St. Louis Region’s Aero Careers Roadmap 4‑Year Degree

If you’re interested in a career in the aerospace industry, these are the programs you should consider in college to secure one of the high-paying jobs below.

Aerospace
Mechanical Engineering
Supply Chain Analytics
Electrical Engineering

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Industrial Designers

$129,500

Combine art, business, and engineering to develop the concepts for manufactured products. Sample positions:

Medical Equipment Designers
Consumer Electronics Designers
User Interface Designers
Interaction Designers

Requires: Bachelor’s degree plus electronic portfolio with project examples.

Outlook: 3% job growth expected in the U.S., about 2,300 openings annually.

Industrial Production Managers

$117,100

Oversee the operations of manufacturing and related plants. Sample positions:

Plant Managers
Industrial Production Managers
Quality Control Systems Managers

Requires: Bachelor’s degree plus several years of related work experience.

Outlook: 3% job growth expected in the U.S., about 17,100 openings annually.

Materials Engineers

$110,800

Develop, process and test materials used to create a wide range of products. Sample positions:

Ceramic Engineers
Composites Engineers
Metallurgical Engineers
Plastic Engineers
Semiconductor Processing Engineers

Requires: Bachelor’s degree in field or similar field. Completing internships and cooperative-engineering programs in school is helpful.

Outlook: 7% job growth expected in the U.S., about 1,700 openings annually.

Electrical | Electronics Engineers

$110,400

Design, develop, test and supervise the manufacture of electoral equipment. Sample positions:

Electrical Engineers
Electronics Engineers

Requires: Bachelor’s degree in field plus practical experience, such as internships or cooperative engineering programs.

Outlook: 9% job growth expected in the U.S., about 19,000 openings annually.

Aerospace Engineers

$110,400

Design, develop, and test aircraft, spacecraft, satellites and missiles. Sample positions:

Aeronautical Engineers
Astronautical Engineers

Requires: Bachelor’s degree in field.*

Outlook: 6% job growth expected in the U.S., about 4,200 openings annually. STL MSA has 2x more openings than other similarly sized metros.

Industrial Engineers

$105,500

Analyze and coordinate an organization’s supply chain. Sample positions:

Human Factors Engineers
Manufacturing Engineers
Validation Engineers

Requires: Bachelor’s degree in field or similar field.

Outlook: 12% job growth expected in the U.S., about 25,000 openings annually.

Project Management Specialists

$94,000

Coordinate the budget, schedule, staffing and other details of a project.

Requires: Bachelor’s degree in variety of fields, including business or project management.

Outlook: 7% job growth expected in the U.S., about 77,000 openings annually.

Mechanical Engineers

$90,900

Design, develop, build and test mechanical and thermal sensors and devices. Sample positions:

Auto Research Engineers
Heating and Cooling Systems Engineers
Robotics Engineers

Requires: Bachelor’s degree in field.

Outlook: 11% job growth expected in the U.S., about 19,800 openings annually.

Logisticians

$84,700