01 — MethodologyHow to read these numbersThere is no federal wage series called “quality engineer,” which is the first thing a quality engineer salary search should absorb. The BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program codes the work under 17-2112, industrial engineers (365,740 jobs, May 2025 median $102,440), whose definition explicitly includes quality control, and it parks the remainder in 17-2199, engineers, all other (154,070 jobs, median $122,930). Employers file a quality engineer under whichever code their payroll clerk picked, so the 17-2112 line is the spine here and the 17-2199 line is the ceiling check. Every BLS figure on this page is BLS OEWS May 2025, extracted from the OEWS query system on September 15, 2026.The 17-2112 distribution runs $74,370 at the 10th percentile, $83,600 at the 25th, $102,440 at the median, $129,250 at the 75th, and $159,860 at the 90th, with a mean of $109,900. The industry cuts are the useful part for reindustrialization employers: aerospace product and parts manufacturing (NAICS 3364) is the single largest employer of the series at 25,680 jobs and pays a $107,170 median; semiconductor and other electronic component manufacturing (3344) employs 20,060 at $108,110; motor vehicle manufacturing (3361) employs 8,140 at $106,340; engine, turbine, and power transmission equipment (3336) employs 4,570 at $103,340; medical equipment and supplies (3391) employs 15,540 at $102,810.Federal series measure base wages only and lag the market by about a year, so we layered two kinds of posting data. Aggregator averages from Indeed, ZipRecruiter, and PayScale are labeled with their retrieval dates and treated as what is advertised, not what is accepted. Employer-published base ranges were read from the public Greenhouse boards of launch, satellite, propulsion, directed-energy, autonomy, and additive-manufacturing employers on September 15, 2026 and are cited by employer type and state, not name. Those ranges exist because California, Washington, Colorado, and (for some employers) Virginia require pay disclosure; the same employers’ Texas, New Mexico, and Mississippi reqs for identical titles publish nothing, while the autonomy employer publishes Ohio ranges voluntarily.What these figures are — and are notFigures as of September 2026. These are public-market benchmarks, not iRecruit placement data and not an offer range. The OEWS 17-2112 median blends a first-year quality engineer with a twenty-year lean manufacturing lead inside one code and measures base pay only; employer-published ranges are the floor and ceiling of a level band, not a midpoint; Indeed and ZipRecruiter averages describe postings collected over up to three years. Use them to frame a compensation conversation, then price your own product, certification load, and site.02 — At a glanceThe benchmarks at a glanceThe whole guide in one screen. Each row jumps to the full section.01Quality engineer I–II (early career)BLS 17-2112 25th percentile $83,600 (OEWS May 2025); Indeed junior quality engineer $74,329 (Sep 3, 2026); supplier quality specialist Level 1 $85,000–$100,000 at a launch and satellite manufacturer, Washington and California (Sep 15, 2026)$84K p2502Quality engineer III / mid-career (BLS spine)$102,440 median, BLS OEWS May 2025; aerospace (3364) $107,170, semiconductor (3344) $108,110; Indeed quality engineer $89,565 (Sep 7, 2026), ZipRecruiter $84,039 (Sep 15, 2026)$102K med03Senior quality engineerIndeed $111,156 (2,700 postings, Sep 6, 2026); ZipRecruiter $105,293 with a $88,500–$120,000 middle band (Sep 15, 2026); senior product quality engineer $113,600–$130,800 at a directed-energy defense manufacturer, California (Sep 15, 2026)$105-111K04Supplier quality engineerZipRecruiter $111,474 (Sep 15, 2026); Indeed $104,614 (2,200 postings, Sep 7, 2026); employer ranges $95,800–$115,900 (defense, CA), $102,400–$128,000 (senior I, space, VA), $128,520–$204,090 (senior/staff, additive manufacturing, CA)$104-111K05Quality manager / director of supplier qualityIndeed quality manager $106,482 (5,900 postings, Sep 6, 2026); ZipRecruiter $91,047 (Sep 15, 2026); BLS 17-2112 90th percentile $159,860; director of supplier quality $193,100–$236,020 at an additive manufacturer, California (Sep 15, 2026)$106K medAnchor numbers for 2026: the federal spine puts a quality engineer at $102,440, the 25th–75th band at $83,600–$129,250, and the aerospace cut at $107,170, all BLS OEWS May 2025. The employer-published ladder at a launch vehicle manufacturer in California runs $70,000 at the bottom of a supplier quality engineer I band to $171,600 at the top of a senior II band, and an additive manufacturer in the same state tops its director of supplier quality at $236,020. The aggregator averages for the bare title ($84,039 to $89,565) sit $13,000 to $18,000 under the federal median because they include quality engineers in food, packaging, and general job-shop manufacturing, which makes the federal median a fair frame for general industry and a low one for a defense-tech or space site.
