Boeing Long Beach in 2026: The Plant That Closed and What Replaced It
Boeing Long Beach in 2026: the plant that closed and what replaced it
If you're searching for Boeing jobs in Long Beach, you should know the situation has changed completely. Boeing's Long Beach facility — where 279 C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft were built between 1991 and 2015 — is no longer a Boeing operation. The last C-17 rolled off the line in 2015, the remaining support jobs were relocated to other states by early 2025, and the massive facility was sold to the Goodman Group in 2019. Relativity Space, the 3D-printed rocket startup, has since taken over the site.
Here's what happened to Boeing Long Beach, where Boeing actually hires now, and what the transition means for aerospace job seekers in Southern California.
The end of Boeing in Long Beach
Boeing's Long Beach plant was the last major Boeing manufacturing presence in Southern California. The C-17 program produced one of the most capable military transport aircraft ever built — a jet that can land on short, unpaved runways while carrying 170,000 pounds of cargo. Militaries around the world still fly approximately 275 C-17s today.
But Boeing won the final C-17 contract in 2013, and the last aircraft was delivered in late 2015. After production ended, roughly 450 workers stayed on for C-17 fleet sustainment and support work. By September 2023, Boeing announced it was relocating the final 250 C-17 support jobs out of Long Beach to other states. That relocation completed in early 2025.
Boeing still supports the global C-17 fleet through maintenance contracts, but none of that work is based in Long Beach anymore. The city's Long Beach Airport-area property is now undergoing redevelopment.
What replaced Boeing in Long Beach
The most significant successor at the former Boeing facility is Relativity Space, which took over the massive site for rocket manufacturing. Relativity builds the Terran R, a 3D-printed reusable rocket, and chose the Long Beach facility specifically for its scale — the building was originally designed to house Boeing 747 fuselage production.
This is a common pattern in Southern California aerospace. As legacy defense production consolidated and moved to lower-cost states, commercial space companies filled the void. SpaceX's headquarters in Hawthorne (until its recent move to Brownsville, Texas) occupied a former Northrop facility originally built for Boeing 747 fuselages as well.
Boeing has zero active job listings in Long Beach. If you want to work in aerospace in Long Beach, look at Relativity Space (the C-17 plant's new occupant) or other nearby companies like Virgin Orbit's former facilities.
Where Boeing actually hires in 2026
Boeing's current hiring is concentrated in the Puget Sound region and scattered defense locations. From our database, Boeing has 284 active job listings with an average salary range of $82,000-$115,000.
Puget Sound (Seattle / Renton / Everett)
This is Boeing's center of gravity for commercial aviation:
Renton — All 737 MAX variants and P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft. This is Boeing's highest-volume production site and the primary location for commercial aviation manufacturing jobs.
Everett — Home to the world's largest building by volume (472 million cubic feet). Builds the 787 Dreamliner and 777 widebody, plus 777X final assembly. Around 30 partially completed 777X airframes have been sitting on unused runways awaiting FAA certification, some for up to six years. A new "shadow factory" handles 737 MAX fuselage repairs following the Spirit AeroSystems acquisition.
Auburn — Parts manufacturing and sub-assemblies supporting both Renton and Everett production lines.
Seattle (corporate) — CEO Kelly Ortberg moved the CEO office back to Seattle from Arlington, Virginia in 2024, symbolically returning leadership to the production floor.
Other key Boeing locations
- Huntsville, Alabama — SLS (Space Launch System) work, though Boeing cut roughly 400 SLS jobs in 2025 due to Artemis schedule slips
- Houston, Texas — Starliner program support alongside NASA Johnson Space Center
- Kennedy Space Center, Florida — Starliner final assembly and launch operations
- El Segundo, California — Legacy satellite programs (702 series)
- St. Louis, Missouri — Defense headquarters, F/A-18 and F-15EX programs
Boeing's current hiring reality
Boeing's employment picture in 2026 is a complex story of simultaneous layoffs and hiring:
The company cut approximately 17,000 jobs (10% of workforce) in late 2024 following the 7-week machinists' strike. A company-wide hiring freeze was imposed, and raises and promotions were paused. Washington state alone lost 2,192 Boeing workers in January 2025.
But the total headcount has since recovered to around 182,000 — roughly 10,000 more than the post-layoff low — driven by the Spirit AeroSystems acquisition bringing approximately 15,000 employees in-house, along with selective hiring for 737 production ramp-up and the new F-47 stealth fighter program.
Boeing's CEO Kelly Ortberg has framed the recovery as "fix first, produce later" — prioritizing quality over production rate. The FAA raised the 737 MAX production cap from 38 to 42 aircraft per month in October 2025, with Boeing targeting 47 and eventually 52 per month.
Boeing's space division has been hit harder than its commercial aviation side. The Starliner program is still recovering from NASA classifying its 2024 crewed test flight as a Type A mishap (the same classification as Challenger and Columbia). If you're targeting Boeing space roles specifically, ask about program funding stability during interviews.
Boeing salary ranges
From our database and supplementary sources:
| Role | Salary Range |
|---|---|
| Software Engineer | $96K–$222K |
| Aerospace Engineer | $92K–$159K |
| Mechanical Engineer | $85K–$174K |
| Entry Level (all fields) | $64K–$85K |
Boeing's pay is consistently described as below market for software roles compared to Seattle-area tech companies like Amazon and Microsoft. For aerospace and mechanical engineering, Boeing is more competitive within the traditional aerospace industry. The benefits package (healthcare, pension options for legacy employees, 401(k)) partially compensates for the base salary gap.
Boeing's space programs: what's next
For space industry job seekers, Boeing's relevant programs are:
SLS (Space Launch System) — Boeing builds the core stage at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. Despite budget and schedule pressure (400 SLS jobs cut in 2025), the Artemis III core stage hardware is in production. This remains NASA's heavy-lift vehicle for lunar missions.
Starliner (CST-100) — Following the extended 2024 crewed test flight that stranded astronauts Wilmore and Williams aboard the ISS for 286 days, the next Starliner mission will be an uncrewed cargo flight no earlier than April 2026. The program's long-term viability depends on demonstrating reliability. NASA modified the contract to 4 firm missions with 2 optional.
Boeing Defense AI — In September 2025, Boeing Defense partnered with Palantir to integrate AI across defense factories and classified programs. This is driving new software and data engineering hiring.
Should you look at Boeing?
Boeing remains one of the largest aerospace employers in the world, but the company is in a genuine turnaround period. Employee sentiment on Glassdoor (3.7/5, 17,970 reviews) reflects both frustration with bureaucracy and layoffs, and appreciation for meaningful work on complex systems.
For Long Beach specifically, Boeing is gone. For Puget Sound, Boeing is selectively hiring with a focus on production quality. For space roles, Boeing's programs are under more pressure than at any point in recent history.
Browse current Boeing job openings on Zero G Talent, or explore alternatives in the Puget Sound region like Blue Origin (headquartered in Kent, WA). For Southern California aerospace jobs, see positions at SpaceX, Northrop Grumman, or browse all California space jobs.
