Mechanical Drafters · SOC 17-3013

Highest-Paying Metro Areas for Mechanical Drafterss

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025U.S. metropolitan areas

Metro areas ranked by published median annual wage for mechanical drafters. Areas where BLS suppressed the median are not ranked (4 such areas are excluded here). Higher medians often track higher living costs — this is a pay comparison, not a ranking of where the job is “best”.

Top 25 of 180 metro areas

Mechanical Drafters: metro areas with the highest published median annual wages, May 2025
#	Metro area	Median annual	Employment	Per 1,000 jobs
1	Boulder, CO	$102,710	60	0.3
2	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$98,310	390	0.2
3	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$97,450	240	0.2
4	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$94,470	1,020	0.5
5	Albuquerque, NM	$94,140	50	0.1
6	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$90,160	380	0.2
7	Colorado Springs, CO	$87,860	30	0.1
8	Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX	$87,220	120	0.7
9	Idaho Falls, ID	$86,420	60	0.8
10	Midland, TX	$86,100	40	0.4
11	Burlington-South Burlington, VT	$84,100	50	0.4
12	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$84,070	1,180	0.1
13	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$83,550	370	0.2
14	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	$83,200	1,620	0.4
15	Niles, MI	$82,960	50	0.8
16	Wichita, KS	$82,590	190	0.6
17	Trenton-Princeton, NJ	$80,970	50	0.2
18	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$80,780	1,480	0.2
19	Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL	$80,550	50	0.3
20	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$80,510	410	0.3
21	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$79,180	30	0.2
22	New Orleans-Metairie, LA	$79,130	80	0.2
23	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$78,990	90	0.3
24	Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX	$78,820	1,300	0.4
25	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$78,790	130	0.2

Full state and metro tables, the national distribution, and the pay map are on the Mechanical Drafters overview.

About this data. Estimates are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, May 2025 release, retrieved from bls.gov/oes/tables.htm on July 24, 2026. OEWS estimates describe metropolitan/nonmetropolitan areas and states — not city limits — and are not designed for year-over-year comparisons. See BLS methodology, our plain-English methodology, and sources. CitySalaryData is independent and not affiliated with BLS.