Mechanical Engineer Salary in Alabama (2026)

Worth knowing: Alabama's automotive manufacturing cluster is the country's third-largest concentrated foreign OEM automotive manufacturing presence and a feature most national ME surveys understate for AL. AL automotive cluster (Mercedes-Benz US International Vance opened 1997 — Mercedes' largest US plant + first US plant + producing M-class + GLE + GLS + GLE Coupe SUVs for global markets, ~6K employees; Honda Manufacturing of Alabama Lincoln opened 2001, ~4.5K producing Honda Odyssey + Pilot + Passport + Acura MDX; Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama Montgomery opened 2005, ~4K producing Hyundai Sonata + Elantra + Santa Fe + Tucson; Mazda Toyota Manufacturing Huntsville joint venture opened 2021, ~4K producing Mazda CX-50 + Toyota Corolla Cross; Toyota Engine Plant Huntsville opened 2003, ~1.5K) combined produces ~1.4M+ vehicles annually + substantial in-house powertrain + chassis + body + manufacturing engineering supporting Senior ME at $115-180K TC. The Huntsville cleared aerospace propulsion ME cluster (NASA Marshall managing SLS + Artemis propulsion + ISS payload operations from the Huntsville campus that originally developed Saturn V under von Braun, plus Boeing + Lockheed + Northrop + Aerojet Rocketdyne propulsion engineering at the country's largest single-state propulsion engineering concentration) supports substantial cleared propulsion ME at $140-215K TC. Airbus Mobile Final Assembly (~1.5K, the only Airbus FAL outside Europe + China producing A220 + A321neo) anchors AL commercial aerospace ME. AL's 5% top + Federal Income Tax Deduction.