Talent Maps / Tampa / Mechanical Engineers

Tampa Mechanical Engineer Talent Map (2026)

What mechanical engineers earn in metro Tampa, which manufacturers, utilities and hospitals employ them, where in the metro they work, and the airport, power and healthcare projects competing for them.

Hiring mechanical engineers in Tampa?

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 Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metro area, which spans Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco and Hernando 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 2023 to 2026. Our mechanical engineering recruiters update it as new data comes out. See also our Tampa electrical, data center and controls engineer talent maps.

$100,290Median mechanical engineer pay in metro TampaBLS, May 2025

$159,050+What the top 10% of Tampa mechanical engineers earnBLS, May 2025

$1.52BAirside D at Tampa International, with 16 gates and a 2029 openingTampa International Airport

1,090 MWTampa Electric’s repowered Big Bend Unit 1, a combined-cycle gas unit finished in 2023Tampa Electric

3,000+Jabil employees across three manufacturing sites in the Tampa Bay areaJabil, March 2026

$520MTaneja Tower at Tampa General Hospital, 565,000 square feet, due summer 2027Fox 13, 2024

Mechanical engineer salaries in Tampa

The median mechanical engineer in metro Tampa earns $100,290 a year, $310 above the Florida median of $99,980 and $3,820 below the national median of $104,110. The hourly median is $48.22. Tampa’s floor is firm: its 25th percentile of $85,340 is above both Florida ($79,090) and the nation ($84,130). At the top, Tampa’s 90th percentile of $159,050 beats Florida’s $153,950 but trails the national $164,340.

Annual pay percentile	Tampa metro	Florida	United States
10th percentile	$68,290	$66,260	$73,990
25th percentile	$85,340	$79,090	$84,130
Median	$100,290	$99,980	$104,110
75th percentile	$127,330	$128,320	$132,590
90th percentile	$159,050	$153,950	$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, who build, test and support prototypes and production equipment, earn a median of $56,580 in Tampa, below the Florida median of $59,720 and well below the national $74,510. Pay runs from $38,290 at the 10th percentile to $79,930 at the 90th. The gap to the national figure is wide, so technician roles are easier to fill locally than engineering roles.

Orlando pays a little more at the median, $103,380 against Tampa’s $100,290, but Tampa pays more at the top, $159,050 at the 90th percentile against $140,050 in Orlando. Miami ($99,660) and Jacksonville ($99,500) sit just below Tampa. Engineers on I-4 can commute or relocate between Tampa and Orlando, so offers are often compared across the two metros. See our Orlando mechanical engineer talent map.

Where Tampa’s mechanical engineers work

Electronics, defense and precision manufacturing

Jabil, founded in 1966 and headquartered in St. Petersburg, has more than 3,000 employees at three manufacturing sites in the area. In March 2026 it pledged $1.1 million over three years to St. Petersburg College for soldering and mechatronics training.

Raytheon (RTX) runs a plant in Largo with more than 1,000 people in 450,000 square feet, building RF and digital products and antennas and testing them in a TEMPEST-certified lab. Tampa Brass & Aluminum announced a $58 million machinery investment and 50 new jobs on September 18, 2026.

Utilities and power

Tampa Electric’s Big Bend Power Station covers nearly 1,500 acres near Apollo Beach and has more than 1,600 MW of capacity. Unit 1 was repowered as a 1,090 MW combined-cycle gas unit in 2023.

Tampa Electric’s 2025 ten-year site plan counts about 1,350 MW of solar at the end of 2024 and expects more than 2,700 MW by 2034.

Hospitals and health systems

Tampa General Hospital’s master facility plan totals $550 million, including a $53 million central energy plant with four generators and three boilers. The $520 million Taneja Tower broke ground on April 15, 2024.

Moffitt Cancer Center is building a 775-acre campus in Pasco County with a planned $1.1 billion in capital investment.

Design and MEP consultants

Kimley-Horn’s Tampa office lists MEP engineering, energy consulting and aviation consulting among its services. The Airside D team is Hensel Phelps (design-build), HNTB and Gensler.

Where the talent sits: Tampa submarkets

Downtown Tampa and Water Street

High-riseBuilding systems

Strategic Property Partners plans a 33-story, 452-unit tower at Water Street and Cumberland Avenue, with groundbreaking set for spring 2027 and completion in 2029.

Westshore and Tampa International

AviationTerminals

Airside D is a 600,000-square-foot terminal with 16 gates, due to open in 2029. Vertical construction began in 2026.

