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Pay from Rocket Lab's own postings

Rocket Lab Software Engineer Salary

Rocket Lab's 32 open roles for software engineers post a median $161k/yr, typically $139k–$221k/yr, from 19 distinct pay figures, read from its own job board every hour.

See the roles and their payEvery Rocket Lab salary →Space jobs for software engineers →How to apply to Rocket Lab →

Against other pay

Every Rocket Lab role
median $120k/yr
Rocket Lab's software engineers: 34% above it
Software engineers at every space company
median $169k/yr
Rocket Lab: 5% below it
All US software developers, May 2025
median $136k/yr
Rocket Lab's postings: 18% above it
Highest posted top
$300k/yr
Vice President, Space Systems Software

Typical pay is the 25th percentile of what roles pay (the middle of each posted range, as a year's pay: an hourly rate counts at 2,080 hours, 40 a week for 52 weeks) to the 90th-percentile posted top. Pay is compared as a year's pay: an hourly rate counts at 2,080 hours (40 a week for 52 weeks), a weekly one at 52 weeks, a monthly one at 12 months. A posting that names only a ceiling ("up to $X") is left out of the figures.

Rocket Lab software engineer pay by level

Level the title namesOpen rolesMedianTypical pay
Intern or co-op2Too few figures
Entry, associate or level I1Too few figures
Level II1Too few figures
Senior15$159k/yr$146k–$216k/yr
Lead3Too few figures
Principal or fellow6$191k/yr$185k–$220k/yr
Director, head or vice president1Too few figures
Title names no level3Too few figures

A level is read from the title, the first that applies from an internship to a director (the reading of our research on career levels and pay). A figure needs three distinct posted rates.

Where Rocket Lab hires software engineers

Open Rocket Lab roles for software engineers, highest pay first

Updated 1 Nov 2026, 07:02 UTC

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Every open Rocket Lab role

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Questions about Rocket Lab pay for software engineers

How much does Rocket Lab pay software engineers?

Rocket Lab's open roles for software engineers post a median $161k/yr, typically $139k–$221k/yr, from 19 distinct pay figures in 19 of its 32 postings. Typical pay here is the 25th percentile of what roles pay (the middle of each posted range, as a year's pay: an hourly rate counts at 2,080 hours, 40 a week for 52 weeks) to the 90th-percentile posted top. The highest posted top is $300k/yr, for Vice President, Space Systems Software.

What does Rocket Lab pay software engineers at each level?

By the level each title names: senior: a median $159k/yr (15 roles); principal or fellow: a median $191k/yr (6 roles). A level is read from the title ("Engineer II", "Senior", "Lead"); titles that name none are left out of this answer.

Does Rocket Lab pay software engineers more than other space companies?

Rocket Lab's median, $161k/yr, is 5% below the $169k/yr median of the 1,991 open roles for software engineers at every space company we read (Rocket Lab's among them).

Do software engineers earn more than other roles at Rocket Lab?

Rocket Lab's roles for software engineers post a median $161k/yr, 34% above the $120k/yr median of all its open roles that state pay (Rocket Lab salaries compares every kind of work).

How does Rocket Lab's pay for software engineers compare with the national wage?

The Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the national median wage of software developers at $136k/yr (May 2025); Rocket Lab's posted median, $161k/yr, is 18% above it. A posting states what a new hire is offered, the national figure what everyone in the occupation earns, so the two measure different people. Source: BLS wage estimates by state (OEWS, May 2025), read through O*NET OnLine, CC BY 4.0.

Where does Rocket Lab hire software engineers?

Its open roles for software engineers are in Long Beach, CA (9), Littleton, CO (8), New Zealand (7), Tucson, AZ (6) and Chantilly, VA (2). By place, they post a median of $165k/yr in Long Beach, CA and $139k/yr in Littleton, CO.