Talent Maps / Raleigh / Mechanical Engineers

Raleigh Mechanical Engineer Talent Map (2026)

What mechanical engineers earn in Raleigh, the biomanufacturing, power and design employers that hold the talent, where in the Triangle they work and the plant projects competing for them.

Hiring mechanical 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 mechanical engineers in the Raleigh-Cary metro area, home to a cluster of drug and vaccine plants in Holly Springs and Clayton, with Research Triangle Park and Durham next door. Pay figures come from the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey (May 2025) and are for the Raleigh-Cary metro. The demand picture uses company, BLS and state data published in 2025 and 2026. Our mechanical engineering recruiters update it as new data comes out. See also our Raleigh industrial and manufacturing, electrical and controls talent maps.

$100,000Median mechanical engineer pay in Raleigh, close to the North Carolina medianBLS, May 2025

$160,170+What the top 10% of Raleigh mechanical engineers earnBLS, May 2025

$101,650Median mechanical engineer pay in neighboring Durham-Chapel Hill, home to RTPBLS, May 2025

1,400Jobs Fujifilm plans at its $3.2 billion Holly Springs plant by 2031Fujifilm, September 2025

35,200Manufacturing jobs in metro RaleighBLS, August 2026 (preliminary)

620Projected mechanical engineering job openings a year in North Carolina through 2034Projections Central

Mechanical engineer salaries in Raleigh

The median mechanical engineer in metro Raleigh earns $100,000 a year, $720 less than the North Carolina median of $100,720 and $4,110 less than the national median of $104,110. The range is wide: entry pay is low, with the bottom 10% earning $59,220 or less, about $14,770 below the national figure. The top 10% earn $160,170 or more, $4,620 above the state figure.

Annual pay percentile	Raleigh metro	North Carolina	United States
10th percentile	$59,220	$71,260	$73,990
25th percentile	$81,420	$82,490	$84,130
Median	$100,000	$100,720	$104,110
75th percentile	$124,360	$125,050	$132,590
90th percentile	$160,170	$155,550	$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 $64,840 in Raleigh, against $74,510 nationally and $62,360 statewide. BLS publishes no Raleigh or North Carolina estimate for petroleum engineers. Across the Triangle, mechanical engineers in the Durham-Chapel Hill metro earn a median of $101,650. Compare Charlotte in our Charlotte mechanical engineer talent map.

Where Raleigh’s mechanical engineers work

Biomanufacturing in Holly Springs

Fujifilm opened its $3.2 billion Holly Springs site in September 2025 with eight 20,000-liter bioreactors. A second phase will double that to 16. The site had more than 680 employees at opening and plans to employ 1,400 by 2031.

Amgen opened its first Holly Springs drug substance plant in January 2025 and broke ground on a second the same day. The two buildings total more than 500,000 square feet and are expected to bring more than 700 jobs by 2030.

Novo Nordisk and Genentech

Clayton is Novo Nordisk’s first and largest US manufacturing site, with about 2,500 employees at two facilities. A $4.1 billion third plant, adding 1,000 jobs, is due to finish between 2027 and 2029.

Genentech topped out its roughly $2 billion Holly Springs plant in August 2026. It is expected to support more than 500 manufacturing roles.

Power and grid equipment

Duke Energy Progress serves about 1.6 million customers in central and eastern North Carolina. Duke broke ground in February 2026 on two 1,360 MW gas units in Person County.

Siemens Energy is expanding grid technology project execution, engineering and R&D in Raleigh as part of a $421 million North Carolina investment announced in February 2026.

MEP and design firms

Kilian Engineering, a Raleigh mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire alarm design firm founded in 2000, has completed more than 5,000 projects. It joined Stratus in 2025.

Sigma Engineered Solutions, a Raleigh MEP and fire protection design firm, merged with Salas O’Brien in July 2026.

Where the talent sits: Raleigh submarkets

Holly Springs

BiomanufacturingVaccines

Fujifilm, Amgen, Genentech and CSL Seqirus, which runs the world’s largest cell-based flu vaccine plant. The town passed 50,000 residents in 2025.

