Mechatronics technician salary in Kansas (2026)

How much does a mechatronics technician make in Kansas?

Without a BLS state estimate, the two Kansas sources give you a working range of roughly $55,900 to $61,400. Salary.com's model spreads its Kansas numbers from about $42,985 at the 10th percentile to $70,275 at the 90th, with the middle 50% sitting between $49,142 and $63,426. That's a tighter band than the national spread, which is what you'd expect from modelled data that leans on regional cost-of-living rather than a live employer survey.

The national percentile chart next to this gives you the ceiling worth aiming at. US pay runs from $47,840 at the 10th percentile up to $109,890 at the 90th. Kansas techs who top out around $70,000 (Salary.com's 90th) are still below the national 75th percentile of $88,540. The people earning the top decile nationally are almost always running high-mix automation lines, programming PLCs and robotics rather than just maintaining them, or holding down controls roles at large plants. In Kansas that top tier concentrates in Wichita aerospace and the larger food and animal-health operations.

Kansas mechatronics salary: BLS vs Salary.com vs Indeed

The three sources measure different things, which is why they disagree. BLS would normally be the anchor because it surveys actual employers, but it reports no Kansas estimate for this occupation, so it drops out entirely here. Salary.com's $55,904 is a model: it takes national pay curves and adjusts them for Kansas cost-of-living and job-title matching, so it tends to land conservative and smooth. Indeed's $29.53 an hour comes from real job postings and self-reported pay, but it rests on just 29 salaries, which is a thin sample that can swing when a few high or low postings enter or leave.

When you're negotiating, treat Salary.com's $55,904 as the floor of a reasonable ask and Indeed's annualized $61,422 as a defensible midpoint, especially if the role involves PLC programming or robotics rather than straight maintenance. And point to the national median of $73,900 when the employer is a large aerospace or food-processing plant, because those sites pay closer to the national curve than a small-shop average would suggest.

How Kansas compares with nearby states

Kansas sits in the Midwest, and it trails most of its regional peers on pay. The higher-paying Midwest states cluster well above the Kansas estimates: Illinois posts a $79,400 median and Wisconsin $76,290, while immediate neighbor Nebraska comes in at $72,800 and Missouri at $65,360. Even Michigan, dragged down by its large auto-supplier base, shows a $62,460 median that edges out Salary.com's Kansas figure. The pattern is consistent, states with heavy automotive or industrial automation footprints pay more for this role, and Kansas's smaller, aerospace-weighted base keeps its average on the lower end of the region.

Who hires mechatronics technicians in Kansas

Wichita is the center of gravity. Spirit AeroSystems, headquartered in Wichita, builds fuselages, nacelles and wing components and runs large automated aerostructure lines that need electro-mechanical and controls techs to keep them moving. Textron Aviation, also in Wichita, manufactures Cessna and Beechcraft aircraft and hires maintenance and automation technicians across its plants. Together the two aerospace employers account for a big share of the skilled-trades hiring in south-central Kansas.

Beyond aerospace, the state's food-processing and animal-health corridor and its distribution operations run automated equipment that draws on the same skill set. If you're weighing where to apply, the Wichita aerospace plants are the roles most likely to pay toward the upper end of the Kansas range and closer to the national curve.

How to earn more as a mechatronics technician in Kansas

Stack certifications that prove controls skill

The gap between a $49,000 maintenance job and a $70,000 controls job in Kansas is usually PLC and robotics competency, not years on the clock. A documented cert stack (Allen-Bradley or Siemens PLC programming, plus an industrial robotics credential) is the fastest way to move from the bottom quartile toward Salary.com's 90th percentile of $70,275. See our certifications guide for the credentials that carry weight with automation employers.

Target Wichita aerospace, not the small shop

Because Kansas has no dominant metro pay data, plant size matters more than city. Spirit AeroSystems and Textron Aviation run automated lines that pay closer to the national median of $73,900 than a small-shop average of $55,904 would suggest. If you're in a lower-paying general-maintenance role, moving to a large aerospace or food-processing plant is often a bigger raise than any single certificate.

Cross a state line or step up to the engineer track

Two of Kansas's neighbors pay more: Nebraska's median is $72,800 and Missouri's is $65,360, both above the Kansas estimates, and Kansas City straddles the Missouri line within commuting distance. If relocating isn't the plan, the bigger jump is stepping up from technician to the controls-engineer track, which sits well above the national technician median. Our controls engineer guide and full salary guide lay out that path.

Sources & methodology

Figures on this page come from four independent datasets, retrieved 2026-07-14. Where they disagree, the disagreement is shown rather than averaged away; the source-comparison section explains why each number differs.

• BLS OEWS, SOC 17-3024, May 2025 national and state estimates (state file oesm25st.zip). Employer-reported, the authoritative baseline.
• Salary.com, Mechatronics Technician in Kansas, as of July 1, 2026. HR-reported and modelled averages.
• Indeed, mechatronics technician salaries in Kansas, based on 29 reported salaries. Posting-derived.
• Textron Aviation jobs in Wichita, KS
• Spirit AeroSystems careers