How much does a Mechanical Engineer make in Wyoming?

BLS reports a median annual wage of $116,910 for Mechanical Engineers in Wyoming as of the latest OES release. That is the 50th-percentile figure — half earn more, half earn less. The 25th-percentile is $97,320 and the 75th-percentile is $119,560.

How are Wyoming Mechanical Engineer salaries calculated on this page?

Nominal wages come from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES) — annual employer surveys, May 2026 reference period. Real-wage figures use BEA Regional Price Parities (2023 vintage) to adjust for state-level cost of living. No self-report or jobs-board data is mixed in.

What are the limits of these Mechanical Engineer salary numbers?

BLS OES is an employer survey of W-2 wages — it excludes contractor pay, bonuses outside the base wage definition, equity compensation, and tip income. Self-employed practitioners and gig workers are not represented. For occupations with significant non-W-2 income, the BLS figure is a floor, not a complete picture.

Should I negotiate based on the BLS median for Wyoming?

The BLS median is a calibration anchor, not a ceiling. Use it to validate that an offer is in-band — anything well below the P25 in this state is a flag, anything above the P75 typically requires demonstrable specialty depth, niche credentials, or a high-COL metro within Wyoming.

Does PE license raise mechanical engineer pay in Wyoming?

PE (Professional Engineer) license through Wyoming's engineering board typically adds 5-15% to the BLS-reported median for mechanical engineers, concentrated in industries that require sealed drawings — civil-mechanical (HVAC for buildings), pressure-vessel, oil/gas, and government contracts. In R&D, defense (where security clearance dominates), and consumer-product design, PE has limited wage premium. Wyoming follows the NCEES path: BS-ABET + FE exam + 4 years of progressive experience + PE exam.

Defense / aerospace vs auto vs HVAC mechanical engineer pay in Wyoming?

BLS does not segment by industry. In {state}, defense and aerospace primes typically lead on base pay with strong total comp once retention/clearance bonuses layer in (often P75-P90 of the BLS band). Automotive and consumer products sit mid-band. HVAC / building-systems mechanical engineering pays below the BLS median for the first 5 years, then catches up via PE-track roles and design-build firm equity.

BS vs MS in mechanical engineering — does the master's pay back in Wyoming?

MS-ME in Wyoming adds roughly $8-15K to starting pay versus BS-only and shortens the path into specialty roles (CFD, FEA, controls, robotics). The 1.5-2 year tuition + foregone earnings opportunity cost typically breaks even 6-9 years out. PhD-MechE only pays back inside research-heavy positions (national labs, R&D-heavy primes) and largely doesn't lift the BLS-tracked engineering-staff wage in standard industry roles.

Wyoming Mechanical Engineer Salary: BLS $117K Median, Real $128K (2026)

TL;DR

Median Mechanical Engineer salary in Wyoming: $116,910 nominal, $127,699 real (BEA RPP basis).
Nominal: #6/51 · Real: #3/51 — ranking shifts by 3 positions after RPP.
Cost of living below the national index lifts real wage by $10,789 over the nominal — a take-home arbitrage that nominal-ranking tables miss.
BLS percentile breakdown: P10 $67,550 · P25 $97,320 · P75 $119,560 · P90 $150,050.

Wage breakdown — Wyoming

Percentile	Nominal (BLS)	Real (BEA RPP-adjusted)
P10 (entry tier)	$67,550	$73,784
P25 (lower quartile)	$97,320	$106,301
P50 (median)	$116,910	$127,699
P75 (upper quartile)	$119,560	$130,594
P90 (top tier)	$150,050	$163,898
Mean	$111,180	$121,441
Employment	300 Mechanical Engineers in Wyoming

Cost of living — BEA Regional Price Parity

Component	Wyoming index (US = 100)
All-items RPP	91.6
Goods	97.1
Services	74.1
Rents	75.7

Wyoming sits below the national baseline (RPP 91.6), so nominal pay translates to a higher real wage than the BLS median suggests — particularly visible in rents at 75.7.

