Talent Maps / Jacksonville / Industrial and Manufacturing Engineers

Jacksonville Industrial and Manufacturing Engineer Talent Map (2026)

What industrial and manufacturing engineers earn in metro Jacksonville, which manufacturers, port operators and aviation employers hire them, where in the metro they work, and the projects competing for them.

Hiring manufacturing engineers in Jacksonville?

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 Jacksonville metro area (Duval, Clay, St. Johns, Nassau and Baker counties). Pay figures come from the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey (May 2025), and the demand picture uses project and company data published from 2024 to 2026. Our manufacturing engineering recruiters update it as new data comes out. See also our Jacksonville mechanical, aerospace and electrical engineer talent maps.

$100,950Median industrial engineer pay in metro JacksonvilleBLS, May 2025

$149,990+What the top 10% of Jacksonville industrial engineers earnBLS, May 2025

1.7BACUVUE contact lenses Johnson & Johnson makes each year for US patientsJohnson & Johnson, 2026

$1B+Johnson & Johnson’s Jacksonville Vision investment, due in 2028Johnson & Johnson, 2026

506,000Vehicles moved by JAXPORT’s auto processors in 2025JAXPORT, 2026

650,000+TEUs (container units) a year the upgraded SSA terminal can handle, up 150%JAXPORT

Industrial and manufacturing engineer salaries in Jacksonville

The median industrial engineer in metro Jacksonville earns $100,950 a year, $660 below the Florida median of $101,610 and $1,490 below the national median of $102,440. The hourly median is $48.53. Pay is close to flat against the state across the range, with one exception at the bottom: the 10th percentile is $63,290, against $68,850 statewide. The 90th percentile is $149,990.

Annual pay percentile	Jacksonville metro	Florida	United States
10th percentile	$63,290	$68,850	$74,370
25th percentile	$76,680	$81,480	$83,600
Median	$100,950	$101,610	$102,440
75th percentile	$126,060	$127,650	$129,250
90th percentile	$149,990	$156,560	$159,860

Industrial Engineers (SOC 17-2112). Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS, May 2025, via O*NET OnLine. Wage surveys run about a year behind current offers.

Industrial engineering technologists and technicians, the people who support layout, time studies and production lines, earn a median of $63,460 in Jacksonville. That is above the Florida median of $61,350 and below the national $66,120. Pay ranges from $42,680 at the 10th percentile to $83,780 at the 90th.

What the spread means in practice: Orlando pays more, with a median of $104,920 against $100,950 in Jacksonville. The gap is widest at the top, where Orlando’s 90th percentile is $160,650 against $149,990 here.

Where Jacksonville’s industrial and manufacturing work is

Life sciences manufacturing

Johnson & Johnson Vision has operated in Jacksonville for more than 40 years across 1.5 million square feet and has about 3,500 employees there. Its June 15, 2026 announcement covers a distribution facility and new manufacturing and packaging technology.

Port and logistics

SSA Marine operates the container terminal at Blount Island, which got a $72 million upgrade in 2025 with nine cranes and a redesigned gate with six inbound and six outbound truck lanes.

Design-build and process firms

Stellar, founded in 1985 and headquartered on Hartley Road, does industrial cold storage and ammonia refrigeration, and has won Food Plant of the Year awards and built a 1.66 million square foot bakery in Mexico. Haskell offers manufacturing systems in automation, process, packaging and material handling.

Military and aerospace production

Fleet Readiness Center Southeast employs about 5,000 people and has revenue above $1 billion. Boeing’s Cecil hangar adds a $57.3 million component repair facility. Northrop Grumman’s St. Augustine site is deploying virtual reality training and digital quality tools.

Where the talent sits: Jacksonville submarkets

Blount Island and the Northside

PortAutomotive logistics

JAXPORT’s Blount Island terminal handles vehicles and containers. A $60 million vehicle Berth 21 was 50% complete in June 2026 and is due in early 2027.

Cecil Airport

Aviation MROAircraft manufacturing

Boeing’s maintenance hangar and component repair facility sit here, and Otto Aerospace plans a business jet factory.

