Talent Maps / San Antonio / Industrial and Manufacturing Engineers

San Antonio Industrial and Manufacturing Engineer Talent Map (2026)

What industrial and manufacturing engineers earn in San Antonio, which plants employ them, where they work and the automotive and equipment expansions competing for them.

Hiring manufacturing engineers in San Antonio?

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 San Antonio-New Braunfels metro area, where Toyota’s truck plant, new heavy equipment and electrical equipment plants and the Seguin supplier base all hire from the same pool. 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 San Antonio mechanical, controls and aerospace talent maps.

$99,110Median industrial engineer pay in San AntonioBLS, May 2025

$126,060Median industrial production manager pay in San AntonioBLS, May 2025

60,900Manufacturing jobs in metro San AntonioBLS, August 2026 (preliminary)

2,000New jobs from Toyota’s $3.6 billion Tacoma line, announced July 2026Toyota

3,000Jobs IEM plans at its new Brooks City Base plantOffice of the Texas Governor

2,390Projected industrial engineering job openings a year in Texas through 2034Projections Central

Industrial engineer salaries in San Antonio

The median industrial engineer in metro San Antonio earns $99,110 a year, about $3,330 less than the national median of $102,440 and $5,450 less than the Texas median of $104,560. The gap holds at the top: San Antonio’s highest-paid 10% earn $151,590 or more, about $8,300 below the national figure.

Annual pay percentile	San Antonio metro	Texas	United States
10th percentile	$70,810	$67,490	$74,370
25th percentile	$82,870	$86,410	$83,600
Median	$99,110	$104,560	$102,440
75th percentile	$124,640	$133,490	$129,250
90th percentile	$151,590	$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 San Antonio earn a median of $126,060, and the top 10% earn $184,520 or more. On the plant floor, Toyota’s new rear axle plant starts production workers at $22.50 an hour and maintenance workers at $35.90. Read our guide on how to hire a manufacturing engineer.

Where San Antonio’s industrial and manufacturing engineers work

Automotive

Toyota’s plant employs more than 3,700 people building the Tundra and Sequoia and built more than 197,000 vehicles last year. More than 20 on-site suppliers employ another 5,600. Toyota’s 500,000 square foot rear axle plant has hired 411 people.

Navistar’s $250 million truck plant can build 52 trucks a day.

Heavy and electrical equipment

JCB’s $500 million, 1 million square foot plant builds telehandlers and mobile elevating work platforms and plans 1,500 jobs. IEM is building a $200 million switchgear and power distribution plant at Brooks City Base. Caterpillar builds engines in Seguin and exports 70% of them.

Food and consumer goods

H-E-B finished a $60 million expansion of its milk plant in July 2025, added a production line at its Rittiman Road snack plant and is building a $175 million refrigerated distribution center.

Aerospace and suppliers

Port San Antonio’s 80+ employers include Boeing and StandardAero, which repair aircraft and engines. In Seguin, auto suppliers H-One and KTH each plan $100 million projects with about 170 jobs apiece.

Where the talent sits: San Antonio submarkets

South Side

AutomotiveElectrical equipment

Toyota’s truck plant, its on-site suppliers and rear axle plant, and IEM’s plant at Brooks City Base.

Port San Antonio

AerospaceManufacturing

1,900 acres and about 18,000 people at work, including Boeing and StandardAero.

Seguin

AutomotiveEngines

Caterpillar’s engine plant and auto suppliers H-One and KTH in Guadalupe County.

Schertz

Equipment

Major’s screening equipment operations, which more than doubled in size.

New Braunfels

Training

St. Philip’s College teaches advanced manufacturing at the Central Texas Technology Center.

What’s driving demand for industrial engineers in San Antonio

Toyota. The $3.6 billion Tacoma line will double the plant by 2030 and raise its workforce to about 6,000, with 23 on-site suppliers. Total Toyota investment in San Antonio reaches $8.3 billion.
New plants. JCB’s plant was due to start production in mid-2026, and IEM plans up to 3,000 jobs at Brooks City Base.
Seguin suppliers. H-One plans 170 jobs and KTH 173 jobs by 2031.
A steady base. Metro San Antonio had about 60,900 manufacturing jobs in August 2026, up 0.7% from a year earlier.

The talent pipeline

St. Mary’s University. St. Mary’s BS in industrial engineering is ABET accredited.
UTSA. UTSA’s Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Industrial Engineering offers a BS in industrial and systems engineering and an MS in advanced manufacturing and industrial engineering.
St. Philip’s College. Its five-semester Advanced Manufacturing Technology program (TX FAME) is earn-while-you-learn, with 17 sponsor companies including Toyota, H-E-B and Caterpillar. Toyota has given Alamo Colleges more than $1.5 million over 22 years.
Texas A&M-San Antonio. It offers engineering technology and a supply chain management concentration, but no industrial engineering degree.
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

San Antonio pays below national rates. Engineers recruited from Austin, Houston or Dallas will expect more. Plan on the 75th percentile ($124,640) for experienced engineers.
Toyota sets the pace. Toyota and its on-site suppliers will keep adding jobs through 2030, and other plants recruit from the same pool.
New plants are hiring at the same time. JCB, IEM and the Seguin suppliers are all staffing up, so good candidates will have several offers.
Build from technicians. TX FAME and St. Philip’s graduates can grow into process and manufacturing engineering roles.

Need manufacturing engineers in San Antonio?

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 San Antonio engineering recruiters page.

Hire manufacturing engineers

Frequently asked questions

How much do industrial engineers make in San Antonio?

The median industrial engineer salary in metro San Antonio is $99,110 a year, according to May 2025 BLS data. The middle half earn between $82,870 and $124,640, and the top 10% earn $151,590 or more.

Do industrial engineers earn more in San Antonio or Austin?

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

Which new plants are hiring in San Antonio?

The largest are Toyota’s Tacoma line and rear axle plant, JCB’s new plant, IEM at Brooks City Base and the H-One and KTH supplier plants in Seguin.

Sources (19)