Aerospace Engineer
Engineering
Design aircraft, spacecraft, and the systems that fly them.
Why it matters here: NASA Goddard and defense contractors anchor DMV demand.
Labor Market — DMV Region
Sourced from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS releases (DMV metro and nationwide) plus MD, VA, and D.C. workforce agencies.
Local cost of living is why DMV pay often differs from the national median.
- DMV & state figures: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — OEWS wage & employment estimates and Employment Projections, with OEWS area pay relatives for the Washington–Arlington–Alexandria metro, Maryland, D.C., and Northern Virginia · View source
- Occupation profiles & skills: O*NET OnLine (U.S. Department of Labor) · onetonline.org
All salary figures are published estimates for groups of workers, not offers or guarantees for any individual role.
Education & Career Pathways
Multiple ways to get here — pick the one that fits your life.
Career Progression
How you can grow — with expected salary at each step.
- Entry-level Aerospace EngineerLearning the role, supervised work, building core skills.$107,910
- Aerospace Engineer (experienced)Independent work, mentoring newer team members.$142,480
- Senior / Lead Aerospace EngineerOwning projects, specialization, higher responsibility.$180,940
- Manager or specialist trackSupervising a team or moving into a high-demand specialty.$217,128
Skills Required
What you'll actually do — and how you'll be judged.
Engineering offices and test facilities, weekday hours
Where you work
An engineering office with simulation software, plus clean rooms, wind tunnels and test stands at NASA Goddard, contractors and labs around the region.
Hours and schedule
Weekday hours, with long ones during testing campaigns, integration and launch windows.
Pace and pressure
Long design cycles with intense review milestones and test deadlines.
Who you work with
Large multidisciplinary teams where your subsystem must interface with everyone else's.
Physical demands
Mostly desk work, with clean-room gowning and facility time during tests.
What people wear
Business casual; clean-room garments where required.
Remote reality
Partly hybrid; hardware, test and cleared work are on site.
Workplace culture: what's normal here
- Design reviews are formal and adversarial on purpose — finding your flaw early is the goal.
- Everything is documented and version-controlled because hardware flies for decades.
- Export control and clearance rules limit what you can share and with whom.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook — Work Environment, with regional detail for the DMV.
Official data behind this career
Federal statistics for DMV Region, translated into plain language.
Washington–Arlington–Alexandria, DC–VA–MD–WV metro area
Source: U.S. Census Bureau — ACS 2019–2023 5-year estimates (tables DP03, DP02, DP05)
- The DMV functions as one labor market: workers routinely cross state lines to get to work.
- The largest employment destinations are D.C., Fairfax County and Montgomery County.
Top places these workers go to work
Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis — BEA regional GDP and personal income, most recent published year
Private-sector payroll data from ADP. It is a supplemental near-real-time indicator and does not replace BLS government employment statistics.
Source: ADP National Employment Report — Most recent monthly ADP National Employment Report
- 1U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OOH, OEWS, Employment Projections, CES) — Primary source for occupation wages, outlook, projected openings, education and training.
- 2U.S. Census Bureau — American Community Survey — Primary source for income, educational attainment, labor force and demographic context by place.
- 3Census LEHD (LODES / OnTheMap) — Primary source for where workers live versus where they work, and local workforce flows.
- 4U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis — Primary source for regional GDP, industry contribution, compensation and personal income.
- 5ADP National Employment Report — Supplemental near-real-time private-sector employment and pay indicator. Not a replacement for BLS.
Figures describe groups of workers, not any one person. Where an official figure is not published for a category, this page says “Data unavailable for this category.” rather than estimating.
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