Highest-paying Cities for Mechanical Drafters

The top 100 highest paying cities for mechanical drafters (ranked by average annual salary) are listed in Table 1. The entry level salary (as measured by the salary of the lowest 10% paid earners) and the number of employment of mechanical drafters in those cities are also shown in the table. As shown in the table, with a annual salary of $97,630, Gulfport-Biloxi, Mississippi is the highest paying city for mechanical drafters. It is followed by Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Washington (average annual salary $92,620). The salary and employment information is computed from data published by U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) in April 2023 [1]. For more salary information of mechanical drafters in a specific city, use the links in the table.

Table 1. 100 Highest-paying cities/areas for Mechanical Drafters

Rank	City/Area	Average Salary i	Entry Level Salary i	# of Empl. i
1	Gulfport-Biloxi, Mississippi	$97,630	$47,990	60
2	Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Washington	$92,620	$55,180	1,430
3	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California	$89,980	$56,320	560
4	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, Washington	$88,390	$49,500	580
5	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, California	$81,550	$50,820	690
6	Southern Vermont nonmetropolitan area, Vermont	$81,370	$32,170	30
7	Trenton-Ewing, New Jersey	$79,590	$51,770	70
8	Flint, Michigan	$78,760	$44,630	90
9	Midland, Texas	$77,810	$47,150	40
10	Fort Collins-Loveland, Colorado	$77,790	$39,780	50
11	Fond du Lac, Wisconsin	$76,740	$52,140	70
12	Lake Charles, Louisiana	$76,600	$48,040	40
13	Colorado Springs, Colorado	$76,310	$45,280	80
14	San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, California	$76,160	$48,020	460
15	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, Connecticut	$75,980	$52,880	170
16	Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Michigan	$75,110	$43,570	1,220
17	New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, Louisiana	$74,930	$41,900	90
18	New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, New York	$74,530	$40,350	1,370
19	Albuquerque, New Mexico	$74,410	$47,040	30
20	Albany-Schenectady-Troy, New York	$74,250	$47,100	110
21	Des Moines-West Des Moines, Iowa	$73,950	$47,860	90
22	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, District of Columbia	$73,910	$49,340	560
23	Toledo, Ohio	$73,700	$42,680	80
24	New Haven, Connecticut	$73,580	$50,130	60
25	Ames, Iowa	$73,520	$45,160	40
26	San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, California	$73,440	$41,880	170
27	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, California	$73,410	$45,220	1,380
28	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, California	$73,270	$49,920	50
29	Syracuse, New York	$73,050	$45,850	90
30	Eastern Washington nonmetropolitan area, Washington	$72,370	$48,900	70
31	Bakersfield-Delano, California	$71,960	$45,500	70
32	Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, Iowa	$71,850	$46,040	90
33	Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Roseville, California	$71,760	$38,550	280
34	Prescott, Arizona	$71,740	$45,530	40
35	Corpus Christi, Texas	$71,060	$43,140	50
36	Newark-Union, Pennsylvania	$70,360	$42,520	420
37	Durham-Chapel Hill, North Carolina	$69,920	$57,420	40
38	New Bedford, Massachusetts	$69,530	$40,880	30
39	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Washington	$69,230	$46,750	900
40	Reno-Sparks, Nevada	$68,320	$44,140	70
41	Bloomington, Indiana	$68,280	$48,120	50
42	Lynchburg, Virginia	$67,830	$35,580	60
43	Lafayette-West Lafayette, Indiana	$67,210	$38,440	60
44	Minneapolis-St Paul-Bloomington, Wisconsin	$66,560	$48,630	1,260
45	Ogden-Clearfield, Utah	$66,250	$39,260	150
46	Salt Lake City, Utah	$66,230	$41,700	260
47	Oshkosh-Neenah, Wisconsin	$66,140	$45,110	80
48	Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, Texas	$66,030	$45,770	310
49	Tyler, Texas	$65,400	$44,700	30
50	Baton Rouge, Louisiana	$65,290	$31,650	80
51	Chicago-Joliet-Naperville (IL-IN-WI Area), Illinois	$65,150	$35,840	1,240
52	Longview, Washington	$65,060	$47,300	30
53	Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Massachusetts	$65,050	$47,010	950
54	Waterloo-Cedar Falls, Iowa	$65,050	$45,320	40
55	Janesville, Wisconsin	$65,040	$40,750	60
56	Tucson, Arizona	$65,020	$48,180	130
57	Portsmouth, New Hampshire	$64,970	$47,380	60
58	South Central Kentucky nonmetropolitan area, Kentucky	$64,930	$39,080	30
59	Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas	$64,750	$46,660	1,370
60	Portland-South Portland-Biddeford, Maine	$64,750	$49,260	50
61	Nashua, New Hampshire	$64,750	$42,750	60
62	Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, Florida	$64,490	$37,390	110
63	Spartanburg, South Carolina	$64,400	$39,530	40
64	Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale, Arizona	$64,330	$48,730	600
65	Indianapolis-Carmel, Indiana	$64,330	$38,850	620
66	Greenville-Mauldin-Easley, South Carolina	$64,290	$46,890	150
67	Columbus, Ohio	$64,250	$48,040	280
68	Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, Connecticut	$64,120	$45,620	60
69	Wilmington, New Jersey	$64,030	$37,180	130
70	St Cloud, Minnesota	$63,990	$38,640	50
71	Hagerstown-Martinsburg, West Virginia	$63,960	$46,840	30
72	Wichita, Kansas	$63,950	$38,320	160
73	Bellingham, Washington	$63,910	$43,900	80
74	Baltimore-Towson, Maryland	$63,770	$44,860	550
75	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas	$63,530	$46,140	960
76	California-Lexington Park, Maryland	$63,450	$48,320	40
77	Victoria, Texas	$63,420	$43,700	40
78	Tulsa, Oklahoma	$63,290	$43,460	340
79	Greensboro-High Point, North Carolina	$63,230	$40,570	90
80	St Joseph, Missouri	$63,150	$40,830	50
81	Peabody, Massachusetts	$63,140	$42,030	40
82	Dayton, Ohio	$63,090	$38,340	110
83	Lowell-Billerica-Chelmsford, New Hampshire	$63,060	$45,500	70
84	Billings, Montana	$63,060	$43,780	30
85	Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Michigan	$63,010	$40,810	370
86	Haverhill-North Andover-Amesbury, New Hampshire	$62,970	$29,620	40
87	Rockford, Illinois	$62,950	$44,740	70
88	Nassau-Suffolk, New York	$62,950	$44,340	590
89	Oakland-Fremont-Hayward, California	$62,890	$35,580	380
90	Akron, Ohio	$62,890	$41,480	110
91	Longview, Texas	$62,860	$42,890	50
92	Denver-Aurora-Broomfield, Colorado	$62,820	$38,710	430
93	Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, Florida	$62,730	$38,020	330
94	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Pennsylvania	$62,550	$44,440	970
95	Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, Virginia	$62,470	$37,000	180
96	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, California	$62,390	$37,300	50
97	Worcester, Massachusetts	$62,210	$42,890	90
98	Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, Pennsylvania	$62,210	$46,450	160
99	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, California	$62,200	$42,040	90
100	Utica-Rome, New York	$62,190	$42,960	30

See also: 💰 Highest paying industries for mechanical drafters.