03 — BenchmarksThe quality engineer salary ladder by rung in 2026Six rungs, from QE I to quality manager. The federal series set the floor and the shape of each distribution; employer-published ranges from space, defense, propulsion, and additive-manufacturing employers fill in the titles BLS does not code. Where OEWS publishes a cut for aerospace (3364), semiconductor (3344), motor vehicle (3361), or engine and turbine (3336), it is shown against the national median.$74,370–$83,600Quality engineer I, 10th to 25th percentile of the federal seriesBLS OEWS May 2025 10th and 25th percentiles for 17-2112. Inside aerospace (3364) the same band is $81,360–$98,350 and inside semiconductor (3344) it is $77,590–$88,940. Posting data: Indeed junior quality engineer $74,329 (43 salaries, Sep 3, 2026); PayScale entry-level quality engineer $61,340 and early-career (1–4 years) $72,588 (updated March 1, 2025); Level 1 supplier quality specialist $85,000–$100,000 at a launch and satellite manufacturer in Redmond, Washington and Hawthorne, California (Sep 15, 2026).$102,440Quality engineer II–III, national medianBLS OEWS May 2025 median for 17-2112 (365,740 jobs), mean $109,900. Industry cuts: semiconductor 3344 $108,110, aerospace 3364 $107,170, motor vehicle 3361 $106,340, engine and turbine 3336 $103,340, medical equipment 3391 $102,810. Posting data runs lower: Indeed $89,565 across 7,700 postings (Sep 7, 2026), ZipRecruiter $84,039 with a $72,000–$93,000 middle band (Sep 15, 2026), PayScale $77,140 (March 1, 2025). A quality engineer at an additive-manufacturing employer in Torrance, California publishes $111,300–$153,040 for the first level and $128,520–$176,720 for the second (Sep 15, 2026).$105,293–$111,156Senior quality engineer, posted averagesZipRecruiter senior quality engineer $105,293, 25th $88,500, 75th $120,000, 90th $135,000 (Sep 15, 2026); Indeed $111,156 across 2,700 postings, top cities San Jose $125,970, Fremont $125,775, Canoga Park $123,877 (Sep 6, 2026). Employer ranges: senior product quality engineer $113,600–$130,800 and principal $139,300–$160,000 at a directed-energy defense manufacturer in Torrance, California; a staff engineer, quality req at an autonomy defense company in Seattle lists $149,000–$223,000 (ZipRecruiter listing, Sep 15, 2026).$104,614–$111,474Supplier quality engineer, posted averagesIndeed $104,614 across 2,200 postings, top cities Irvine $124,415 and Sunnyvale $119,531 (Sep 7, 2026); ZipRecruiter $111,474 with a $89,000–$129,000 band (Sep 15, 2026). Employer ranges retrieved Sep 15, 2026: $95,800–$115,900 at a directed-energy defense manufacturer in California; $102,400–$128,000 for senior supplier quality engineer I at a launch vehicle manufacturer in Chantilly, Virginia; $70,000–$171,600 base across I, II, senior I, and senior II for harnessing and PCBA commodities at the same employer in Long Beach, California; senior/staff supplier quality and development engineer $128,520–$176,720 and $148,430–$204,090 at an additive manufacturer in Torrance. See supplier development engineer for the adjacent seat.$122,930Quality engineering lead / engineers, all other, national medianBLS OEWS May 2025 median for 17-2199 (154,070 jobs): 25th $90,970, 75th $158,090, 90th $189,950. Inside aerospace (3364) the median is $124,340 and the 75th percentile $143,620. This is the series that catches quality engineers whose employer did not file them as industrial engineers, and it runs $20,490 above the 17-2112 median. A product quality engineering lead at a rocket propulsion manufacturer in Berthoud, Colorado publishes $106,000–$132,000 (Sep 15, 2026).$106,482Quality manager, posted averageIndeed quality manager $106,482 across 5,900 postings, $72,133–$157,187 range (Sep 6, 2026); ZipRecruiter $91,047 with a $70,500–$110,000 band and a $111,650 figure for “quality engineer manager” (Sep 15, 2026). The 90th percentile of the 17-2112 series, $159,860, is the better ceiling for a plant quality manager at an aerospace or fab employer. A director of supplier quality at an additive manufacturer in Torrance, California publishes $193,100–$236,020 (Sep 15, 2026). See quality manager.Sources: BLS OEWS May 2025 (data.bls.gov OEWS query system, extracted September 15, 2026); O*NET OnLine wage tables citing BLS 2025 data; Indeed salary pages updated September 3–7, 2026; ZipRecruiter retrieved September 15, 2026; PayScale updated March 1, 2025 and January 28, 2026; employer Greenhouse job-board JSON retrieved