Talent Maps / Raleigh / Aerospace Engineers

Raleigh Aerospace Engineer Talent Map (2026)

Raleigh is a small aerospace market with a few strong employers, from GE Aerospace’s Durham engine plant to defense and space teams in Morrisville. Here is what aerospace engineers earn, where they work and what is driving demand.

Hiring aerospace engineers in Raleigh?

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 Raleigh-Cary metro area and the Research Triangle, a market built on engine assembly, defense and space programs and a handful of aircraft and component makers. The aerospace workforce here is thin, and BLS does not publish a Raleigh pay figure for aerospace engineers, so we use state, Charlotte and national data alongside real posted pay ranges. Pay figures come from the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey (May 2025), and the demand picture uses employer, state and news reports from 2024 to 2026. Our engineering recruiters update it as new data comes out. See also our Raleigh mechanical, electrical and industrial engineer talent maps.

$122,930Median aerospace engineer pay in North Carolina. BLS publishes no Raleigh figureBLS, May 2025

$91,600Median aircraft mechanic pay in metro Raleigh, against $76,980 statewideBLS, May 2025

728Aerospace engineer jobs in all of North Carolina, with about 48 openings a yearNCcareers.org

$20MGE Aerospace’s 2026 investment at its Durham engine assembly siteGE Aerospace, March 2026

1,000Employees at Airbus’s Kinston plant, which builds A350 fuselage panels and wing sparsAirbus, July 2026

14,500Jobs JetZero plans over 10 years at the Greensboro campus it broke ground on in June 2026HITT Contracting, June 2026

Aerospace engineer salaries in Raleigh

BLS does not publish an aerospace engineer wage for the Raleigh-Cary or Durham-Chapel Hill metro areas. The best published guide is the state figure. The median aerospace engineer in North Carolina earns $122,930 a year, about $12,000 below the national median of $134,960. Metro Charlotte pays a median of $132,830. Compare our Charlotte aerospace talent map.

Annual pay percentile	North Carolina	Charlotte metro	United States
10th percentile	$79,310	$80,240	$86,700
25th percentile	$94,210	$104,850	$106,110
Median	$122,930	$132,830	$134,960
75th percentile	$149,990	$169,760	$169,690
90th percentile	$176,720	$212,620	$205,890

Aerospace Engineers (SOC 17-2011). BLS publishes no figure for the Raleigh-Cary metro. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS, May 2025, via O*NET OnLine.

BLS does publish Raleigh pay for aircraft mechanics and service technicians: a median of $91,600, with the top 10% at $141,030 or more, well above the state median of $76,980. Mechanical engineers, the largest pool of adjacent talent, earn a median of $100,000. BLS publishes no Raleigh figure for aerospace engineering technicians.

What Triangle aerospace jobs are posting in 2026

Employer and role	What it asks for	Posted pay
Collins Aerospace, engineering role (Morrisville)	Active U.S. security clearance	$132,400 to $251,600
BETA Technologies, aircraft structural design (Raleigh)	5+ years of aircraft structural design	$150,000 to $180,000
BETA Technologies, Senior Structural Dynamics Engineer (Raleigh)	Structural dynamics analysis	$135,000 to $155,000
Amazon Prime Air, Field Service Engineer (Durham)	Aerospace, robotics or electromechanical troubleshooting	$129,200 to $174,800
Anduril, Senior Product Quality Engineer, Aerospace (Morrisville)	Supplier quality for aerospace programs	$110,000 to $149,000
Northrop Grumman, Space Systems Engineer level 2-3 (Morrisville)	Clearance required for start	$87,600 to $163,200
Ontic, Electrical Engineer (Creedmoor)	Aerospace standards, obsolescence management	$95,000 to $120,000
Ontic, Quality Engineer (Creedmoor)	AS9100 and FAA regulations	$75,000 to $90,000

Postings from direct employers, live in early October 2026.

Where Raleigh’s aerospace engineers work

Engine assembly

GE Aerospace’s Durham site assembles engines for narrowbody and widebody aircraft, including the CFM LEAP. It received $16 million in 2025 and another $20 million in 2026 for tooling, engine line assembly systems and building upgrades.

GE Aerospace employs about 2,000 people across its North Carolina sites.

