Last updated: April 20, 2026

Manufacturing Engineer Salary by State 2026

Name: Manufacturing Engineer Salary by State 2025-2026
Creator: Manufacturing Lead Generation
License: https://manufacturingleadgeneration.com/terms/

Manufacturing engineer pay looks very different depending on where your plant sits. In the latest BLS-backed O*NET wage tables for industrial engineers, the national median annual wage is $101,140. But the state range in this dataset runs from $84,610 up to $142,980, a spread of $58,370. If you're benchmarking compensation, recruiting engineers for a new line, or sizing markets for automation and consulting services, that gap matters.

This resource uses state wage pages and state trend pages for Industrial Engineers (17-2112.00), which is the closest standardized public dataset for manufacturing engineer salary by state. Every state row links to its original wage source and its original projection source. No guessed numbers, no unlabeled averages.

Manufacturing engineer pay, quick snapshot

$101,140

National median annual pay, O*NET/BLS 2024 wage data

351,100

US industrial engineer employment, BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook

11%

National projected growth, 2024 to 2034, BLS

25,200

National annual openings, BLS

National manufacturing engineer salary overview
Top-paying states
Lowest-paying states
Fastest-growth states
States with the most openings
Full salary table
FAQ
Cite this page
Sources

National manufacturing engineer salary overview

Manufacturing engineer salary data is messy in public databases because job titles vary by plant. One company calls the role manufacturing engineer. Another uses industrial engineer, process engineer, continuous improvement engineer, or manufacturing systems engineer. The cleanest nationwide benchmark is still the industrial engineer wage series, because BLS and O*NET publish it consistently across states.

That benchmark puts the national median annual pay at $101,140, with national employment at 351,100 and projected employment climbing to 389,600. The BLS outlook calls for 11% growth from 2024 to 2034 and 25,200 openings per year, which is faster than average for all occupations. For manufacturers, that means this is not just a pay problem. It's a pipeline problem. Every new product launch, automation cell, line balancing project, quality initiative, and plant expansion competes for the same engineering talent pool.

The state average median in this dataset is $104,277, but the spread is what matters more. Alaska sits at $142,980, while North Dakota sits at $84,610. That's roughly a 69% difference from the bottom of the published range to the top. If you're hiring nationally and using one pay band, you're probably underpaying in one market, overpaying in another, and still confusing candidates everywhere.

What this means on the plant floor

Manufacturing engineers influence throughput, scrap, ergonomics, launch timing, labor balance, and capex payback. When they're hard to hire, plants often dump that work onto production supervisors, quality engineers, or maintenance leads. That usually slows improvement work and pushes firefighting higher. National outlook source.

Top-paying states for manufacturing engineers

The highest-paying states skew toward high-cost, technically dense, or energy-heavy markets. Alaska, Louisiana, Oregon, and California all clear six figures on published median pay. Those aren't easy markets to staff, and the pay levels reflect it. Employers in those states often compete for engineers who can handle automation, regulated production, complex supply chains, or continuous improvement work across multiple plants.

This is useful for more than comp planning. If you sell MES, automation integration, plant consulting, or recruiting services, the high-pay states also tend to be the states where engineering labor has the biggest direct impact on uptime and throughput. Plants don't pay more out of generosity. They pay more because poor process design and weak engineering coverage are expensive.

Rank	State	Median annual pay	Average hourly pay	Projected growth
1	Alaska	$142,980	$68.74	0%
2	Louisiana	$126,960	$61.04	20%
3	Oregon	$124,560	$59.88	22%
4	California	$123,070	$59.17	16%
5	Wyoming	$122,540	$58.91	19%
6	Washington	$119,670	$57.53	15%
7	New Mexico	$119,390	$57.40	21%
8	District of Columbia	$118,960	$57.19	6%
9	Delaware	$118,670	$57.05	12%
10	Idaho	$112,490	$54.08	30%

What stands out

The pay gap from North Dakota to Alaska is $58,370. That's large enough to distort recruiting if your team relies on national averages alone. Top state source, bottom state source.

