What does it cost to hire an industrial engineer in St. Louis?

Tier I to Tier VI, $6,240 to $54,340 per search, set by the seniority of the role and never by salary or location. A contingency firm billing 20 to 30% of this role's $102,230 median wage in the St. Louis, MO-IL area (BLS OEWS, May 2025) would charge roughly $20,446 to $30,669 on the first year salary alone.

Is the talent for this role already in St. Louis?

This is a job zone 4 occupation, which usually calls for a bachelor's degree, and 40.2% of St. Louis adults hold one or higher (Census ACS 5-year 2023, table S1501). That is a workable pool, though the search will reach beyond the city line.

Hiring an industrial engineer in St. Louis, MO

Employers in the St. Louis, MO-IL area pay industrial engineers a median of $102,230 a year, with the middle half of the market between $82,290 and $128,060 (BLS OEWS, May 2025, SOC 17-2112). Filling it through recruitlocalpros runs Tier I to Tier VI, $6,240 to $54,340 per search, set by the seniority of the role rather than by salary or location, and our vetted recruiting partner handles sourcing, screening and placement end to end.

Do St. Louis residents in architecture and engineering work earn more than employers in the St. Louis, MO-IL area pay?

St. Louis residents working in architecture and engineering occupations earn a median of $80,650 (Census ACS 5-year 2023, tables S2401 and B24011), against $78,695 as the median of the 30 wages BLS publishes for that same occupation group in the St. Louis, MO-IL area (BLS OEWS, May 2025), a difference of 2%, with the residents figure the higher of the two.

Both sides of that figure describe the whole architecture and engineering group, not this one role. In the St. Louis, MO-IL area the group covers 30 occupations BLS publishes a wage for, from surveying and mapping technicians at $58,130 to chemical engineers at $133,450 (BLS OEWS, May 2025), with industrial engineers at $102,230 inside it.

That comparison is between two different measures, not a pay gap. The two weight the same occupation group differently: the Census figure is the midpoint across the people who actually hold those jobs, so a group carrying a few very well paid occupations is pulled toward them, while the BLS figure is the midpoint across the 30 published occupation wages, which counts each of those occupations once whatever its headcount. Census also counts where people live and BLS counts where the jobs are, and the two cover different populations, Census the civilian employed population 16 and over, BLS wage-and-salary jobs only. Read the number against other cities, where the same definitional difference applies on both sides, rather than as a shortfall.

The two sit within 10% of each other, so residents of St. Louis and employers across the metro are priced about the same in this field, and pay alone is unlikely to be what wins or loses this hire.

What does an industrial engineer earn here?

Place of work

What employers pay

Annual wages paid to industrial engineers by employers in the St. Louis, MO-IL area. BLS OEWS, May 2025, SOC 17-2112.
25th percentile	$82,290
Median	$102,230
75th percentile	$128,060

Half of industrial engineers in this area earn between $82,290 and $128,060 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). A band set below $82,290 competes for the bottom quarter of the market. Occupation detail for SOC 17-2112 at O*NET OnLine.

Place of residence

What St. Louis residents earn

$80,650

Median annual earnings of St. Louis residents working in architecture and engineering occupations, 2,794 people (Census ACS 5-year 2023, tables S2401 and B24011). An occupation group rather than this one role, and where people live rather than where they work, so it is not the same measurement as the wages beside it.

What does the role actually involve?

Core tasks

Estimate production costs, cost saving methods, and the effects of product design changes on expenditures for management review, action, and control.
Plan and establish sequence of operations to fabricate and assemble parts or products and to promote efficient utilization.
Analyze statistical data and product specifications to determine standards and establish quality and reliability objectives of finished product.
Confer with clients, vendors, staff, and management personnel regarding purchases, product and production specifications, manufacturing capabilities, or project status.
Communicate with management and user personnel to develop production and design standards.

Task statements for SOC 17-2112, O*NET OnLine 29.1.

Tools and technologies in demand

Autodesk AutoCAD, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office software, Microsoft PowerPoint, SAP software, Structured query language SQL, Microsoft Outlook, Python.

Flagged in demand or hot for SOC 17-2112 by O*NET OnLine 29.1. Useful as a screen, not as a checklist.

Is the talent actually in St. Louis?

This is a job zone four: considerable preparation needed occupation. Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not. O*NET OnLine, SOC 17-2112.

That matters here, because 40.2% of St. Louis adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher. That is a workable pool, but the search will reach beyond the city line. Census ACS 5-year 2023, table S1501, residents of St. Louis aged 25 and over.

The average St. Louis commute runs 22.2 minutes, which is roughly how far your catchment reaches before candidates start saying no. 15% of St. Louis workers already work from home, so a fully onsite requirement here is competing against that. Census ACS 5-year 2023, place-level commuting characteristics for St. Louis.

How often do these jobs turn over?

In St. Louis city, architectural, engineering and related services employs 3,263 and turns over 5.7% a quarter, with 220 hires against 189 separations. Average earnings in that industry run $8,166 a month. Census LEHD Quarterly Workforce Indicators, 2024 Q1, NAICS 5413.

That figure covers every occupation in the industry, not this role alone, so read it as the local churn rate rather than as a number about industrial engineers. It still tells you what you are hiring into: a low-churn market, where people do not move often and passive candidates are the whole game.

What does the search cost?

The fee is set by the seniority of the role, never by salary and never by location. Across all six tiers it runs $6,240 to $54,340 per search. A contingency firm hiring at this role's $102,230 median in the St. Louis, MO-IL area (BLS OEWS, May 2025) would bill roughly $20,446 to $30,669 on the first year salary alone.

One owner runs the search from market map to signed offer. Searches typically fill in 23 to 35 days, which is a typical window rather than a promise, and the replacement guarantee runs 45 days at 50% off.

Questions employers ask about hiring an industrial engineer in St. Louis

What does it cost to hire an industrial engineer in St. Louis?: Tier I to Tier VI, $6,240 to $54,340 per search, set by the seniority of the role and never by salary or location. A contingency firm billing 20 to 30% of this role's $102,230 median wage in the St. Louis, MO-IL area (BLS OEWS, May 2025) would charge roughly $20,446 to $30,669 on the first year salary alone.
What should an offer for an industrial engineer in St. Louis look like?: Employers in the St. Louis, MO-IL area pay industrial engineers a median of $102,230, with the middle half of the market between $82,290 and $128,060 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). A band set below $82,290 competes for the bottom quarter of that market.
Do St. Louis residents in architecture and engineering work earn more than employers in the St. Louis, MO-IL area pay?: St. Louis residents working in architecture and engineering occupations earn a median of $80,650 (Census ACS 5-year 2023, tables S2401 and B24011), against $78,695 as the median of the 30 wages BLS publishes for that same occupation group in the St. Louis, MO-IL area (BLS OEWS, May 2025), a difference of 2%. Both figures cover the whole occupation group rather than this one role, and one counts where people live while the other counts where the jobs are, so the percentage is not a pay gap.
Is the talent for this role already in St. Louis?: This is a job zone 4 occupation, which usually calls for a bachelor's degree, and 40.2% of St. Louis adults hold one or higher (Census ACS 5-year 2023, table S1501). That is a workable pool, though the search will reach beyond the city line.

Price this search

Eight questions about the role. Your tier range appears on screen.

Hiring an industrial engineer somewhere else?

Same role, different market. The wage band moves with the metro.

Other architecture and engineering roles in St. Louis

St. Louis is the 2nd largest of 2 Missouri cities in this dataset.