Talent Maps / Dallas-Fort Worth / Aerospace Engineers

Dallas-Fort Worth Aerospace Engineer Talent Map (2026)

What aerospace engineers earn in Dallas-Fort Worth, from Lockheed Martin’s F-35 line and Bell in Fort Worth to Airbus Helicopters in Grand Prairie, where they work and who else is hiring them.

Hiring aerospace engineers in DFW?

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 aerospace engineers in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metro area, one of the largest aerospace and defense clusters in the country. Pay figures come from the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey (May 2025), and the demand picture uses company and program data published in 2025 and 2026. Our engineering recruiters update it as new data comes out. See also our DFW mechanical, electrical and industrial and manufacturing talent maps.

$134,570Median aerospace engineer pay in Dallas-Fort WorthBLS, May 2025

$214,150+What the top 10% of DFW aerospace engineers earnBLS, May 2025

7,560Aerospace engineers employed in TexasProjections Central, 2024

540Projected aerospace engineering job openings a year in Texas through 2034Projections Central

19,000Employees at Lockheed Martin’s F-35 plant in Fort WorthLockheed Martin, January 2026

191F-35s delivered in 2025, a recordLockheed Martin

Aerospace engineer salaries in Dallas-Fort Worth

The median aerospace engineer in Dallas-Fort Worth earns $134,570 a year, in line with the national median of $134,960 and above the Texas median of $130,270. Pay is strong at both ends: the bottom 10% start at $96,650, about $10,000 above the national figure, and the top 10% earn $214,150 or more.

Annual pay percentile	DFW metro	Texas	United States
10th percentile	$96,650	$82,990	$86,700
25th percentile	$107,660	$103,810	$106,110
Median	$134,570	$130,270	$134,960
75th percentile	$177,470	$166,980	$169,690
90th percentile	$214,150	$195,190	$205,890

Aerospace Engineers (SOC 17-2011). Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS, May 2025, via O*NET OnLine. Wage surveys run about a year behind current offers.

Support roles pay well above national rates too. Aerospace engineering technicians earn a median of $98,800 in DFW against $82,890 nationally, and aircraft mechanics earn $94,920 against $79,870.

Where DFW’s aerospace engineers work

Fighters and defense primes

Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth plant builds the F-35 and employs 19,000 people. Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control in Grand Prairie has about 4,000 employees. Elbit Systems of America is headquartered in Fort Worth.

RTX has more than 6,000 Raytheon employees in North Texas, Collins Aerospace is adding more than 570 jobs in Richardson and L3Harris modifies aircraft in Greenville.

Rotorcraft and vertical lift

Bell is headquartered in Fort Worth with more than 5,000 employees in the area, and is building a $632 million AllianceTexas plant for MV-75 transmissions and rotor blades, plus a drive systems test lab in Grand Prairie.

Airbus Helicopters’ Grand Prairie site, its North American support hub, has about 500 employees.

Aerostructures and maintenance

Qarbon Aerospace, the former Vought and Triumph plant in Red Oak, builds parts for the V-22, T-7A and F-35’s engine across 772,000 square feet, and is adding a 55,000 square foot classified production space by early 2027.

Triumph runs an engine accessory repair shop in Grand Prairie, and Embraer is investing $70 million in an aircraft maintenance facility at Alliance.

Airlines and advanced air mobility

American Airlines is headquartered in Fort Worth, and Southwest Airlines’ maintenance engineering and maintenance control jobs are based in Dallas.

Joby Aviation signed a 45,000 square foot lease at Alliance and flew its first Texas pilot program flights there in September 2026. Wing and Zipline deliver by drone across DFW.

Where the talent sits: DFW submarkets

West Fort Worth

FightersDefense

Lockheed Martin’s Air Force Plant 4, the F-35 final assembly line, next to Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth.

Alliance and north Fort Worth

RotorcraftMROeVTOL

Bell’s new plant, Embraer’s maintenance facility, Joby’s new base and Fort Worth Alliance Airport.

Grand Prairie and Arlington

MissilesHelicopters

Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, Airbus Helicopters, Bell’s test lab and Triumph, close to UT Arlington.

Red Oak and south Dallas County

Aerostructures

Qarbon Aerospace’s Red Oak plant on 123 acres, building parts for military and business aircraft.

Richardson, McKinney and Greenville

AvionicsDefense electronics

Collins Aerospace, Raytheon and L3Harris, where aerospace overlaps with electronics and systems engineering.

What’s driving demand for aerospace engineers in DFW

F-35 production. Lockheed plans to hold output at 156 jets a year. By mid-2026 it had delivered 1,344 F-35s with 317 on backlog, and a December 2025 contract change funds early work on Lots 20 and 21 in Fort Worth through 2030.
Bell MV-75. The Army’s new long-range assault aircraft was named in April 2026. Bell is building transmissions and rotor blades for it in Fort Worth, with the first prototype due by the end of 2026 and testing in 2027.
Classified work. Qarbon’s new secure production space in Red Oak, due in early 2027, will need engineers who can work on classified programs.
Advanced air mobility. Joby’s Alliance base and federal pilot program flights, plus drone delivery from Wing and Zipline, are adding a new kind of aerospace job in DFW.

The talent pipeline

UT Arlington. UTA’s aerospace engineering program has been ABET accredited since 1968. Its Aerodynamics Research Center has subsonic through hypersonic wind tunnels and an arc-jet facility.
Texas A&M. About three hours south, Texas A&M’s aerospace engineering department has 724 undergraduates and 261 graduate students, and is ranked No. 6 among public graduate programs.
Growth. Texas is projected to grow from 7,560 aerospace engineers in 2024 to 8,540 in 2034, a 13% increase against 6% nationally, with about 540 openings a year. Read more on whether aerospace engineering is a good career.
Clearances. Many F-35 engineering roles require US citizenship and a Secret clearance, which narrows the pool.

What this means if you’re hiring

You’re competing with Lockheed and Bell. Smaller employers win on project variety, speed and flexibility, not size.
Budget above the median for experience. DFW pays $177,470 at the 75th percentile, well above Texas.
Plan for clearances. Cleared engineers are scarce and slow to replace. Start early and consider sponsoring clearances.
Look beyond aerospace degrees. Many aerospace roles are filled by mechanical, electrical and systems engineers. See our DFW mechanical engineer talent map.

Need aerospace engineers in Dallas-Fort Worth?

Apollo Technical has recruited engineers since 2010. Our recruiting teams place aerospace, mechanical, systems and manufacturing engineers on a contract, contract-to-hire and direct hire basis.

Call 214.257.7733 or see our Dallas engineering recruiters page.

Hire aerospace engineers

Frequently asked questions

How much do aerospace engineers make in Dallas-Fort Worth?

The median aerospace engineer salary in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metro is $134,570 a year, according to May 2025 BLS data. The middle half earn between $107,660 and $177,470, and the top 10% earn $214,150 or more.

Who are the biggest aerospace employers in DFW?

Lockheed Martin, with 19,000 employees at its Fort Worth F-35 plant and about 4,000 in Grand Prairie, and Bell, headquartered in Fort Worth. Others include RTX, Collins Aerospace, L3Harris, Airbus Helicopters, Elbit Systems of America and Qarbon Aerospace.

Do aerospace jobs in Fort Worth need a security clearance?

Many do. F-35 engineering roles often require US citizenship and a Secret clearance, and Qarbon is adding classified production space in Red Oak.

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