Lower-paying states still aren't easy hiring markets

The bottom of the salary table includes states such as North Dakota, South Dakota, Mississippi, and Wisconsin. Lower median pay does not automatically mean loose labor supply. In a small manufacturing labor shed, one major employer, one expansion, or one reshoring project can tighten the market fast.

This is where companies get tripped up. Leadership sees a moderate median and assumes candidates should be easy to land. But manufacturing engineers are not generic office hires. Plants want people who understand takt time, line design, quality escapes, root cause analysis, labor content, and ERP realities. When that skill mix is thin locally, even a lower-pay state can become a brutal hiring market.

Rank	State	Median annual pay	Annual openings	Projected growth
1	North Dakota	$84,610	40	22%
2	South Dakota	$89,450	60	20%
3	Mississippi	$93,110	180	28%
4	Wisconsin	$95,090	910	17%
5	Nebraska	$95,150	120	19%
6	Oklahoma	$95,180	160	12%
7	Missouri	$95,610	370	17%
8	Kentucky	$95,780	440	20%
9	Arkansas	$95,860	160	19%
10	Pennsylvania	$96,320	840	12%

Fastest-growth states for manufacturing engineer demand

Growth rates tell you where engineering demand is accelerating, even before salary tables fully catch up. In this dataset, states like Utah, Idaho, Arizona, and Mississippi are posting the strongest projected growth. These are the places where manufacturers often add capacity, automate lines, or face new quality and throughput demands faster than the local talent market can respond.

A fast-growth state is not always the highest-paying state yet. That lag matters. It creates a window where employers think they are paying market rate because they checked an older benchmark, while candidates see several local plants moving at once. That's how offer acceptance falls apart.

Rank	State	Projected growth	Current employment	Projected employment	Annual openings
1	Utah	38%	3,160	4,350	320
2	Idaho	30%	1,000	1,300	90
3	Arizona	28%	7,210	9,220	650
4	Mississippi	28%	2,000	2,550	180
5	South Carolina	26%	6,810	8,580	600
6	Tennessee	25%	6,510	8,110	560
7	Texas	25%	23,210	28,920	2,000
8	Nevada	24%	1,300	1,610	110
9	Florida	23%	12,660	15,590	1,060
10	Georgia	22%	7,260	8,880	600

State growth and openings come from the linked O*NET state trend pages, which cite Projections Central data.

States with the most manufacturing engineer openings

Absolute openings tell a different story than growth rates. California, Texas, Michigan, Ohio, and Illinois don't always lead percentage growth, but they create huge yearly demand because the installed manufacturing base is big. If your company hires manufacturing engineers regularly, these are the markets where replacement demand and expansion demand stack on top of each other.

This is also a useful priority list for marketers and service firms selling into operations teams. Big opening counts usually signal broad engineering pain, new product complexity, process redesign work, and slower improvement cycles when plants can't fill seats.

If you're comparing engineer salaries across more than one location, use openings and growth alongside pay. That's the better way to read salaries for manufacturing hiring, especially when one state looks cheap on paper but has fast-rising demand in practice.

Rank	State	Annual openings	Current employment	Median annual pay
1	Texas	2,000	23,210	$103,430
2	California	1,820	24,500	$123,070
3	Michigan	1,790	26,410	$99,680
4	Minnesota	1,380	18,230	$101,600
5	Ohio	1,260	19,020	$99,490
6	Illinois	1,120	15,850	$99,990
7	Florida	1,060	12,660	$103,340
8	Wisconsin	910	11,780	$95,090
9	Indiana	890	11,860	$97,080
10	Pennsylvania	840	11,960	$96,320

Where the biggest manufacturing engineer labor markets sit

The largest existing labor markets matter because they shape how fast salary pressure moves. California and Texas each support tens of thousands of industrial engineering jobs. Michigan, Ohio, and Illinois remain major engineering markets because they still carry deep auto, metals, machinery, and multi-plant industrial footprints. Those ecosystems create training depth, but they also create competition.

