia510 jobs$133,300
  3. California30,530 jobs$130,900
  4. Delaware610 jobs$125,130
  5. Colorado7,190 jobs$124,430

Metro areas with the most jobs

  1. Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI22,500 jobs$109,470
  2. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA8,780 jobs$123,900
  3. Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX8,310 jobs$125,350
  4. New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ6,960 jobs$109,990
  5. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN6,900 jobs$102,070

Highest-paying metro areas

  1. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA5,540 jobs$168,030
  2. San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA5,150 jobs$161,370
  3. Northern New Mexico nonmetropolitan area1,120 jobs$157,710
  4. Baton Rouge, LA540 jobs$135,530
  5. Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC980 jobs$128,740
All 53 state-level areas (sortable)
Pay by state; select a column heading to sort
The full list loads with JavaScript; the lists above work without it.

Every job in this pathway

National figures. A field of study leads to several occupations, each with its own pay.

OccupationLowest 10%MedianTop 10%Jobs
Mechanical engineers —$104,110——
Aerospace engineers —$134,960——

"Jobs" counts wage-and-salary jobs in the OEWS survey; it differs from the employment totals in BLS projections. "—": BLS publishes this group as separate occupations; the median shown is the group figure from the Occupational Outlook Handbook.

Median pay by industry · mechanical engineers

  • Architectural, engineering, and related services$103,440
  • Machinery manufacturing$98,620
  • Transportation equipment manufacturing$105,560
  • Scientific research and development services$132,040
  • Computer and electronic product manufacturing$106,870
Data: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (national, state, metro and nonmetro estimates). How Margdarshan sources its data → · Back to Mechanical Engineering