After-tax take-home — Wyoming (2024 BLS · 2024 tax year, single filer)

Layer-by-layer take-home math at the BLS median

Layer	Amount	Note
Gross BLS P50 (Mechanical Engineer)	$116,910	nominal median
Federal income tax	−$16,967	14.5% effective; std deduction $15,750 applied
State income tax	$0	no state income tax
FICA (SS 6.2% + Medicare 1.45%)	−$8,944	SS capped at $183,600 wage base
Take-home (after-tax)	$90,999	77.8% of gross
Real take-home (RPP-adjusted)	$99,397	÷ (91.6 / 100) BEA cost-of-living

What the Wyoming state-tax burden means for Mechanical Engineer take-home

Wyoming levies no state income tax on wages, which is worth roughly $5,846 a year for a Mechanical Engineer at the BLS median compared with the national-average state burden (≈5%). After the favorable cost of living, real take-home is $99,397 — higher than the nominal after-tax figure because RPP is below 100.

Computed from 2026 IRS federal brackets (Rev. Proc. 2025-32), 2026 state DOR brackets, and 2026 FICA rates. Single filer, standard deduction, no other adjustments. See methodology · tax for limitations (married filers, ITM/SALT itemizers, retirement deferrals, HSA, dependent credits, etc.).

National context

Across the United States, BLS reports a national median of $102,320 for Mechanical Engineers with mean pay of $110,080 and total employment of 286,760. Wyoming sits at #6 on nominal pay and #3 on real (cost-adjusted) pay among the 51 states and DC. After cost adjustment, Wyoming climbs 3 positions — the cost of living is favorable relative to the wage.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a Mechanical Engineer make in Wyoming?: BLS reports a median annual wage of $116,910 for Mechanical Engineers in Wyoming as of the latest OES release. That is the 50th-percentile figure — half earn more, half earn less. The 25th-percentile is $97,320 and the 75th-percentile is $119,560.
How are Wyoming Mechanical Engineer salaries calculated on this page?: Nominal wages come from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES) — annual employer surveys, May 2026 reference period. Real-wage figures use BEA Regional Price Parities (2023 vintage) to adjust for state-level cost of living. No self-report or jobs-board data is mixed in.
What are the limits of these Mechanical Engineer salary numbers?: BLS OES is an employer survey of W-2 wages — it excludes contractor pay, bonuses outside the base wage definition, equity compensation, and tip income. Self-employed practitioners and gig workers are not represented. For occupations with significant non-W-2 income, the BLS figure is a floor, not a complete picture.
Should I negotiate based on the BLS median for Wyoming?: The BLS median is a calibration anchor, not a ceiling. Use it to validate that an offer is in-band — anything well below the P25 in this state is a flag, anything above the P75 typically requires demonstrable specialty depth, niche credentials, or a high-COL metro within Wyoming.
Does PE license raise mechanical engineer pay in Wyoming?: PE (Professional Engineer) license through Wyoming's engineering board typically adds 5-15% to the BLS-reported median for mechanical engineers, concentrated in industries that require sealed drawings — civil-mechanical (HVAC for buildings), pressure-vessel, oil/gas, and government contracts. In R&D, defense (where security clearance dominates), and consumer-product design, PE has limited wage premium. Wyoming follows the NCEES path: BS-ABET + FE exam + 4 years of progressive experience + PE exam.
Defense / aerospace vs auto vs HVAC mechanical engineer pay in Wyoming?: BLS does not segment by industry. In {state}, defense and aerospace primes typically lead on base pay with strong total comp once retention/clearance bonuses layer in (often P75-P90 of the BLS band). Automotive and consumer products sit mid-band. HVAC / building-systems mechanical engineering pays below the BLS median for the first 5 years, then catches up via PE-track roles and design-build firm equity.
BS vs MS in mechanical engineering — does the master's pay back in Wyoming?: MS-ME in Wyoming adds roughly $8-15K to starting pay versus BS-only and shortens the path into specialty roles (CFD, FEA, controls, robotics). The 1.5-2 year tuition + foregone earnings opportunity cost typically breaks even 6-9 years out. PhD-MechE only pays back inside research-heavy positions (national labs, R&D-heavy primes) and largely doesn't lift the BLS-tracked engineering-staff wage in standard industry roles.

Sources & methodology

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES), SOC 17-2141, 2024 reference period.
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis — Regional Price Parities, 2023 vintage (all-items, goods, services, rents).
Real-wage figures = nominal BLS wage ÷ (state RPP / 100).
See the methodology page for full computation details and limitations.

By Marcus Liang · Founder & Editor · Last synced 2026-05-05.

Cross-comparison: see how Wyoming Mechanical Engineer pay ranks against the other 254 state × occupation pages on the Real Wage Atlas → — four-way ranking by real wage, after-tax take-home, state-tax savings, and cost-of-living arbitrage.