Defense and space

Northrop Grumman’s Space Systems sector is hiring cleared systems engineers in Morrisville. Collins Aerospace posts cleared engineering roles there, and Anduril is hiring aerospace quality and composite manufacturing engineers in Morrisville.

Aircraft and components

BETA Technologies is hiring aircraft structures engineers in Raleigh. New Phoenix Aerospace, a design and manufacturing company on Triangle Drive in Raleigh, is hiring manufacturing engineers and drafters. Ontic hires quality and electrical engineers in Creedmoor.

Beyond the Triangle

Airbus took over the former Spirit AeroSystems plant in Kinston in December 2025, with 1,000 employees. In Greensboro, JetZero broke ground on an 8 million square foot campus in June 2026, while Boom Supersonic’s factory sits mostly idle.

Where the talent sits: Raleigh submarkets

Durham and RTP

EnginesDrones

GE Aerospace’s engine assembly plant and Amazon Prime Air’s field service roles.

Morrisville

DefenseSpace

Northrop Grumman, Collins Aerospace and Anduril, most of them hiring for cleared work.

Northwest Raleigh

ComponentsAircraft

New Phoenix Aerospace on Triangle Drive and BETA Technologies’ Raleigh engineering roles.

Creedmoor

ComponentsQuality

Ontic’s Granville County site, which hires to AS9100 aerospace quality standards.

NC State University

University

The Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, the largest engineering department at NC State.

What’s driving demand for aerospace engineers in Raleigh

Engine output. GE Aerospace is investing another $1 billion in U.S. plants in 2026 and plans to hire 5,000 U.S. workers, including engineers. Durham’s share goes to more engine assembly.
Defense and space work. Northrop Grumman, Collins Aerospace and Anduril are all posting Morrisville roles, many of them requiring a clearance.
JetZero. JetZero plans 14,500 jobs in Greensboro over the next 10 years, with hiring in phases. That will pull engineers from across the state.
Drones. Skyeton will create 162 jobs at its first U.S. drone plant in Fayetteville, at an average salary of $70,759.
An uncertain bet. Boom Supersonic’s Greensboro lease allows termination if it employs fewer than 500 people there by December 31, 2026.

The talent pipeline

NC State University. NC State offers a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering, with low-speed and high-speed wind tunnels and a year-long senior design project building drones or small spacecraft.
Wayne Community College. Its Aviation Systems Technology program in Goldsboro has been FAA Part 147 approved since 1969. In July 2026, 10 students completed its powerplant certificate, including students from Raleigh, Wendell and Clayton.
A small state workforce. North Carolina has about 728 aerospace engineer jobs, projected to grow to 786, with about 48 openings a year.
Adjacent engineers. Mechanical, electrical and quality engineers fill many aerospace roles here. See our Raleigh mechanical engineer talent map.

What this means if you’re hiring

The pool is small. With only about 48 aerospace engineer openings a year statewide, plan to hire mechanical and electrical engineers and train them on aerospace standards.
Plan for clearances. Most Morrisville defense and space roles require an active clearance, which narrows the pool and adds time.
Expect Charlotte and Greensboro to compete. Charlotte’s median is about $10,000 above the state’s, and JetZero will be hiring for a decade.
Pay technicians well. Raleigh aircraft mechanics earn a median of $91,600, about $14,600 above the state median.

Need aerospace engineers in Raleigh?

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

Call 919.710.8098 or see our Raleigh engineering recruiters page.

Hire aerospace engineers

Frequently asked questions

How much do aerospace engineers make in Raleigh?

BLS does not publish a Raleigh figure. Across North Carolina, the median aerospace engineer salary is $122,930 a year, according to May 2025 BLS data. Posted ranges in the Triangle in October 2026 ran from $75,000 for a quality engineer to more than $250,000 at the top of a cleared engineering range.

Who hires aerospace engineers in Raleigh?

GE Aerospace in Durham, Northrop Grumman, Collins Aerospace and Anduril in Morrisville, BETA Technologies and New Phoenix Aerospace in Raleigh, and Ontic in Creedmoor.

Does Raleigh pay aerospace engineers less than Charlotte?

BLS publishes a Charlotte median of $132,830 but no Raleigh figure, so a direct comparison is not possible. The statewide median is $122,930. See our Charlotte aerospace talent map and read more on whether aerospace engineering is a good career.

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