Clayton and Johnston County

Pharmaceuticals

Novo Nordisk’s two Clayton facilities and its $4.1 billion third plant.

Research Triangle Park and Durham

SemiconductorsPharmaceuticals

Wolfspeed’s Durham headquarters and Novo Nordisk’s Durham oral tablet site. Durham-Chapel Hill is a separate metro for pay data.

Raleigh and Cary

DesignGrid equipment

MEP and design firms, Siemens Energy’s Raleigh operations and Hitachi Energy’s planned power electronics center in Cary.

Person County (outside the metro)

Power generation

Duke Energy’s Person County Energy Complex north of Durham, where two new gas units are under construction.

What’s driving demand for mechanical engineers in Raleigh

Biomanufacturing build-out. Fujifilm’s second phase doubles its bioreactor capacity, and finished goods work is being added in 2026. Amgen’s second plant and Genentech’s plant, which Genentech plans to launch in 2028, add hundreds more plant jobs.
Novo Nordisk. Its $4.1 billion Clayton plant adds 1,000 jobs and is due between 2027 and 2029. Novo announced about 9,000 job cuts worldwide in September 2025 and did not say how Clayton would be affected.
New power plants. Duke’s two Person County gas units total 2,720 MW. The first is planned to be online by 2028 and the second by 2030, and the contractor expects to hire about 1,000 workers during construction.
A mixed base. Metro Raleigh had about 35,200 manufacturing jobs in August 2026, down 1.4% from a year earlier. Mining, logging and construction jobs rose 7.6% to 58,400.

The talent pipeline

NC State University. Its Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering is the largest in the state, with more than 1,000 undergraduates and nearly 400 graduate students. The ABET-accredited mechanical engineering program had 1,121 students in fall 2022 and awarded 248 degrees in 2021–22.
BTEC. NC State’s Golden LEAF Biomanufacturing Training and Education Center graduated 83 students in May 2025, bringing its alumni to 1,071. More than 80% stay in North Carolina.
Wake Tech. Its 71-credit Mechatronics AAS, taught at the Southern Wake Campus, covers mechanisms, fluid power and SolidWorks modeling.
Licensing. The North Carolina Board of Examiners for Engineers and Surveyors issues PE licenses. Graduates of EAC/ABET-accredited engineering programs need four years of progressive experience and a passing PE exam.
Growth. North Carolina is projected to grow from 9,440 mechanical engineers in 2024 to 10,600 in 2034, with about 620 openings a year.

What this means if you’re hiring

Entry pay is low, senior pay is not. The bottom 10% earn $59,220 or less, but the top 10% earn $160,170 or more. Plan on the 75th percentile ($124,360) for experienced engineers.
Drug plants compete for the same engineers. Fujifilm, Amgen, Genentech and Novo Nordisk are all adding plant jobs through 2031.
Durham pays about the same. The Durham-Chapel Hill median is $101,650, so there is little pay gap across the Triangle.
NC State is the main local source. It awarded 248 mechanical engineering degrees in 2021–22, so internships and campus relationships matter.

Need mechanical engineers in Raleigh?

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

Call 919.710.8098 or see our Raleigh engineering recruiters page.

Hire mechanical engineers

Frequently asked questions

How much do mechanical engineers make in Raleigh?

The median mechanical engineer salary in metro Raleigh is $100,000 a year, according to May 2025 BLS data. The middle half earn between $81,420 and $124,360, and the top 10% earn $160,170 or more.

Do mechanical engineers earn more in Raleigh or Charlotte?

Charlotte pays slightly more. Raleigh’s median is $100,000, about $1,950 below Charlotte’s $101,950. See our Charlotte mechanical engineer talent map.

Who hires mechanical engineers in Raleigh?

Fujifilm, Amgen, Genentech and CSL Seqirus in Holly Springs, Novo Nordisk in Clayton, Duke Energy, Siemens Energy and Raleigh MEP firms such as Kilian Engineering and Sigma Engineered Solutions.

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