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Pay from SpaceX's own postings

SpaceX Materials Engineer or Chemist Salary

SpaceX's 39 open roles for materials engineers and chemists post a median $130k/yr, typically $130k–$179k/yr, from 13 distinct pay figures, read from its own job board every hour.

See the roles and their payEvery SpaceX salary →Space jobs for materials engineers and chemists →How to apply to SpaceX →

Against other pay

Every SpaceX role
median $138k/yr
SpaceX's materials engineers and chemists: 6% below it
Materials engineers and chemists at every space company
median $137k/yr
SpaceX: 5% below it
All US materials engineers, May 2025
median $113k/yr
SpaceX's postings: 15% above it
Highest posted top
$220k/yr
Sr. Materials Engineer, Metals (Starlink)

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 materials engineer or chemist pay by level

Level the title namesOpen rolesMedianTypical pay
Senior13Too few figures
Principal or fellow1Too few figures
Manager1Too few figures
Title names no level24$130k/yr$130k–$161k/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 materials engineers and chemists

Open SpaceX roles for materials engineers and chemists, highest pay first

Updated 31 Oct 2026, 07:01 UTC

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Materials Engineer or Chemist salaries at other space companies

Every open SpaceX role

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Questions about SpaceX pay for materials engineers and chemists

How much does SpaceX pay materials engineers and chemists?

SpaceX's open roles for materials engineers and chemists post a median $130k/yr, typically $130k–$179k/yr, from 13 distinct pay figures in 13 of its 39 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 $220k/yr, for Sr. Materials Engineer, Metals (Starlink).

Does SpaceX pay materials engineers and chemists more than other space companies?

SpaceX's median, $130k/yr, is 5% below the $137k/yr median of the 148 open roles for materials engineers and chemists at every space company we read (SpaceX's among them).

Do materials engineers and chemists earn more than other roles at SpaceX?

SpaceX's roles for materials engineers and chemists post a median $130k/yr, 6% 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 materials engineers and chemists compare with the national wage?

The Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the national median wage of materials engineers at $113k/yr (May 2025); SpaceX's posted median, $130k/yr, is 15% 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 materials engineers and chemists?

Its open roles for materials engineers and chemists are in Bastrop, TX (17), Hawthorne, CA (11), Starbase, TX (7), Redmond, WA (2) and Austin, TX (1).