For manufacturers opening a new plant, the biggest market is not automatically the easiest market. Dense industrial corridors can give you more candidates, but they also give candidates more choices. The right benchmark is not just pay. It's pay plus competitive intensity plus projected openings.

If you need the highest concentration of jobs, this page is only one input. For a full site-selection pass, pair salary with concentration of jobs and location quotients from state manufacturing employment data. That gives you a better read on where manufacturing engineering talent is dense versus where one employer can dominate the local market.

Rank	State	Current employment	Projected employment	Annual openings
1	Michigan	26,410	29,100	1,790
2	California	24,500	28,300	1,820
3	Texas	23,210	28,920	2,000
4	Ohio	19,020	20,760	1,260
5	Minnesota	18,230	21,260	1,380
6	Illinois	15,850	17,870	1,120
7	Florida	12,660	15,590	1,060
8	New York	12,070	11,780	0
9	Pennsylvania	11,960	13,430	840
10	Indiana	11,860	13,730	890

How manufacturing engineer pay compares with other factory roles

Manufacturing engineer pay sits in a different lane than most skilled production roles. That's expected. These engineers are usually responsible for throughput, labor efficiency, fixture design, process validation, line layout, and improvement work that touches multiple departments. When a plant wants to cut scrap, shorten changeovers, or hit a new launch date, this is often the role that absorbs the pressure.

Compared with machinists and welders, the national pay premium is large. Compared with plant managers, there's still headroom. That makes manufacturing engineer compensation a frequent internal tension point. Plants want strong technical people, but they also compare those offers against front-line supervisors and high-performing skilled trades employees.

Role	Median annual pay	Source
Manufacturing engineer / industrial engineer	$101,140	Original wage source
Machinist	$57,920	Original wage source
Welder	$51,820	Original wage source
Plant manager / industrial production manager	$120,000	Original wage source

Manufacturing engineer salary by state, full table

Every row below links to the original wage page and projection page. Colorado currently publishes trend data for this occupation but shows no state wage estimate on the O*NET wage page, so those cells stay blank rather than guessed.

State	Median annual pay	Average hourly pay	Projected growth	Annual openings
Alabama	$99,120	$47.65	20%	570
Alaska	$142,980	$68.74	0%	0
Arizona	$110,100	$52.93	28%	650
Arkansas	$95,860	$46.09	19%	160
California	$123,070	$59.17	16%	1,820
Colorado	N/A	$48.63	18%	390
Connecticut	$101,020	$48.57	18%	490
Delaware	$118,670	$57.05	12%	60
District of Columbia	$118,960	$57.19	6%	10
Florida	$103,340	$49.68	23%	1,060
Georgia	$98,550	$47.38	22%	600
Hawaii	$99,850	$48.01	5%	0
Idaho	$112,490	$54.08	30%	90
Illinois	$99,990	$48.07	13%	1,120
Indiana	$97,080	$46.67	16%	890
Iowa	$99,960	$48.06	18%	220
Kansas	$96,650	$46.47	17%	240
Kentucky	$95,780	$46.05	20%	440
Louisiana	$126,960	$61.04	20%	170
Maine	$99,260	$47.72	5%	50
Maryland	$109,560	$52.67	17%	240
Massachusetts	$108,350	$52.09	9%	250
Michigan	$99,680	$47.93	10%	1,790
Minnesota	$101,600	$48.85	17%	1,380
Mississippi	$93,110	$44.76	28%	180
Missouri	$95,610	$45.97	17%	370
Montana	$103,210	$49.62	21%	30
Nebraska	$95,150	$45.75	19%	120
Nevada	$100,170	$48.16	24%	110
New Hampshire	$100,550	$48.34	16%	140
New Jersey	$103,880	$49.94	13%	520
New Mexico	$119,390	$57.40	21%	60
New York	$101,770	$48.93	-2%	0
North Carolina	$97,150	$46.71	18%	770
North Dakota	$84,610	$40.68	22%	40
Ohio	$99,490	$47.83	9%	1,260
Oklahoma	$95,180	$45.76	12%	160
Oregon	$124,560	$59.88	22%	340
Pennsylvania	$96,320	$46.31	12%	840
Rhode Island	$110,470	$53.11	13%	70
South Carolina	$98,830	$47.52	26%	600
South Dakota	$89,450	$43.01	20%	60
Tennessee	$98,230	$47.23	25%	560
Texas	$103,430	$49.73	25%	2,000
Utah	$100,710	$48.42	38%	320
Vermont	$101,780	$48.93	8%	40
Virginia	$99,990	$48.07	15%	390
Washington	$119,670	$57.53	15%	500
West Virginia	$104,610	$50.29	19%	90
Wisconsin	$95,090	$45.72	17%	910
Wyoming	$122,540	$58.91	19%	20

