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Pay from SpaceX's own postings

SpaceX Machinist Salary

SpaceX's 64 open roles for machinists post a median $86.3k/yr, typically $61.4k–$160k/yr, from 47 distinct pay figures, read from its own job board every hour.

See the roles and their payEvery SpaceX salary →Space jobs for machinists →How to apply to SpaceX →

Against other pay

Every SpaceX role
median $138k/yr
SpaceX's machinists: 37% below it
Machinists at every space company
median $93.6k/yr
SpaceX: 8% below it
All US machinists, May 2025
median $58.8k/yr
SpaceX's postings: 47% above it
Highest posted top
$215k/yr
Sr. Operations Engineer (Starship Machining)

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.

SpaceX machinist pay by level

Level the title namesOpen rolesMedianTypical pay
Entry, associate or level I1Too few figures
Level IV and above15$94.1k/yr$86.3k–$133k/yr
Senior5$175k/yr$169k–$215k/yr
Manager1Too few figures
Title names no level42$65.5k/yr$52k–$160k/yr

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 SpaceX hires machinists

  • Hawthorne, CA28 roles, median $87.4k/yr
  • Bastrop, TX14 roles
  • Woodinville, WA14 roles, median $87.4k/yr
  • Redmond, WA4 roles, median $79.6k/yr
  • McGregor, TX2 roles
  • Starbase, TX1 role
  • Vandenberg, CA1 role

Open SpaceX roles for machinists, highest pay first

Updated 31 Oct 2026, 04:02 UTC

All 64 SpaceX roles for machinists, with their pay

More SpaceX salaries by profession

Machinist salaries at other space companies

Every open SpaceX role

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Questions about SpaceX pay for machinists

How much does SpaceX pay machinists?

SpaceX's open roles for machinists post a median $86.3k/yr, typically $61.4k–$160k/yr, from 47 distinct pay figures in 47 of its 64 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 $215k/yr, for Sr. Operations Engineer (Starship Machining).

What does SpaceX pay machinists at each level?

By the level each title names: level IV and above: a median $94.1k/yr (15 roles); senior: a median $175k/yr (5 roles). A level is read from the title ("Engineer II", "Senior", "Lead"); titles that name none are left out of this answer.

Does SpaceX pay machinists more than other space companies?

SpaceX's median, $86.3k/yr, is 8% below the $93.6k/yr median of the 229 open roles for machinists at every space company we read (SpaceX's among them).

Do machinists earn more than other roles at SpaceX?

SpaceX's roles for machinists post a median $86.3k/yr, 37% below the $138k/yr median of all its open roles that state pay (SpaceX salaries compares every kind of work).

How does SpaceX's pay for machinists compare with the national wage?

The Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the national median wage of machinists at $58.8k/yr (May 2025); SpaceX's posted median, $86.3k/yr, is 47% 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 SpaceX hire machinists?

Its open roles for machinists are in Hawthorne, CA (28), Bastrop, TX (14), Woodinville, WA (14), Redmond, WA (4) and McGregor, TX (2). By place, they post a median of $87.4k/yr in Hawthorne, CA, $87.4k/yr in Woodinville, WA and $79.6k/yr in Redmond, WA.