September 15, 2026.Why the quality engineer numbers scatter by $40,000 at the same titleThree things pull the figures apart. First, the code: an employer that files its quality engineers as industrial engineers reports into a $102,440 median, one that files them as “engineers, all other” reports into $122,930, and neither series knows the word quality. Second, the industry mix inside the aggregators: Indeed’s 7,700 “quality engineer” postings include food plants, packaging lines, and contract job shops, which is why its $89,565 average sits under every OEWS manufacturing cut on this page. Third, the level bands: a launch vehicle manufacturer publishes one req for supplier quality engineer I through senior II with a $70,000–$171,600 base span, so a single posting can contain the whole ladder. Read the title, the industry, and the level before you read the number. 04 — Cost driversWhat moves a quality engineer salary up or downSix factors with a figure attached. Each is sourced to a federal cut, a certification survey, or an employer-published range, and each is a premium or discount against the $102,440 BLS OEWS May 2025 median for the 17-2112 spine.+$4,730Aerospace and defense manufacturing (NAICS 3364)BLS OEWS May 2025 puts the 17-2112 median at $107,170 inside aerospace product and parts manufacturing, $4,730 over the national line, and the 90th percentile at $164,870. Aerospace is also the largest single employer of the series at 25,680 jobs, so it sets the market a defense-tech req competes in.+$5,670Semiconductor and electronic components (NAICS 3344)The 3344 cut pays a $108,110 median and a $140,790 75th percentile, the highest of the four industries the brief asked for (BLS OEWS May 2025). Fab quality work is cleanroom, SPC-heavy, and shift-bound, and the 75th percentile is $11,540 above the national 75th.~$10,000ASQ Certified Quality Engineer (CQE)ASQ states that CQE holders earn almost $10,000 more on average than non-certified quality professionals, and its 2025 Quality Progress Salary Survey (the 39th year) reports quality salaries up 5.2% year over year. PayScale puts CQE holders at a $107,000 average base across 86 profiles (updated January 28, 2026), against $77,140 for its general quality engineer sample (March 1, 2025).+$20,490Filed as “engineers, all other” (17-2199)Quality engineers coded to 17-2199 report into a $122,930 median and a $158,090 75th percentile (BLS OEWS May 2025), $20,490 and $28,840 above the 17-2112 equivalents. Employers who title the seat “quality engineering” inside an engineering org, rather than operations, tend to land in this series and this pay.$26,610Washington and California over the national medianThe 17-2112 median is $129,050 in Washington and $124,600 in California against $102,440 nationally (BLS OEWS May 2025 via O*NET). Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue pays $131,210 and San Jose $136,950; ZipRecruiter ranks Washington first of 50 states for quality engineer pay (Sep 15, 2026).2.4xSupplier quality span across levels at one employerA launch vehicle manufacturer in Long Beach, California publishes $70,000 to $171,600 base for supplier quality engineer I through senior II, a 2.4x span inside one req (Greenhouse, Sep 15, 2026). An additive manufacturer in Torrance publishes $111,300 to $204,090 from quality engineer I to staff supplier quality engineer, a 1.8x span, then $193,100–$236,020 for the director.Stack the premiums and the ladder is legible: a quality engineer with a CQE at an aerospace employer in Washington or California is pricing against a $107,170 industry median, a $129,050 state median, and a roughly $10,000 certification premium at once, which is how a senior product quality engineer req in Torrance lands at $113,600–$130,800 while Indeed’s national average for the bare title sits at $89,565. The discounts are just as legible: Ohio’s 17-2112 median is $100,060 and Florida’s $101,610, and neither state requires pay disclosure, which is why the Florida launch quality req at the launch and satellite manufacturer publishes no range, even though the autonomy employer volunteers $97,000–$167,000 bands on its Ohio quality reqs. 05 — VariationQuality engineer salary by state, metro, and environmentThe state and metro figures below are BLS OEWS May 2025 medians for 17-2112 as published through O*NET, matched to where reindustrialization plants are actually being built. Employer ranges are Greenhouse job-board figures retrieved September 15, 2026, cited by employer type.Washington (launch, satellite, aviation supply chain)$129,050 medianState 25th–75th $102,400–$155,920, Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue $131,210, Kennewick-Richland $117,850 (BLS OEWS May 2025). Supplier quality specialist reqs at a launch