FAQ

This report is built for manufacturers, recruiters, and vendors who need a grounded United States benchmark. We provide state wage data, hiring outlook data, and direct source links so you can cite the numbers or compare them against your own internal salary bands. We also do basic source verification by linking every state row back to the exact wage and projection page.

How much does a manufacturing engineer make per year?

Using the closest standardized public series, industrial engineers, the national median annual pay is $101,140 in the United States. If you prefer an average salary view, the published average salary lands at the same $101,140 in the O*NET summary we cite here. Actual plant-level titles vary, but this is the cleanest benchmark for manufacturing engineer salary by state and national salary discussions.

What state pays manufacturing engineers the most?

Alaska currently posts the highest salary in this dataset at $142,980 median annual pay. Several other states also clear six figures, especially where engineering talent is tied to technically dense manufacturing or higher-cost labor markets.

Why does the page use industrial engineer data?

Because public wage systems classify many manufacturing engineer roles under industrial engineers. Some companies separate process, manufacturing, and industrial engineering titles internally, but the O*NET and BLS industrial engineer series is the most consistent state-by-state public benchmark. It also lines up better with how career sites, degree programs, and employer reports group this work.

Is demand for manufacturing engineers growing?

Yes. The BLS outlook shows 11% national growth and 25,200 openings per year. State trend pages show even faster growth in several markets, which helps explain why plants keep feeling pressure around launches, line design, labor balancing, and process improvement staffing.

How do years of experience, industry, and percentile data affect pay?

Years of experience still matter, but industry mix often matters just as much. A worker supporting aerospace, medical device, semiconductor, or high-volume automotive programs can earn more than someone in a simpler plant environment. Robotics-heavy plants often pay for a broader mix of troubleshooting and line-improvement skills than a slower, more stable operation. That's why percentile data matters. The O*NET wage tables publish 10th percentile, 25th percentile, and median values, which helps you see how far starting salary can sit below experienced-hire pay in the same state.

Why mention May 2023 on some salary pages when this page cites 2024 data?

Some career pages and older salary tools still reference May 2023 national wage releases. This page uses the newer 2024 wage tables where available and pairs them with current projection pages, so the benchmark is more recent than many legacy salary widgets.

Does education level change the pay outlook?

Usually, yes. Most employers expect an engineering degree, and some plants will pay more for candidates with strong manufacturing systems, quality, automation, or data analysis experience. A civil background is less common for this role unless the job leans heavily into facilities or capital-project coordination.

What should employers use besides average annual salary?

Average annual salary is useful, but it should not stand alone. Employers should also compare median pay, openings, growth, and nearby competing plants. That combination is a much better predictor of whether an offer will actually close.

Cite this page

Suggested citation:

Manufacturing Lead Generation. “Manufacturing Engineer Salary by State (2025-2026): Industrial Engineer Pay Data.” Accessed April 20, 2026. https://manufacturingleadgeneration.com/manufacturing-engineer-salary-by-state/