Georgia·Production Occupations·SOC 51-2011

Best Aircraft Structure programs in Georgia, ranked by enrollment

Assemble, fit, fasten, and install parts of airplanes, space vehicles, or missiles, such as tails, wings, fuselage, bulkheads, stabilizers, landing gear, rigging and control equipment, or heating and ventilating.

10 schools in Georgia run programs that feed this job, graduating 1,182 people a year. The job pays a median of $72,550 in Georgia across about 2,950 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledAssemblerSheet Metal MechanicStructures TechnicianSheet Metal Assembler and Riveter (SMAR)InstallerShroudmanBody LinerBody Joiner
Graduates / yr
1,182
in Georgia
Median pay · Georgia
$72,550
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
2,950
people employed
Schools
10
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
43%
across those schools
Median net price
$26,027
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Georgia that lead to this job

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

3 programs in Georgia that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Georgia (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 Georgia page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1
CIP 47.0607In Georgia
781
66.1%
10$37,089$11,790
2
CIP 47.0608In Georgia
221
18.7%
7$37,089$11,790
3
CIP 47.0609In Georgia
180
15.2%
6$37,089$11,790

Top 10 schools in Georgia

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 6 of the 10 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Aviation Institute of Maintenance - Atlanta
Duluth, GA Private for-profit · 3 feeder programs
324Airframe Mechanics and Aircraft Maintenance Technology/Technician$39,48046%$26,027
2Central Georgia Technical College
Warner Robins, GA Public · 2 feeder programs
189Airframe Mechanics and Aircraft Maintenance Technology/Technician$42,49347%
3Savannah Technical College
Savannah, GA Public · 3 feeder programs
177Airframe Mechanics and Aircraft Maintenance Technology/Technician$34,92642%
4Georgia Northwestern Technical College
Rome, GA Public · 2 feeder programs
107Airframe Mechanics and Aircraft Maintenance Technology/Technician43%
5Chattahoochee Technical College
Marietta, GA Public · 2 feeder programs
93Airframe Mechanics and Aircraft Maintenance Technology/Technician38%
6Atlanta Technical College
Atlanta, GA Public · 3 feeder programs
90Airframe Mechanics and Aircraft Maintenance Technology/Technician$27,44849%
7South Georgia Technical College
Americus, GA Public · 3 feeder programs
81Airframe Mechanics and Aircraft Maintenance Technology/Technician$28,84161%
8Middle Georgia State University
Macon, GA Public · 2 feeder programs
76Avionics Maintenance Technology/Technician$37,97725%100%
9Augusta Technical College
Augusta, GA Public · 2 feeder programs
43Airframe Mechanics and Aircraft Maintenance Technology/Technician31%
10Wiregrass Georgia Technical College
Valdosta, GA Public · 1 feeder programs
2Airframe Mechanics and Aircraft Maintenance Technology/Technician50%

All 10 schools in Georgia

Every school in Georgia 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 Georgia that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Aviation Institute of Maintenance - AtlantaDuluthPrivate for-profit3243
Central Georgia Technical CollegeWarner RobinsPublic1892
Savannah Technical CollegeSavannahPublic1773
Georgia Northwestern Technical CollegeRomePublic1072
Chattahoochee Technical CollegeMariettaPublic932
Atlanta Technical CollegeAtlantaPublic903
South Georgia Technical CollegeAmericusPublic813
Middle Georgia State UniversityMaconPublic762
Augusta Technical CollegeAugustaPublic432
Wiregrass Georgia Technical CollegeValdostaPublic21

What aircraft structure, surfaces, rigging, and systems assemblers earn in Georgia

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

Median annual in Georgia
$72,550
Mean annual
$71,840
Jobs in state
2,950
What the range looks like
10th pct$47,300Median$72,55090th pct$95,230
Versus the national median
+11.0%

U.S. median $65,380. Georgia pays above the national figure.

Job concentration
2.76×

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

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
-14.5%
Decline
Openings per year
2,800
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
-4,900
33,600 → 28,700
Typical entry education
High school diploma or equivalent
Plus moderate-term on-the-job training

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 Aircraft Structure, Surfaces, Rigging, and Systems Assemblers page.

How to become a Aircraft Structure

Job zone 2 of 5 · SVP Below 6.0
Typical entry education
High school diploma or equivalent
On-the-job training
Moderate-term on-the-job training

Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.

Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience. For example, landscaping and groundskeeping workers might require very little training or previous experience, while agricultural equipment operators can benefit from on-the job training.

Ranges from a few days to one year of on-the-job training.

Top skills

MonitoringActive ListeningCritical ThinkingSpeakingReading ComprehensionActive Learning

The same job in other states

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

Related careers in Georgia

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 3 majors mapped to Aircraft Structure, Surfaces, Rigging, and Systems Assemblers3 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 47.0607Airframe Mechanics and Aircraft Maintenance Technology/Technician
  • 47.0608Aircraft Powerplant Technology/Technician
  • 47.0609Avionics Maintenance Technology/Technician

Common questions

Answers for people weighing aircraft structure, surfaces, rigging, and systems assemblers programs in Georgia.

What degree do you need to become an Aircraft Structure?+

High school diploma or equivalent is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Airframe Mechanics and Aircraft Maintenance Technology/Technician, which awarded 781 degrees in Georgia in 2024-25, 66.1% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming an Aircraft Structure?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 3 programs to this occupation. The largest are Vehicle Maintenance and Repair Technologies/Technicians. Together they graduate about 1,182 people a year in Georgia.

How much do aircraft structure, surfaces, rigging, and systems assemblers earn in Georgia?+

The median is $72,550 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 11.0% above the U.S. median of $65,380. 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 aircraft structure, surfaces, rigging, and systems assemblers growing?+

BLS projects a -14.5% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, decline, with roughly 2,800 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

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

10 institutions in Georgia 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 aircraft structure, surfaces, rigging, and systems assemblers work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Assembler, Sheet Metal Mechanic, Structures Technician, Sheet Metal Assembler and Riveter (SMAR) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 51-2011.

Aircraft Structure, Surfaces, Rigging, and Systems Assemblers in other statesCaliforniaFloridaTexasOklahomaPennsylvaniaKansasAlabamaMichigan

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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