Mechanical Engineer Salary in Missouri (2026)

Worth knowing: Burns & McDonnell HQ Kansas City is the structural depth feature most national mechanical engineering surveys understate for MO. Burns & McDonnell (KC HQ, ~14K global employees, ~$5.5B revenue, the country's largest 100% employee-owned ESOP engineering consultancy) operates substantial mechanical engineering across power generation + transmission + chemical + aviation + construction services nationally. The employee-owned ESOP structure provides equity participation that drives substantial wealth-building over 20-25 year careers at the firm. Senior Burns & McDonnell mechanical engineers + project managers clear $135-265K TC including base + bonus + ESOP equity. Boeing Defense Space & Security STL (~14K MO employees) is the country's largest single-site F-15 + F/A-18 + T-7A + MQ-25 unmanned tanker mechanical engineering organization — cleared aerospace mechanical engineers with TS clearance routinely clear $155-325K TC. Anheuser-Busch InBev St. Louis brewery (one of the largest single-site breweries in the world, ~3K STL employees) drives substantial brewery process + packaging + utilities mechanical engineering. Bayer Crop Science Creve Coeur (legacy Monsanto, ~5K STL employees) drives parallel agricultural + chemical process engineering. Missouri S&T (Rolla, ~7K students) is one of the country's best-ranked engineering universities by ROI — substantial ME pipeline. MO's 4.7% top rate plus the STL/KC 1% city earnings tax creates suburban-residency arbitrage (Maryland Heights + Chesterfield + Clayton outside STL city limits pay 4.7% at the margin).