Arizona·Architecture and Engineering Occupations·SOC 17-2011

Best Aerospace Engineer programs in Arizona, ranked by enrollment

Perform engineering duties in designing, constructing, and testing aircraft, missiles, and spacecraft. May conduct basic and applied research to evaluate adaptability of materials and equipment to aircraft design and manufacture.

6 schools in Arizona run programs that feed this job, graduating 1,947 people a year. The job pays a median of $123,170 in Arizona across about 3,110 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledDesign EngineerSystems EngineerAerospace EngineerFlight Test EngineerEngineerDynamicistTest AnalystTest Engineer
Graduates / yr
1,947
in Arizona
Median pay · Arizona
$123,170
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
3,110
people employed
Schools
6
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
51%
across those schools
Median net price
$38,461
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Arizona that lead to this job

Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.

3 programs in Arizona that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Arizona (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Arizona page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1
CIP 14.1901In Arizona
888
45.6%
6$70,724$24,833
2
CIP 14.1001In Arizona
662
34.0%
5$77,636$25,000
3
CIP 14.0201In Arizona
397
20.4%
3$72,210$25,000

Top 6 schools in Arizona

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 6 of the 6 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Arizona State University Campus Immersion
Tempe, AZ Public · 3 feeder programs
1,061Mechanical Engineering$75,14668%90%
2Arizona State University Digital Immersion
Scottsdale, AZ Public · 2 feeder programs
262Electrical and Electronics Engineering$84,7060%67%
3Embry - Riddle Aeronautical University - Prescott
Prescott, AZ Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs
198Aerospace, Aeronautical, and Astronautical/Space Engineering, General$75,48368%$38,46177%
4University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ Public · 2 feeder programs
191Mechanical Engineering$75,21168%86%
5Northern Arizona University
Flagstaff, AZ Public · 2 feeder programs
143Mechanical Engineering$63,25261%90%
6Grand Canyon University
Phoenix, AZ Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
92Mechanical Engineering$68,39143%$21,53579%

All 6 schools in Arizona

Every school in Arizona with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.

All schools in Arizona that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Arizona State University Campus ImmersionTempePublic1,0613
Arizona State University Digital ImmersionScottsdalePublic2622
Embry - Riddle Aeronautical University - PrescottPrescottPrivate not-for-profit1983
University of ArizonaTucsonPublic1912
Northern Arizona UniversityFlagstaffPublic1432
Grand Canyon UniversityPhoenixPrivate not-for-profit922

What aerospace engineers earn in Arizona

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in Arizona
$123,170
Mean annual
$130,150
Jobs in state
3,110
What the range looks like
10th pct$88,920Median$123,17090th pct$193,990
Versus the national median
-8.7%

U.S. median $134,960. Arizona pays below the national figure.

Job concentration
2.21×

Concentrated here: Arizona employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.

Metro areas in Arizona

Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ
$130,470median
1,360 jobs
Tucson, AZ
$106,760median
1,720 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+6.1%
Faster than average
Openings per year
4,500
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
4,400
71,600 → 75,900
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree

Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.

How to get in

The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Aerospace Engineers page.

How to become a Aerospace Engineer

Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree

Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.

Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.

Top skills

Critical ThinkingScienceReading ComprehensionSpeakingWritingActive Listening

The same job in other states

Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.

Related careers in Arizona

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 5 majors mapped to Aerospace Engineers5 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 14.0201Aerospace, Aeronautical, and Astronautical/Space Engineering, General
  • 14.0202Astronautical Engineering
  • 14.0299Aerospace, Aeronautical, and Astronautical/Space Engineering, Other
  • 14.1001Electrical and Electronics Engineering
  • 14.1901Mechanical Engineering

Common questions

Answers for people weighing aerospace engineers programs in Arizona.

What degree do you need to become an Aerospace Engineer?+

Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Mechanical Engineering, which awarded 888 degrees in Arizona in 2024-25, 45.6% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming an Aerospace Engineer?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 3 programs to this occupation. The largest are Mechanical Engineering, Electrical, Aerospace. Together they graduate about 1,947 people a year in Arizona.

How much do aerospace engineers earn in Arizona?+

The median is $123,170 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 8.7% below the U.S. median of $134,960. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.

Is demand for aerospace engineers growing?+

BLS projects a +6.1% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, faster than average, with roughly 4,500 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in Arizona?+

6 institutions in Arizona reported graduates from at least one of the 3 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.

What other job titles do aerospace engineers work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Design Engineer, Systems Engineer, Aerospace Engineer, Flight Test Engineer among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 17-2011.

About the data on this page

Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).

  • BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics

    May 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.

  • IPEDS Completions

    2024-25 (provisional)

    Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.

  • College Scorecard, Field of Study

    2020-21 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.

    Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA

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