Weekly and annual gross pay for a Raytheon assembly role| Schedule | At $21 an hour | At $25 an hour | At $37.84 an hour |
|---|
| 24 hours a week | $504 | $600 | $908 |
| 32 hours a week | $672 | $800 | $1,211 |
| 40 hours a week | $840 | $1,000 | $1,514 |
| 40 hours, annualized over 52 weeks | $43,680 | $52,000 | $78,787 |
What do trackers say about Raytheon assembly pay?
Employee-submitted data lands below the posted ranges, because it blends hourly jobs with contract work and overtime-heavy weeks. ZipRecruiter's October 2026 figures for Raytheon assembly roles in Los Angeles show a median of $17.76 an hour and an average of $18.29, with most people earning between $16.30 and $19.18.
The same data show 83 percent of those roles are full-time, 8 percent part-time, and 7 percent contract, with an average of $38,039 a year and almost all of the work on site.
Across the whole company the picture is different, because RTX also hires a large number of engineers. A salary benchmark built from 101 public postings put the median advertised salary at $136,000, and an RTX job board showed 5,022 open roles with a median advertised salary of $126,000.
That is the trap in any RTX pay search. Company-wide numbers describe a workforce that is mostly not doing assembly work.
What benefits do Raytheon assembly operators receive?
Health coverage, retirement matching, paid leave and family support come with the job, and the medical plans are paid largely by the company. Coverage includes medical, dental, vision, and prescription drug plans, plus life insurance, disability cover, and voluntary legal, identity theft, and accident protection.
The retirement side is modest compared with peers. The 401(k) match goes up to 3 percent of what you save, and eligible employees can also direct part of the match toward student loan payments.
Leave and family support are where the package is more generous. Paid time off, dependent and adult care leave, family leave, counselling, and college planning support are all listed, and eligible employees get Bright Horizons subsidized backup child care.
Sick pay and scheduling are worth checking at the local level. Frontline employees report that most people get paid when they are sick and that breaks are usually paid, but schedules are often set with less than four weeks notice.
What does the Employee Scholar Program add to the package?
The Employee Scholar Program is the single biggest addition to the package, because it covers tuition, textbooks and academic fees from day one, with no lifetime cap. The published limit is up to $25,000 per calendar year.
That is far above what most hourly employers offer, and it applies to a production operator as readily as to an engineer. Courses have to support your current responsibilities or a future path, and the company asks for preapproval before you start.
There is a separate route through a community college partnership, with a 25 percent tuition discount on a B.Tech production and operations management pathway and graduate certificates.
More than $55 million has been invested and 2,600 degrees have been earned, with an employee, a spouse, and children eligible using an employee verification letter.
For anyone planning a move out of assembly work, that program is the piece to ask about first. It can turn a year of shift work into a qualification without going into debt.
Raytheon benefits for hourly assembly employees| Benefit | What RTX provides | Note |
|---|
| Employee Scholar Program | Tuition, textbooks and academic fees from day one | Up to $25,000 a year, no lifetime cap |
| 401(k) match | Up to 3 percent of what you save | Part of the match can pay student loans |
| Medical, dental, vision | Company-paid plans with employee contributions | HSA lump sum for eligible employees |
| Paid time off | Paid vacation and holidays | Family, dependent and adult care leave |
| Backup child care | Bright Horizons subsidized care | Also counselling and college planning |
| Second opinions | Teladoc Medical Experts and Doctor on Demand | Virtual visits included |
| Schedule | 9 and 80 patterns at many sites | Every other Friday off is common |
What does it take to get a Raytheon assembly job in 2026?
The gate is clearance and citizenship as much as it is assembly experience. The Andover, Massachusetts posting requires a Department of Defense confidential clearance and US citizenship, and the Los Angeles assembler posting requires an active security clearance after the first day.
Physical requirements are ordinary for the work. The Everett mechanical assembler job asks for lifting up to 25 pounds and standing for up to eight hours a day, and the Tucson machine operator role adds the ability to work any assigned shift.
Apply where the hiring is. RTX has posted wave after wave of assembly, quality, and machinist roles at its Cullman, Alabama plant, including lathe machinist, masking technician, deburr technician, and senior quality technician positions.
One practical point matters for how the pay is structured. Many assembly postings are covered by a collective bargaining agreement, which is why the range on the posting is so wide and why the steps inside it are negotiated.
Posted ranges for technical assembly work across defense employers| Employer | Published range for assembly or technical work |
|---|
| Raytheon (RTX) | $20.24 to $37.84 an hour on an Everett, Washington posting |
| General Dynamics | $23.12 to $28.70 for entry shipyard roles, up to $41.64 for skilled trades |
| Northrop Grumman | $38.03 to $63.41 an hour for a Level 4 engineering technician |
| GE Aerospace | $24.00 an hour on a published test technician posting |
| BLS assembler median | $21.47 an hour across all industries, May 2025 |
How does Raytheon pay compare with other defense employers?
Raytheon assembly pay sits in the middle of the defense group: above the lowest bands at Northrop and General Dynamics entry roles, and below the published specialist rates at those primes.
General Dynamics entry shipyard roles post $23.12 to $28.70 an hour, while Northrop tracker averages run from $18 an hour for a production worker to $46.95 for a master technician.
The clearer comparison is with the automotive names. A Ford production team member starts at $21 an hour plus shift premiums, and Caterpillar assembly technicians start at $18 an hour with an 8 percent third shift premium.
Where Raytheon pulls ahead is the education benefit. General Dynamics offers tuition reimbursement, and Caterpillar lists tuition assistance too, but $25,000 a year with no lifetime cap is a step beyond either.
Where it pulls behind is the retirement match. A 3 percent match compares with the 7 percent after five years at Northrop and the dollar for dollar match at General Dynamics.
What happens to Raytheon assembly pay next?
Watch the incentive programs rather than the base ranges. The Riverside posting is explicit that annual incentive payments depend on individual, business unit, and company performance, so the same job can pay very differently in a strong year.
Demand for the work is the second driver. RTX is building missiles and the workforce around them, and assembly postings across the company have stayed active through 2026.
The collective bargaining agreements are the third factor. Where a role is covered, the steps inside the range are negotiated, and an agreement renewal can move the whole band at once.
None of that changes the advice. Read the range on the specific posting, ask what the band means at your site and shift, and treat the published estimate as a starting point rather than a promise.
Next steps
Compare the posted range, the tracker average, and the benefits before you accept, then check whether the role is covered by a collective bargaining agreement.
Photo: PublicDomainPictures, Pixabay Content License, via Pixabay (https://pixabay.com/photos/production-floor-manufacturing-316051/)
Fazlur Rahman