NAS Jacksonville

Depot repairAircraft engines

Fleet Readiness Center Southeast repairs aircraft, engines and components for the Navy.

Southside and Mandarin

Design-buildProcess engineering

Stellar’s headquarters is on Hartley Road, and RS&H is headquartered in Deerwood Park.

St. Augustine and St. Johns County

Aircraft production

Northrop Grumman has operated here since 1980 and has serviced more than 1,600 aircraft.

What’s driving demand for industrial engineers in Jacksonville

Johnson & Johnson Vision. The more than $1 billion investment began construction in 2026 with a target of 2028. It is part of a $55 billion US commitment by the company through early 2029.
Container terminal capacity. The $72 million SSA upgrade raised capacity by 150% and roughly doubled JAXPORT’s total annual container throughput to about 2 million TEUs. A project to raise powerlines to a 225-foot air draft finishes by the end of 2026.
Vehicle processing. Auto processors at JAXPORT moved more than 506,000 vehicles in 2025. Berth 21 is a $60 million project, 75% paid by the Florida Department of Transportation.
Aircraft maintenance. Boeing’s $245.8 million hangar at Cecil opened in February 2024, and the Navy’s Fleet Readiness Center Southeast has revenue above $1 billion.
Military spending. The city’s economic development office puts direct defense spending in Duval County at $6.5 billion, including $1.8 billion of procurement.
Population. The Jacksonville metro had 1,785,500 residents in July 2025, up about 26,000 in a year.

Industrial specialties tied to these projects

Manufacturing and process engineers for contact lens production and packaging at Johnson & Johnson.
Terminal and logistics engineers for gate flow, cranes, reefer plugs and vehicle staging at JAXPORT.
Automation and material handling engineers for the manufacturing systems work at Haskell.
Cold chain and food process engineers for Stellar’s refrigeration and plant work.
Repair flow and production planning engineers for aircraft maintenance at Boeing and Fleet Readiness Center Southeast.

The talent pipeline

University of North Florida. UNF’s BS in advanced manufacturing engineering is ABET-accredited, as are its mechanical, electrical and civil engineering degrees.
Florida State College at Jacksonville. Its Engineering Technology (Advanced Manufacturing) associate degree is 60 credits and covers PLCs, CNC machines, hydraulics and pneumatics, for work in manufacturing, food processing, chemicals, pulp and paper, and pharmaceuticals.
Licensing. A Florida PE license comes from the Florida Board of Professional Engineers after an ABET-accredited degree, the FE exam, the PE exam and four years of experience.
Out of state. Large manufacturers here also recruit nationally. See our expanding into Florida page.

What this means if you’re hiring

Expect Orlando to pull on senior people. Orlando’s 75th percentile is $127,450 against $126,060 here, and its 90th is $10,660 higher.
Entry pay sits below the state. The 10th percentile of $63,290 is $5,560 under Florida’s, so new graduates may weigh offers elsewhere in the state.
Large projects mean long runs. Johnson & Johnson targets 2028, Berth 21 early 2027 and powerline work late 2026.
Pair UNF engineers with FSCJ technicians. Teams in manufacturing and terminal work need both.

Need manufacturing engineers in Jacksonville?

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

Call 813.701.2797 or see our Jacksonville engineering recruiters page.

Hire manufacturing engineers

Frequently asked questions

How much do industrial engineers make in Jacksonville?

The median industrial engineer salary in metro Jacksonville is $100,950 a year, according to May 2025 BLS data. The middle half earn between $76,680 and $126,060, and the top 10% earn $149,990 or more.

Do industrial engineers earn more in Jacksonville or Orlando?

Orlando, by about $3,970 at the median. Its median is $104,920 against $100,950 in Jacksonville. See our Orlando industrial engineer talent map.

Who hires industrial engineers in Jacksonville?

Manufacturers such as Johnson & Johnson Vision, the port authority JAXPORT and its terminal operators, design-build firms such as Stellar and Haskell, and aviation employers such as Boeing, Fleet Readiness Center Southeast and Northrop Grumman.

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