and satellite manufacturer publish $85,000–$100,000 at Level 1 and $100,000–$130,000 at Level 2 in Redmond, and $85,000–$115,000 at Level 1 and $100,000–$140,000 at Level 2 in Woodinville; a manufacturing quality engineer at an aerospace machining supplier in Tacoma lists $90,000–$105,000 (ZipRecruiter listing, Sep 15, 2026).California (space, defense-tech, additive, semiconductor)$124,600 medianState 25th–75th $98,380–$154,190; San Jose $136,950, San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont $132,230, San Diego $119,050, Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim $113,040 (BLS OEWS May 2025). Indeed’s top-paying cities for the bare title are Irvine $106,752 and Fremont $102,057 (Sep 7, 2026). Employer ranges in Torrance, Long Beach, and Hawthorne run $70,000 at a supplier quality engineer I floor to $204,090 at a staff supplier quality engineer ceiling.Texas (Starbase, Bastrop, Austin fabs, Houston)$104,560 medianState 25th–75th $86,410–$133,490; Houston $111,690, Dallas-Fort Worth $105,640, Austin-Round Rock $103,610 (BLS OEWS May 2025). Texas requires no pay disclosure: the solar cell quality engineer and senior quality systems engineer reqs at a launch and satellite manufacturer in Bastrop publish no range (Sep 15, 2026), so the state median and the Washington ranges for the same titles are the only frame.Ohio and the Midwest (defense-tech arsenals, vehicles, engines)$100,060 medianOhio 25th–75th $81,350–$123,900, Columbus $100,570, Dayton $99,550 (BLS OEWS May 2025). Michigan is the second-largest state employer of the series at 30,990 jobs and Detroit the largest metro at 17,350. A defense autonomy manufacturer publishes $126,000–$167,000 for senior product quality engineer and quality manager reqs and $97,000–$129,000 for a quality systems engineer in Ashville, Ohio (Greenhouse, Sep 15, 2026), all above the state median; the motor vehicle (3361) cut, $106,340, is the nearest federal anchor.Colorado and Arizona (propulsion, fabs, defense space)$108,280–$109,750 medianColorado median $109,750 with Denver $108,680; Arizona $108,280 with Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler $109,020 (BLS OEWS May 2025). A rocket propulsion manufacturer in Berthoud, Colorado publishes $106,000–$132,000 for a product quality engineering lead and $78,880–$98,600 for a quality specialist, energetics (Sep 15, 2026). Arizona’s 90th percentile, $170,800, matches the semiconductor cut exactly.Massachusetts, Florida, Virginia (maritime defense, Space Coast, government space)$101,610–$109,420 medianMassachusetts median $109,420 with Boston $118,970; Florida $101,610 with Orlando $104,920 and Palm Bay-Melbourne $101,610 (BLS OEWS May 2025). A launch vehicle manufacturer publishes $102,400–$128,000 for senior supplier quality engineer I in Chantilly, Virginia (Sep 15, 2026); the launch and satellite manufacturer’s Florida launch quality inspector req publishes no range. Lexington Park, Maryland posts a $139,600 median for the series, above San Jose’s $136,950.The geography is the same story as the industry cuts: the coasts that require pay disclosure are also the coasts with the highest 17-2112 medians, so the visible market is the expensive market. Employers building in Texas, Ohio, Florida, and Mississippi are hiring against a state median $24,000 to $29,000 under Washington’s and, outside the autonomy employer’s Ohio reqs, publishing nothing, which means a relocating quality engineer prices the offer against the range they can see, not the one they will get. Write the number into the req anyway; the candidate has already read the Long Beach posting. 06 — TrendWhere quality engineer pay is heading through 2027The federal series is growing and repricing at the same time. BLS projects industrial engineers (17-2112) to grow much faster than average over 2024–2034 with about 25,200 openings a year, on an employment base of 351,100 (O*NET, BLS 2024–2034 projections), and the May 2025 median of $102,440 sits with a $109,900 mean, a gap that widens whenever the top of a distribution moves faster than the middle. ASQ’s 2025 salary survey reports quality salaries up 5.2% year over year, which is faster than the general wage index and consistent with what the aerospace and semiconductor cuts show.The reindustrialization employers are pulling the top of the ladder up. On September 15, 2026, a single defense autonomy manufacturer had more than eighty open quality reqs across California, Ohio, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, North Carolina, Mississippi, and Georgia, from quality inspector to director of quality; a launch and satellite manufacturer had twenty-five, including data center supplier quality specialists in Texas and Tennessee; a launch vehicle manufacturer