LA Economic Development Council (LAEDC) just published a report on the area’s Aerospace Industry, a massive bright spot on top of an already-bustling tech community.
You can find the report here. Among the findings:
So Cal’s Advantages include a deep ecosystem of aerospace talent, suppliers, specialized service providers; an active defense sectorengineering prowess; a culture of embracing technological innovation, risk taking, and entrepreneurship; and a highly skilled and specialized workforce
SoCal’s aerospace is known for Mars landings, the Space Shuttle, the B‐2 Stealth Bomber, development of GPS systems, and entrepreneurs from Howard Hughes to Elon Musk.
Aerospace Industry represented 85,500 jobs in Southern California in 2014, 14% of U.S. industry employment — over 100,000 jobs when public employees at JPL, NASA, etc. are included.
Southern CA aerospace generates 245,770 total jobs, including jobs in its supply chain
SoCal is becoming a powerhouse for guided missile, space vehicles and related parts, with related employment up by more than 64% since 2004.
Aerospace industry wages average $105,715/year and are among the highest‐paid employees in the SoCal regional economy, almost twice the average paid for other industries.
The industry spends more than $24 billion on goods and services for inputs into production.
Production workers account for 26% of jobs, engineering accounts for 22% of jobs
Southern California excels at training the workforce for aerospace jobs, with world‐class educational institutions offering many targeted programs and training.
