Talent Maps / Houston / Mechanical Engineers

Houston Mechanical Engineer Talent Map (2026)

What mechanical engineers earn in Houston, the energy, EPC, space and manufacturing employers that hold the talent, where in the metro they work and the LNG and industrial projects competing for them.

Hiring mechanical engineers in Houston?

A talent map shows where a group of professionals works, what they are paid and who else is trying to hire them. This one covers mechanical engineers in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands metro area, one of the best-paying mechanical engineering markets in the country. Pay figures come from the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey (May 2025), and the demand picture uses company and project data published in 2025 and 2026. Our mechanical engineering recruiters update it as new data comes out. See also our Houston industrial and manufacturing, electrical and aerospace talent maps.

$125,350Median mechanical engineer pay in Houston, about $21,000 above the US medianBLS, May 2025

$198,730+What the top 10% of Houston mechanical engineers earnBLS, May 2025

$169,870Median petroleum engineer pay in HoustonBLS, May 2025

1,350Projected mechanical engineering job openings a year in Texas through 2034Projections Central

27Fortune 500 companies in the Houston areaFortune 500, 2026

18.1 MtpaCapacity of Golden Pass LNG, which produced its first LNG in March 2026Golden Pass LNG

Mechanical engineer salaries in Houston

The median mechanical engineer in metro Houston earns $125,350 a year, about $12,900 more than the Texas median of $112,410 and $21,240 more than the national median of $104,110. The gap widens at the top: Houston’s highest-paid 10% earn $198,730 or more, about $34,000 above the national figure.

Annual pay percentile	Houston metro	Texas	United States
10th percentile	$79,470	$75,810	$73,990
25th percentile	$99,080	$91,420	$84,130
Median	$125,350	$112,410	$104,110
75th percentile	$164,640	$145,090	$132,590
90th percentile	$198,730	$175,210	$164,340

Mechanical Engineers (SOC 17-2141). Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS, May 2025, via O*NET OnLine. Wage surveys run about a year behind current offers.

Mechanical engineering technicians earn a median of $91,450 in Houston, against $74,510 nationally. Petroleum engineers, many of whom come from mechanical backgrounds, earn a median of $169,870, and the top 10% earn $288,530 or more. Compare Dallas in our Dallas-Fort Worth mechanical engineer talent map.

Where Houston’s mechanical engineers work

Energy companies

ExxonMobil’s global headquarters campus north of Houston was built for more than 10,000 employees. Chevron is moving its headquarters to Houston, where it had about 7,000 employees when it announced the move in 2024. ConocoPhillips and Occidental are headquartered in Houston, and bp’s Westlake campus serves a workforce of nearly 9,000.

Oilfield services and equipment

SLB, Halliburton, Baker Hughes and NOV are all on the 2026 list of Houston-area Fortune 500 companies, and TechnipFMC runs its operational headquarters in Houston.

These companies hire mechanical engineers for rotating equipment, subsea systems, drilling tools and manufacturing.

Engineering, procurement and construction

KBR is headquartered downtown, and Bechtel’s Energy business is headquartered at CityWestPlace. Fluor moved 1,600 employees into its Energy Corridor offices in 2023. McDermott and Worley also run large Houston engineering offices.

EPC firms design the LNG, refining and chemical plants built along the Gulf Coast.

Space, HVAC and manufacturing

NASA’s Johnson Space Center had 2,317 civil servants in October 2025, plus thousands of contractors. Intuitive Machines and Axiom Space are headquartered at the Houston Spaceport. See our Houston aerospace talent map.

Daikin’s Waller campus makes Goodman, Amana and Daikin HVAC equipment, and Apple builds AI servers in Houston.

Where the talent sits: Houston submarkets

Energy Corridor and west Houston

EPCEnergy

bp Westlake, Fluor, Bechtel’s CityWestPlace, McDermott and Worley along I-10 west. The deepest pool of plant design engineers in the country.

Spring and The Woodlands

EnergyChemicals

ExxonMobil’s campus and Chevron Phillips Chemical in The Woodlands, north of the city.

Downtown and the Galleria

EnergyOilfield services

Chevron, KBR, SLB and Occidental, plus energy company offices around Greenway Plaza and the Galleria.

Ship Channel and Baytown

RefiningPetrochemicals

The refineries and chemical plants of east Harris County. See our Houston refineries map.

Clear Lake and Ellington

Space

Johnson Space Center, its contractors and the Houston Spaceport companies.

What’s driving demand for mechanical engineers in Houston

LNG. Golden Pass LNG produced its first LNG in March 2026. Port Arthur LNG Phase 2, about $12 billion, was approved in September 2025, with Bechtel as contractor, and Corpus Christi LNG Stage 3 was completed in August 2026. The plants are outside the metro, but much of the engineering happens in Houston.
Petrochemicals. The $8.5 billion Golden Triangle Polymers plant in Orange is due to start up in 2027.
Data centers and servers. CBRE says Houston’s data center capacity could more than double by 2028, and Serverfarm is planning a campus that could reach more than 500 MW. Apple builds AI servers in Houston.
Space. Intuitive Machines and Axiom Space are growing at the Houston Spaceport.
Slower areas. ExxonMobil paused development of its Baytown low-carbon hydrogen project in 2025, and federal support for the HyVelocity hydrogen hub is uncertain.

The talent pipeline

University of Houston. UH’s Cullen College offers ABET-accredited mechanical, petroleum and chemical engineering degrees.
Rice University. Rice offers ABET-accredited BS degrees in mechanical and chemical engineering.
Prairie View A&M. Its BS in mechanical engineering is ABET accredited.
Texas A&M. College Station, about 90 minutes northwest, is one of the largest feeders of engineers into Houston.
Growth. Texas is projected to grow from 18,240 mechanical engineers in 2024 to 21,630 in 2034, with about 1,350 openings a year. Read more in our Texas mechanical engineer statistics.

What this means if you’re hiring

Houston pays the most in Texas. Offers built on Dallas or national data will fall short. Plan on the 75th percentile ($164,640) for experienced engineers.
You’re competing with the majors. Energy companies and EPCs pay well and recruit hard. Smaller employers win on stability, variety and speed.
Plan around the energy cycle. Hiring in Houston rises and falls with oil prices and project approvals. Lock in good engineers when the market is soft.
Look at adjacent skills. HVAC, data center and manufacturing engineers often move into plant work, and back.

Need mechanical engineers in Houston?

Apollo Technical has recruited engineers since 2010. Our recruiting teams place mechanical, rotating equipment, HVAC and design engineers on a contract, contract-to-hire and direct hire basis.

Call 832.519.1704 or see our Houston engineering recruiters page.

Hire mechanical engineers

Frequently asked questions

How much do mechanical engineers make in Houston?

The median mechanical engineer salary in metro Houston is $125,350 a year, according to May 2025 BLS data. The middle half earn between $99,080 and $164,640, and the top 10% earn $198,730 or more.

Why do mechanical engineers earn more in Houston?

Most of the difference comes from the energy industry. Oil and gas companies, oilfield services and EPC firms pay a premium for plant, rotating equipment and subsea experience.

Who hires the most mechanical engineers in Houston?

Energy companies such as ExxonMobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and bp, oilfield services companies such as SLB, Halliburton, Baker Hughes and NOV, and EPC firms such as KBR, Bechtel, Fluor, McDermott and Worley.

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