St. Petersburg and Largo

ManufacturingDefense

Jabil is headquartered in St. Petersburg. The Young-Rainey STAR Center in Largo, anchored by RTX, has more than 21 businesses and 1,700 employees on 96 acres.

Apollo Beach and South Hillsborough

Power

Big Bend Power Station and its Unit 1 combined-cycle plant sit here, along with Tampa Electric’s solar buildout.

Pasco and Land O’ Lakes

Healthcare

Moffitt’s Speros campus has about $600 million in construction underway and is expected to finish by 2028.

What’s driving demand for mechanical engineers in Tampa

Airside D. The $1.52 billion terminal is the airport’s largest expansion in nearly 20 years. It is 16 gates and 600,000 square feet, with people movers and an international arrivals facility. Construction is expected to be substantially complete in late 2028.
Tampa Electric’s buildout. The 2025 ten-year site plan adds about 195 MW of battery storage and about 75 MW of reciprocating engines on top of the solar program.
Hospital construction. Tampa General’s $520 million tower will add 144 beds and 32 operating suites in 2027. Moffitt’s Speros campus is planned for more than 140 buildings.
Rays ballpark. Hillsborough County approved the Dale Mabry ballpark deal 5 to 2 on August 28, 2026, a day after Tampa City Council voted 4 to 3. The county’s share is capped at $796 million, the team has committed more than $1.3 billion, and opening is targeted for the 2029 season.
Port Tampa Bay. The port reports $1.3 billion for channel deepening and widening, with dredging to start in 2027, and two new post-Panamax cranes due to be operating by the end of 2026.
Defense manufacturing. Tampa Brass & Aluminum is adding machinery at its Hillsborough County headquarters for Air Force and Navy work. RTX, Jabil and others add steady demand for production and test engineers.
Local limits on data centers. In August 2026 Hillsborough commissioners voted to draft a ban on large-scale AI data centers. Hernando, Pasco and Manatee counties already passed one-year moratoriums, which keeps the biggest cooling projects out of most of the metro.

Mechanical specialties tied to these projects

HVAC and MEP design for terminals, hospitals and downtown towers.
Central plant and critical power engineers for hospital campuses and utility sites.
Power generation engineers for gas, solar and battery projects at Tampa Electric.
Manufacturing, test and thermal engineers for electronics and defense plants in Pinellas County.
Precision machining and tooling engineers for defense suppliers such as Tampa Brass & Aluminum.

The talent pipeline

University of South Florida. USF’s College of Engineering has 14 programs in six departments, including Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, and the department is ABET-accredited.
St. Petersburg College. SPC trains the technicians and drafters who support engineers, and Jabil’s 2026 gift funds more of that training. See our guide to hiring a mechanical engineer.
Licensing. Senior roles usually require a Florida PE license. The Florida Board of Professional Engineers requires an ABET-accredited degree, the FE and PE exams and qualifying experience, and engineers licensed elsewhere apply by endorsement.

What this means if you’re hiring

Expect Orlando to compete. Its median of $103,380 is $3,090 above Tampa’s, and the two metros share the I-4 corridor.
Price senior roles at the 75th percentile and up. For licensed PEs, plan on $127,330 or more, and toward $159,050 for rare power or critical-systems skills.
Budget less for technicians. Tampa’s technician median is $56,580, so support roles cost far less than engineers.
Pitch the long projects. Airside D runs to 2029, the ballpark targets 2029 and the Tampa Electric plan runs to 2034.

Need mechanical engineers in Tampa?

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

Call 813.701.2797 or see our Tampa engineering recruiters page.

Hire mechanical engineers

Frequently asked questions

How much do mechanical engineers make in Tampa?

The median mechanical engineer salary in metro Tampa is $100,290 a year, according to May 2025 BLS data. The middle half earn between $85,340 and $127,330, and the top 10% earn $159,050 or more.

Do mechanical engineers earn more in Tampa or Orlando?

Orlando, by a small margin at the median. Its median is $103,380, against $100,290 in Tampa. Tampa’s 90th percentile is higher, $159,050 against $140,050. See our Orlando mechanical engineer talent map.

Who hires mechanical engineers in Tampa?

Manufacturers such as Jabil, Raytheon (RTX) and Tampa Brass & Aluminum, Tampa Electric, hospital systems such as Tampa General and Moffitt, MEP and design firms such as Kimley-Horn and Gensler, and project owners such as Tampa International Airport and Port Tampa Bay.

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