Prevailing Wage for Aerospace Engineers
Prevailing wage for Aerospace Engineers, the official DOL occupation title under SOC 17-2011.00, sets the minimum salary a U.S. employer must offer to sponsor an H-1B visa, H-1B1 visa, E-3 visa, H-2B visa, or PERM for this role. Whether your offer is for an Aeronautical Engineer, an Aerospace Stress Engineer, or an Avionics Engineer position, DOL sets four experience-based wage levels and the floor varies significantly by worksite city.
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Entry-level professionals with a bachelor's degree and limited independent experience. Work is closely supervised, routine in scope, and does not yet involve complex design decisions or independent project ownership typical of more senior aerospace engineering roles.
Qualified professionals with moderate experience who apply standard engineering methods with some independence. Level 2 is the most common filing level for Aerospace Engineers, reflecting mid-career hires who handle defined project components without needing constant direction.
Experienced engineers who exercise considerable judgment, lead technical workstreams, and contribute to design decisions. Typically involves specialization in areas such as flight controls, propulsion, or structural analysis with a track record of successful project delivery.
Fully competent senior or lead engineers who set technical direction, mentor others, and are recognized authorities in their specialty. Scope typically spans system-level decisions, cross-functional leadership, or principal-level independent research and design.
Prevailing wage for Aerospace Engineers by OES area
Each area on the map is a DOL OES wage zone. Click any location to see the prevailing wage floor for Aerospace Engineers at each level.
What’s an OES area?
The Department of Labor publishes prevailing wages for geographic zones called OES areas. Every U.S. county belongs to exactly one, and the wage floor applies across the whole area. A worker in Oakland gets the San Francisco metro wage, not a separate Oakland wage.
Top 10 cities · Level 1
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See which U.S. employers are actively hiring for Aerospace Engineers and sponsoring H-1B, OPT, and green card visas at or above the prevailing wage.
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Watch how defense contractors title your role
Aerospace engineering positions at defense contractors are sometimes filed under broader engineering SOC codes rather than SOC 17-2011.00, which can mean a different prevailing wage floor. Confirm your LCA lists the Aerospace Engineers SOC before accepting a sponsored offer.
Account for clearance premiums missing from base pay
Security clearance premiums, hazard pay, and project bonuses are common in aerospace but excluded from the prevailing wage base salary calculation. The floor must be met by guaranteed annual wages, not total compensation including variable elements.
Compare metros using the aerospace employment concentration
The wage gap between top and bottom metros for this occupation is among the widest of any engineering role. Markets with dense aerospace employer clusters like the Seattle and Los Angeles metro areas set significantly higher floors than regions with fewer active employers.
Use Migrate Mate to find active aerospace sponsors
Migrate Mate shows which employers have historical visa sponsorship counts for engineering roles, letting you identify companies that have sponsored Aerospace Engineers or Avionics Engineers before and filter by location, visa type, and salary range from the posting.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does DOL set the prevailing wage for Aerospace Engineers?
DOL uses Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey data collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and state workforce agencies. For SOC 17-2011.00, OFLC calculates four wage levels by applying percentage adjustments to the regional median. Employers must request a prevailing wage determination through OFLC before certifying a Labor Condition Application for any sponsored hire.
What do the four wage levels mean and how do I know which applies to my offer?
Level 1 covers entry-level work under close supervision; Level 2 applies to qualified professionals who work with moderate independence; Level 3 covers experienced engineers with specialization and judgment; Level 4 applies to senior or principal engineers who set technical direction. Your level is determined by the actual duties, supervision received, and complexity of the role as described in the LCA, not by your job title alone.
Why does the prevailing wage for the same aerospace engineering role differ so much by city?
DOL calculates prevailing wages from regional Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics surveys, so the floor reflects local labor market conditions. The LCA worksite rule means the wage that applies is the one for the city where you physically work, not where the employer is headquartered. Metro areas with concentrated aerospace employers and high demand, such as the San Jose and San Francisco areas, produce significantly higher survey medians than regions with fewer active employers.
What happens if my job offer is below the prevailing wage for a sponsored position?
An employer cannot certify an LCA with an offered wage below the DOL prevailing wage floor. If the offer falls short, the employer must either raise the salary before filing or the LCA will be denied by OFLC. A certified LCA is a prerequisite for filing the H-1B, H-1B1 visa, E-3, H-2B, or PERM petition, so USCIS will not receive a petition for a below-floor offer. Accepting an offer below the floor does not affect your existing status, but sponsorship cannot proceed until wages are corrected.
How do I find and verify the prevailing wage for an aerospace engineering role in a specific U.S. city?
Use the OFLC Wage Search to look up the current prevailing wage by SOC code 17-2011.00 and the specific metropolitan area where you would work. Select the relevant wage level based on the job duties and experience required. You can also cross-reference BLS wage data for the region and check recent LCA disclosure files that OFLC publishes quarterly. Migrate Mate lists aerospace and engineering roles from employers with documented sponsorship history, filtered by location and visa type, so you can compare postings against the floor for your target city.