was hiring supplier quality engineers at four levels in one req. That is AS9100 and NADCAP program work at production rates the aerospace supply base has not run since the 1980s, and the $107,170 aerospace median will look low against the May 2026 release.Supplier quality is the rung to watch. ZipRecruiter already posts supplier quality engineer at $111,474, above its senior quality engineer figure of $105,293 (Sep 15, 2026), and the highest employer-published individual-contributor ceiling on this page, $204,090, is a staff supplier quality and development engineer, not a product quality lead. Every new gigafactory, fab, and launch site inherits a supply base it does not control, and the engineer who can qualify a casting house, a PCBA shop, or a harness supplier in one visit is the one the ranges are chasing. 07 — WorkforceWhat this means if you are hiring quality engineersPrice to the industry cut and the state, not the aggregator. A quality engineer req at $89,565, Indeed’s national average, is under the 25th percentile of the 17-2112 series in Washington ($102,400) and will draw job-shop candidates; the same req at $107,170 draws the aerospace candidate and at $124,600 the California one. Write the level band into the posting the way the launch and additive employers do, name the certification you will pay for (CQE, Six Sigma, AS9100 lead auditor, NADCAP), and separate quality engineer, supplier quality engineer, and mission assurance into three reqs with three ranges, because the market already prices them differently.iRecruit is building candidate density in quality engineering ahead of the plant openings, from quality engineer I through quality manager and director of supplier quality, with screening on AS9100 and NADCAP program experience, CQE, and the commodity families (castings, PCBA, harnessing, composites, energetics) the space and defense reqs name. For a plant that needs a full quality org in one hiring cycle, RPO prices the run; for one or two hard seats at a time, embedded recruiting support does. The lists at best aerospace and defense recruiters and best manufacturing recruiters show how the rest of the market is set up.For the hiring side of this market, see the Aerospace & Defense Manufacturing practice. 08 — FAQFrequently asked questions What is the average quality engineer salary in 2026?+The closest federal figure is the BLS OEWS May 2025 median of $102,440 for industrial engineers (17-2112), the series that codes most quality engineers, with a 25th–75th band of $83,600–$129,250. Posted averages run lower: Indeed $89,565 (Sep 7, 2026) and ZipRecruiter $84,039 (Sep 15, 2026), because they include food, packaging, and job-shop postings.How much does a senior quality engineer make?+Indeed puts senior quality engineer at $111,156 across 2,700 postings (Sep 6, 2026) and ZipRecruiter at $105,293 with a $88,500–$120,000 middle band (Sep 15, 2026). Employer-published ranges in California run $113,600–$130,800 for senior product quality engineer and $139,300–$160,000 for principal at a directed-energy defense manufacturer (Sep 15, 2026).What is a supplier quality engineer salary at a space or defense company?+ZipRecruiter posts supplier quality engineer at $111,474 and Indeed at $104,614 (September 2026). Employer ranges retrieved September 15, 2026: $95,800–$115,900 at a defense manufacturer in California, $102,400–$128,000 for senior I at a launch vehicle manufacturer in Virginia, and $70,000–$171,600 across four levels at the same employer in Long Beach, California.Does a CQE raise a quality engineer salary?+ASQ states CQE holders earn almost $10,000 more on average than non-certified quality professionals, and PayScale reports a $107,000 average base for CQE holders across 86 profiles (January 28, 2026) against $77,140 for its general quality engineer sample (March 1, 2025). Aerospace employers running AS9100 and NADCAP programs list it as preferred or required on most senior reqs.Which industry pays quality engineers the most?+Of the manufacturing cuts BLS publishes for the 17-2112 series (OEWS May 2025), semiconductor and electronic components pays the highest median at $108,110, followed by aerospace at $107,170, motor vehicle at $106,340, engine and turbine at $103,340, and medical equipment at $102,810. The 90th percentile is highest in semiconductor at $170,800. Quality engineers for the new plantsPrice the req to the aerospace cut, then let us fill it. iRecruit is assembling its network of quality engineers, supplier quality engineers, and quality managers ahead of the launch-site, fab, and defense-tech openings. Tell us the product, the program requirements, and the state, and we shortlist against the ranges on this page.Scope a search →Candidates — register with us →
