Talent Maps / Austin / Industrial and Manufacturing Engineers

Austin Industrial and Manufacturing Engineer Talent Map (2026)

What industrial and manufacturing engineers earn in Austin, which fabs and factories employ them, where they work and the semiconductor and EV projects competing for them.

Hiring manufacturing engineers in Austin?

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 industrial and manufacturing engineers in the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos metro area, where semiconductor fabs, their suppliers and Tesla’s Gigafactory Texas account for much of the demand. Pay figures come from the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey (May 2025), and the demand picture uses company, BLS and state data published in 2025 and 2026. Our engineering recruiters update it as new data comes out. See also our Austin mechanical, controls and electrical talent maps.

$103,610Median industrial engineer pay in AustinBLS, May 2025

$129,390Median industrial production manager pay in AustinBLS, May 2025

87,800Manufacturing jobs in metro Austin, up 2.9% in a yearBLS, August 2026 (preliminary)

3,500+Manufacturing jobs Samsung expects from its Taylor and Austin expansionNIST CHIPS Program

400,000Wafer starts a year at SkyWater’s Austin Fab 25SkyWater

125,000+Installed yearly Cybercab capacity at Gigafactory TexasTesla, Q2 2026

Industrial engineer salaries in Austin

The median industrial engineer in metro Austin earns $103,610 a year, about $1,170 more than the national median of $102,440 and $950 less than the Texas median of $104,560. The top of the range is stronger: Austin’s highest-paid 10% earn $169,370 or more, about $9,500 above the national figure.

Annual pay percentile	Austin metro	Texas	United States
10th percentile	$62,790	$67,490	$74,370
25th percentile	$82,300	$86,410	$83,600
Median	$103,610	$104,560	$102,440
75th percentile	$134,360	$133,490	$129,250
90th percentile	$169,370	$168,670	$159,860

Industrial Engineers (SOC 17-2112), which includes most manufacturing engineers. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS, May 2025, via O*NET OnLine.

Industrial production managers in Austin earn a median of $129,390, and the top 10% earn $211,630 or more. Read our guide on how to hire a manufacturing engineer, or compare Houston in our Houston industrial engineer talent map.

Where Austin’s industrial and manufacturing engineers work

Semiconductor fabs

Samsung is building two 2nm logic fabs and an R&D fab in Taylor and expanding its Austin fab, with all sites expected to be running by 2030. SkyWater took over Infineon’s Austin Fab 25 in June 2025, along with its staff; the fab runs about 400,000 wafer starts a year on 130–65nm nodes.

NXP keeps its roughly 960,000 square foot Ed Bluestein facility.

Chip supply chain

Quantum Global Technologies received a $3.07 million state grant in June 2026 for a new Austin facility that services chipmaking tools, with 287 jobs. Soulbrain is building its first US plant in Taylor, a $120 million-plus chemical plant.

See our Austin semiconductor engineering recruiters page.

Electric vehicles

Tesla’s Gigafactory Texas covers more than 10 million square feet and builds the Model Y, Cybertruck and Cybercab. A compliance report showed 16,506 Tesla employees in Austin at the end of 2025, down 22% from 2024.

Robotics, hardware and space

Apptronik builds humanoid robots in Austin and has nearly 300 employees. Apple has made the Mac Pro in Austin since 2013, and Firefly Aerospace builds spacecraft in Cedar Park.

Where the talent sits: Austin submarkets

Taylor

SemiconductorsChemicals

Samsung’s new fabs and Soulbrain’s first US plant.

Southeast Austin

EVsManufacturing

Tesla’s Gigafactory Texas and its new battery cathode plant.

Austin fab corridor

Semiconductors

Samsung’s Austin fab, SkyWater’s Fab 25 and NXP’s Ed Bluestein site.

Round Rock and Cedar Park

TrainingSpace

ACC’s semiconductor and welding labs in Round Rock and Firefly’s Cedar Park headquarters.

San Marcos

Education

Texas State University’s ABET-accredited industrial and manufacturing engineering programs.

What’s driving demand for industrial engineers in Austin

Samsung Taylor. Samsung expects more than 3,500 manufacturing jobs from its Texas expansion, backed by up to $4.745 billion in federal CHIPS funding.
Chip suppliers. State semiconductor grants in 2026 went to Quantum Global Technologies in Austin and Soulbrain in Taylor, which will make 28,800 metric tons of phosphoric acid a year in its first phase.
Tesla. Cybercab production began in 2026, and a battery cathode plant at Gigafactory Texas began operating in August 2026.
Manufacturing growth. Metro Austin had about 87,800 manufacturing jobs in August 2026, up 2.9% from a year earlier.
Slower areas. NXP plans to sell its 155-acre Oak Hill campus after Austin layoffs, and its $291 million City of Austin incentive deal ended in 2025.

The talent pipeline

UT Austin. U.S. News ranks UT’s graduate industrial and manufacturing systems engineering program #22 and McCombs’ production and operations program #12 (2026).
Texas State University. Its industrial engineering and manufacturing engineering BS degrees are both ABET accredited. Industrial engineering had 155 students in fall 2026 and awarded 22 degrees in 2025–26. Manufacturing engineering had 67 students and awarded 11 degrees.
Austin Community College. A $3.6 million state grant in 2025 funded a semiconductor lab with a simulated clean room and Fanuc robotics, plus a precision welding lab, in Round Rock. ACC’s STARS technician program was built with Samsung, NXP, Tokyo Electron, Infineon and Applied Materials.
Growth. Texas is projected to grow from 28,510 industrial engineers in 2024 to 34,290 in 2034, a 20% increase, with about 2,390 openings a year.

What this means if you’re hiring

Austin pays close to the Texas median. Experienced industrial and manufacturing engineers expect the 75th percentile ($134,360) or more.
Local graduating classes are small. Texas State awarded 33 industrial and manufacturing engineering degrees in 2025–26, so most hires will come from other employers or other regions.
Fab experience is the scarce skill. Engineers who know yield, clean room processes and tool uptime are wanted by Samsung, SkyWater and their suppliers at once.
Recruit near the plant. Taylor, southeast Austin and San Marcos are far apart, and commutes decide many offers.

Need manufacturing engineers in Austin?

Apollo Technical has recruited engineers since 2010. Our recruiting teams place industrial, manufacturing, process and quality engineers on a contract, contract-to-hire and direct hire basis.

Call 512.686.1181 or see our Austin engineering recruiters page.

Hire manufacturing engineers

Frequently asked questions

How much do industrial engineers make in Austin?

The median industrial engineer salary in metro Austin is $103,610 a year, according to May 2025 BLS data. The middle half earn between $82,300 and $134,360, and the top 10% earn $169,370 or more.

Do industrial engineers earn more in Austin or San Antonio?

Austin pays more. The Austin median is $103,610, about $4,500 above San Antonio’s $99,110. See our San Antonio industrial engineer talent map.

How many manufacturing jobs are there in Austin?

Metro Austin had about 87,800 manufacturing jobs in August 2026, according to preliminary BLS data, up 2.9% from a year earlier.

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