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Landing a Bigger Paycheck in OKC's Aerospace Boom · The 405 Payroll

• 0:13
  Welcome to The 405 Payroll, the lunch break show for Oklahoma City working people
• 0:19
  who want a bigger paycheck and an easier month.
• 0:21
  I'm Claire Brooks, and today's episode is for OKCREAL residents,
• 0:26
  so everything here is something you can act on today.
• 0:30
  And I'm Miles.
• 0:31
  Claire, I hear you've got a number to start us off, and that it's a big one.
• 0:35
  It is.
• 0:35
  In the week of October 6 to 13, the Oklahoma Department of Aerospace and Aeronautics
• 0:41
  released its 2026 economic impact study at the Oklahoma History Center.
• 0:46
  The headline: aerospace and defense now generates a record $52.5 billion a year in
• 0:53
  Oklahoma and supports more than 250,000 jobs statewide.
• 0:58
  That's a lot of paychecks.
• 0:59
  What's the payroll on that?
• 1:01
  $16.6 billion a year.
• 1:04
  The study calls it Oklahoma's second largest industry, closing in on energy.
• 1:09
  Okay, but somebody on their lunch break is thinking, that's a state number.
• 1:12
  What does it do for my rent?
• 1:14
  Here's the local part.
• 1:16
  The off airport sector alone accounts for $16.8 billion in impact and 61,109
• 1:23
  jobs, across 790 commercial suppliers, manufacturing plants,
• 1:27
  and logistics firms, centered around Tinker Air Force Base and Will Rogers World
• 1:31
  Airport.
• 1:32
  So these aren't only pilots and engineers.
• 1:34
  These are people who build, assemble, inspect, and ship.
• 1:38
  Right.
• 1:39
  And because the work is tied to defense logistics and manufacturing standards,
• 1:43
  starting pay tends to land well above Oklahoma's $7.25 minimum wage,
• 1:47
  often around $20 to $25 an hour or more, with benefits.
• 1:52
  That's the pattern in the postings we pulled, not a promise on every job.
• 1:56
  Do the rent math for us.
• 1:57
  One bedrooms around here run roughly $900 to $1,000.
• 2:00
  Moving from a $15 an hour retail job to a $22 to $25 an hour manufacturing or
• 2:07
  defense support role adds roughly $1,100 to $1,600 a month in gross pay.
• 2:14
  At $22 an hour full time you're near $3,800 a month before taxes,
• 2:19
  so a $950 rent is about a quarter of it, comfortably under the 30 percent line
• 2:24
  housing folks use.
• 2:26
  And nobody here is behind.
• 2:28
  You're already working hard.
• 2:29
  This is the same effort landing in a higher pay tier.
• 2:33
  Exactly.
• 2:34
  So today: who's hiring this week, with real pay.
• 2:37
  The training that gets you to the next rung.
• 2:40
  Two ways to bring in cash this week.
• 2:43
  A habit that makes a raise stick.
• 2:45
  And one thing to do before five o'clock.
• 2:48
  Lunch is only so long.
• 2:49
  Let's go.