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Rocket Lab Salary

Rocket Lab Salary

Rocket Lab pays a median of $138K ($110K–$155K) across 165 public job postings (2025–2026).

💰 $110K–$155K salary range

Median: $138K  ·  Based on 165 public Rocket Lab job postings  ·  Updated July 1, 2026


This Rocket Lab salary benchmark is built from public job postings — no private placement data. Figures reflect base salary only (equity is separate) and are refreshed as new postings are collected.

📊 Salary breakdown

Rocket Lab · pay benchmark · updated July 1, 2026
$138K
inc. eng · sales · ops
All-role median
$110K–$155K
Typical range
$300K view JD
Highest base · Vice President, Space Systems Software
165
Open roles
~5 yrs
Typical exp.
+113
150 last 90d
New last 30d
ⓘ Base salary only — 64% of roles mention equity · options
IC salary by seniority
Junior
$105K (32)
Senior
$140K (93)
Staff
$200K (8)
Management pay by function
1500 Government GLS
$148K (3)
3000 Finance
$126K (2)
Salary by department · median & top base
1520 space systems bd
$210K · $250K top (9)
4750 space systems sw
$153K · $245K top (24)
4015 usa space systems
$148K · $273K top (39)
5151 software systems cos
$143K · $300K top (8)
2420 usa manufacturing engineering
$138K · $175K top (7)
2256 neutron - ssc
$114K · $200K top (8)
3000 finance
$112K · $220K top (6)
2655 sc planning
$105K · $215K top (7)
Highest-paying skills
Docker $153KGo $153KTypeScript $153KAngular $153KFastapi $153KPostgreSQL $153KOauth $153KMatlab $152K

Highest-paying open roles at Rocket Lab

Rocket Lab salary by department

  • 1520 space systems bd: $210K median · $250K top base — Business Development Director, Satellites - TS/SCI Clearance (view JD) (9 roles)
  • 4750 space systems sw: $153K median · $245K top base — Principal Software Engineer /Senior Principal - TS/SCI (view JD) (24 roles)
  • 4015 usa space systems: $148K median · $273K top base — Sr. FPGA Engineer I/II (view JD) (39 roles)
  • 5151 software systems cos: $143K median · $300K top base — Vice President, Space Systems Software (view JD) (8 roles)
  • 2420 usa manufacturing engineering: $138K median · $175K top base — Senior Manufacturing Engineer I/II - TPA (view JD) (7 roles)
  • 2256 neutron - ssc: $114K median · $200K top base — Senior Vehicle Integration Engineer (view JD) (8 roles)
  • 3000 finance: $112K median · $220K top base — Director, Manufacturing Finance (view JD) (6 roles)
  • 2655 sc planning: $105K median · $215K top base — Director of Planning & Fulfillment (view JD) (7 roles)

Rocket Lab salary by seniority

  • Junior: $105K median · $140K top base — Integration & Test Engineer I/II (view JD) (32)
  • Senior: $140K median · $273K top base — Sr. FPGA Engineer I/II (view JD) (93)
  • Staff: $200K median · $300K top base — Vice President, Space Systems Software (view JD) (8)

Rocket Lab salary — lead & management

  • Lead: $139K median · $200K top base — Lead Engineer, Tooling Design and Support (view JD) (8)
  • Manager: $145K median · $190K top base — Business Development Lead/Manager, Launch (view JD) (9)
  • Director: $215K median · $250K top base — Business Development Director, Optical Systems - TS/SCI Clearance (view JD) (13)

Remote work at Rocket Lab

1% of Rocket Lab's disclosed-pay roles are remote-friendly.

What Rocket Lab looks for

Most-required skills across these postings: Python (21) · Angular (6) · Kubernetes (4) · Ruby (4) · Spring (4) · TypeScript (4) · SQL (3) · Go (3) · FastAPI (3) · PostgreSQL (3).

Benefits & perks at Rocket Lab

Commonly listed: dental (119) · vision (119) · 401k (119) · pto (119) · parental (119) · hsa-fsa (103) · life-ins (103) · childcare (103).

About Rocket Lab

Rocket Lab is Public stage · 1,001–5,000 employees · founded 2018 · HQ Long Beach, California. This context shapes pay: later-stage, well-funded companies tend to anchor base salary higher.

Experience & background at Rocket Lab

Roles typically ask for around 5 years of experience (up to 15+ for the most senior). Most postings don't state a degree requirement; of the 44 that do, Bachelor's and Master's and Associate's are most common.

Posted pay vs. total compensation

The figures on this page are the midpoint of each posting's advertised salary range (which, for commission roles, includes on-target earnings). Equity is a separate — and often large — component of total compensation, especially at high-growth and AI-native companies; 64% of these postings reference equity (options). Equity is not included in the medians above.

Rocket Lab total compensation signals

Beyond the posted-range midpoint, postings indicate: common structures: salaried, hourly. Bonus, commission, and equity vary by role and are not included in the base medians above.

Rocket Lab hiring activity

Rocket Lab has 165 open roles right now, and this benchmark draws on 165 public job postings with disclosed pay. 113 of these roles were first seen in the last 30 days (150 in the last 90). Mostly full-time, with 3 contract roles in the mix.

💼 Similar companies hiring

Compare Rocket Lab's pay with companies in the same space:

CompanyMedian payvs Rocket LabStage
SpaceX$135K↓ -2%Series D
K2 Space$163K↑ +18%Series C
Turion Space$175K↑ +27%Late Stage
Bolt Graphics$213K↑ +55%Seed
Blue Origin$157K↑ +14%Series F
True Anomaly$171K↑ +25%Series D

💸 Companies that pay more than Rocket Lab

Gamma Technologies · Barnes · Cadence Design · Astro Mechanica · Altera

📚 Salary guides & rankings

Top-Paying Tech Companies for Engineers (2026) · Highest-Paying Cities for Software Engineers · Highest-Paying Engineering Roles

Browse all company salary pages →

Explore more salary data

All Engineering salaries →  ·  Browse all tech salaries →

Common questions

What does Rocket Lab pay?
The median pay is $138K, with a typical range of $110K–$155K, based on 165 public job postings (2025–2026). Base only — equity is separate.

What is the highest-paying job at Rocket Lab?
One of the highest-paying open roles is Vice President, Space Systems Software, at $210K–$300K base.

Which team pays the most at Rocket Lab?
The 1520 space systems bd team, at a $210K median.

Where does this data come from?
Public job postings on company career pages and public job boards — no private placement or client data.

Methodology

Posted-range midpoints (USD) aggregated from 165 public Rocket Lab job postings (2025–2026). Range = 25th–75th percentile; median = 50th percentile. Roles, departments, skills, and experience are parsed from the postings. Base salary only — equity excluded. Last refreshed July 1, 2026.

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