Aerospace engineer: salary in the UK
ONS occupation: Aerospace engineers (SOC 2126)
About £45,084 a year after tax (England, Wales and Northern Ireland, 2026/27)
median salary a year, full-time, +4.2% on last year
£4,961 a month About £3,757 a month after tax
Gross pay before tax, including bonuses, commission and overtime. Not included: benefits in kind such as a company car. About the data
Pay range
The dark part is the middle half of full-time employees (25% to 75%); the light bar runs from 10% to 90%. ONS doesn't publish the highest or lowest salary, and x means a figure wasn't published.
Pay by year
The median went from £40,858 in 2021 to £59,529 in 2026 (+46%); for all full-time employees in the UK it changed by +31% over the same years.
Figures by year
| P10 | P25 | Median | P75 | P90 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | x | £33,600 | £40,858 | £48,868 | x |
| 2022 | x | £35,129 | £42,871 | x | x |
| 2023 | x | £38,938 | £46,379 | x | x |
| 2024 | x | £43,184 | £54,504 | x | x |
| 2025 | x | x | £57,139 | x | x |
| 2026 | x | x | £59,529 | x | x |
ONS figures for each year, not adjusted for inflation. Years before 2021 used a different occupation classification, so they can't be compared. Earlier years are ONS's revised figures; the latest is provisional.
Half of full-time employees in this occupation earn less than £59,529 a year and half earn more. That is 46% more than the median for all full-time employees in the UK (£40,911).
Ranked by median, it is number 28 of the 362 occupations with a published figure.
The mean (£72,436) is well above the median: a minority in this job earn much more than most.
At the median salary, take-home pay after Income Tax and National Insurance is about £3,757 a month in England, Wales or Northern Ireland and £3,612 in Scotland.
Percentiles
| Percentile | Annual | Monthly |
|---|---|---|
| 10th (P10) | x | x |
| 20th | x | x |
| 25th (P25) | x | x |
| 30th | x | x |
| 40th | £54,794 | £4,566 |
| Median (50th) | £59,529 | £4,961 |
| 60th | x | x |
| 70th | x | x |
| 75th (P75) | x | x |
| 80th | x | x |
| 90th (P90) | x | x |
Take-home pay at the median
| Where you live | Per year | Per month |
|---|---|---|
| England, Wales, NI | £45,084 | £3,757 |
| Scotland | £43,344 | £3,612 |
After Income Tax and National Insurance for 2026 to 2027, with the standard tax code and no pension or student loan. Work out your own take-home pay · Take-home pay on £60,000
Job titles in this occupation
ONS codes these 22 job titles to SOC 2126 Aerospace engineers. Pay figures are for the whole occupation, not for each title.
- Aeronautical engineer
- Aeronautical stress engineer
- Aerospace design engineer
- Aerospace engineer
- Aerospace systems engineer
- Aircraft design engineer
- Aircraft designer
- Aircraft engineer
- Aircraft stress engineer
- Aircraft surveyor
- Aviation engineer
- Avionics designer
- Avionics engineer
- Avionics systems engineer
- Design engineer
- Design surveyor
- Designer
- Engineer
- Fuel systems engineer
- Mechanical engineer
- Stress engineer
- Systems engineer
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Source: ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2026 provisional, Table 14.7a (full-time employees, gross annual pay, UK, tax year ending 5 April 2026). Provisional figures may be revised.