Aerospace Engineers Salary — San Jose, California

The average Aerospace Engineers in San Jose, California earns $181,690 a year.

$181,690 / year, mean
↑ 25.5% above national average 90th percentile in California

San Jose sits at the very top of the range for this role in California — among the highest-paying cities in the state for this occupation. That's a substantial premium — this metro pays far more for aerospace engineers than the U.S. average. Cost of living here runs meaningfully above the national average. This is a high-confidence estimate, based on a large sample of reported wages.

Percentile within California

0th 50th 100th
Employment (this metro)
930
Estimate confidence
RSE 0.7%
Cost of living 110 #9 most expensive of 188 cities in this dataset 100 = U.S. average · Source: BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024
Crime index 2124 #140 safest of 188 cities in this dataset Per 100k residents · Source: FBI Crime Data Explorer
Median home value $1,610,466 #1 priciest of 188 cities in this dataset Source: zillow_real
Median household income $157,444 #1 highest of 188 cities in this dataset Source: Census Bureau ACS 5-year

Combining these four figures gives a fuller picture than salary alone: San Jose ranks #9 for cost of living and #1 for home prices among the 188 cities in this pilot dataset, which matters as much as the headline salary number when comparing where to live.

San Francisco $183,920 San Jose $181,690 Baltimore $165,160 Los Angeles $161,520 Seattle $156,970 Sacramento $144,960 San Diego $144,280 San Luis Obispo $143,350 Virginia Beach $142,550 Dallas $142,450 Lexington Park $141,950 Albany $141,190 Riverside $141,070 Richmond $140,140 New York $140,000 Chicago $139,810 Portland $139,420 Atlantic City $138,560 Houston $138,200 Santa Maria $137,690 Charlottesville $137,420 Louisville $136,960 Pittsburgh $136,340 Miami $135,650 Grand Rapids $134,980 Palm Bay $134,950 Bakersfield $134,930 Spokane $134,250 Oxnard $133,000 San Antonio $132,090 Detroit $129,240 Austin $128,370 Crestview $126,730 Orlando $126,340 Tampa $123,670 Jacksonville $122,960 Rochester $121,830 Bend $121,820 Indianapolis $120,930 Corpus Christi $120,130 Deltona $117,010 Ann Arbor $115,880 El Paso $115,420 Buffalo $115,300
CityMean salaryvs. San Jose
Albany, New York$141,190-22.3%
Ann Arbor, Michigan$115,880-36.2%
Atlantic City, New Jersey$138,560-23.7%
Austin, Texas$128,370-29.3%
Bakersfield, California$134,930-25.7%
Baltimore, Maryland$165,160-9.1%
Bend, Oregon$121,820-33.0%
Buffalo, New York$115,300-36.5%
Charlottesville, Virginia$137,420-24.4%
Chicago, Illinois$139,810-23.1%
Corpus Christi, Texas$120,130-33.9%
Crestview, Florida$126,730-30.2%
Dallas, Texas$142,450-21.6%
Deltona, Florida$117,010-35.6%
Detroit, Michigan$129,240-28.9%
El Paso, Texas$115,420-36.5%
Grand Rapids, Michigan$134,980-25.7%
Houston, Texas$138,200-23.9%
Indianapolis, Indiana$120,930-33.4%
Jacksonville, Florida$122,960-32.3%
Lexington Park, Maryland$141,950-21.9%
Los Angeles, California$161,520-11.1%
Louisville, Kentucky$136,960-24.6%
Miami, Florida$135,650-25.3%
New York, New York$140,000-22.9%
Orlando, Florida$126,340-30.5%
Oxnard, California$133,000-26.8%
Palm Bay, Florida$134,950-25.7%
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania$136,340-25.0%
Portland, Oregon$139,420-23.3%
Richmond, Virginia$140,140-22.9%
Riverside, California$141,070-22.4%
Rochester, New York$121,830-32.9%
Sacramento, California$144,960-20.2%
San Antonio, Texas$132,090-27.3%
San Diego, California$144,280-20.6%
San Francisco, California$183,920+1.2%
San Luis Obispo, California$143,350-21.1%
Santa Maria, California$137,690-24.2%
Seattle, Washington$156,970-13.6%
Spokane, Washington$134,250-26.1%
Tampa, Florida$123,670-31.9%
Virginia Beach, Virginia$142,550-21.5%
Gross salary
181,690/yr
Estimated take-home
122,646/yr
Est. total withheld
32.5%

Single filer, federal + California state tax + FICA, 2025 rates. Does not include state-specific payroll withholdings beyond income tax (see Data transparency). Not tax advice — verify with a professional for your specific situation.

View cost of living in this state All Aerospace Engineers salaries in California → All Aerospace Engineers salaries →
Community reality check

Community reality check for San Jose

These notes add local color around San Jose, California: comfort ranges, budget constraints and location trade-offs reported in public discussions.

Relocation gap2.0× calculator gap
City comparison anecdotal

Discussion highlights that calculators may imply roughly 2x gross income for comparable standard of living, while some employers offer only about 10% location premiums. Tech total compensation can be an exception, so the page should distinguish salary from total compensation.

2.0×calculator multiplier10%HCOL premium cited$200KAtlanta TC example$450KBay Area TC example

Anecdotal public-discussion signals, not official salary data, rent data or financial advice. Read this alongside the official figures on the page.

Data transparency

Sources used for this page

Official occupation and area metadata behind the visible salary, cost, housing and safety signals.

Occupation 17-2011 SOC code
Official area San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA BLS metro/geographic area
Area code 41940 Stable geographic key
Reference year 2025 BLS OEWS
Cost: bea_realHousing: zillow_realCrime: latest availableNet-pay source: ca_ftb_verificado 2025
Metro also includes
SunnyvaleSanta Clara
No additional caveats are attached to this row.
Methodology

How this page is built

The salary figure is the mean annual wage reported by the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program for this occupation and metro area. Percentile and national-average comparisons are calculated directly from the 188 cities currently in this dataset, not from a fixed external benchmark. Cost of living, crime and housing figures come from BEA, FBI and Zillow respectively — see "Data transparency" above for the exact sources and reference years used on this specific page.

Confidence: the RSE (relative standard error) shown under Overview indicates how reliable the salary estimate is for this metro — a lower RSE means a larger underlying sample.

On this page

Where this is

AK HI

Highlighted: California

Population (metro area)
1,969,353