Aerospace engineers earned salaries that ranged from $85,350 to $205,850 or more in 2024, according to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). They earned median salaries of $134,830. Fifty percent of aerospace engineers earned between $104,740 and $174,480.
Industrial designers who worked for architectural, engineering, and related services firms earned median annual salaries of $92,940, according to the DOL, while those who worked in the manufacturing sector earned $76,240. Earnings for all industrial designers ranged from $49,390 to $134,840 or more.
Designers and engineers receive excellent benefits. For example, some of the benefits that are offered by the United Launch Alliance include medical/prescription, dental, and vision insurance; health care and dependent care spending accounts; short- and long-term disability coverage; basic life insurance; a 401(k) plan with both matching and non-contributory contributions; paid time off (including holidays); flexible work schedules such as 9/80 workweeks (which compresses 80 hours of work in a two-week period into nine workdays instead of 10); and tuition reimbursement. Self-employed designers and engineers must provide their own benefits.
- Aeronautical and Aerospace Technicians
- Aerospace Engineers
- Aerospace Medicine Physicians
- Astrobiologists
- Astrogeologists
- Astronauts
- Astronomers
- Astrophysicists
- Biologists
- Build Reliability Engineers
- Chemical Engineers
- Chemists
- Computer Programmers
- Electrical Engineering Technologists
- Electrical Engineers
- Electronics Engineers
- Engineers
- Geographic Information Systems Specialists
- Hypersonics Engineers
- Hypersonics Technicians
- Laboratory Testing Technicians
- Materials Engineers
- Mechanical Engineers
- Molecular and Cellular Biologists
- Robotics Engineers
- Robotics Technicians
- Space Habitat Designers
- Space Lawyers
- Space Meteorologist
- Space Pilots
- Space Port Managers
- Space Systems Operators
- Space Tourism Managers
- Spacecraft Test Technicians