Salary
Average Salary: $103,720
Expected Lifetime Earnings: $4,330,000
You won't be making in the same ballpark as those hedge fund and mutual fund managers on Wall Street, but aerospace engineers are among the highest paid engineers, and feature some of the highest salaries available to college graduates, period. The median wage is a whopping $90,000 for those working in products and parts manufacturing; $100,000 for those in navigational, measuring, electromedical, and control instruments manufacturing; and $110,000 for many employed by the federal government (source). There's plenty of room for advancement, and you could eventually be making between $120,000-$140,000 a year (source). You sure won't ever have to think twice about paying the extra two bucks for guacamole.
You'll have the opportunity to make more money and have greater job security if you're working in states with major, international airports (such as California or Virginia) or space centers (such as Florida). There aren't as many hot jobs for South Dakotans. Sorry, South Dakota. At least you still have Mount Rushmore.
Lincoln's probably bragging that they got Daniel Day-Lewis to play him.
It might be a good idea to live beneath your means and set some dough aside, however. If you're ever fired, it'll really hard to find a job. When your skills are this specialized, they aren't really portable. So think hard before you commit. This career is a lot like a marriage, and not the Hollywood kind. Which means it actually has a chance to last more than a few years.