Lockheed Martin Relocation Package and Policy (2026)

Lockheed Martin relocation package at a glance

Here is a quick summary of what employees report receiving from Lockheed Martin relocation. Everything below is drawn from employee accounts and is not confirmed by the company.

How Lockheed Martin relocation works

Lockheed Martin is one of the largest defense and aerospace employers in the country, with about 121,000 employees and major sites in Texas, Colorado, California, Florida, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Maryland. With that many people moving between programs and campuses, relocation is common.

The company does not publish its corporate relocation policy. Whatever package you get arrives as an attachment to your offer letter, and the terms vary by job level, business area (Aeronautics, Missiles and Fire Control, Rotary and Mission Systems, or Space), and whether the position was budgeted for relocation. Employees on Reddit report that not all programs offer relocation.

Once relocation is approved, Lockheed hands the logistics to Cartus, a relocation management company. You get a CartusOnline account, and depending on your package, a Cartus representative coordinates everything from your lump-sum payment to movers, a realtor in the Cartus network, and temporary housing. For lump-sum hires, the CartusOnline account is primarily a channel for receiving cash.

The single biggest factor in what you receive is your level. Entry-level hires land at the bottom of the structure with a flat lump sum. Mid- and senior-level moves advance to full-managed moves, with homeowners receiving the most comprehensive support. One employee summarized a pattern on Reddit, sharing that Level 1 and 2 new hires at Aeronautics receive a $5,000 lump sum, and all other levels receive packages that vary by level and by whether they are a homeowner or a renter.

What the Lockheed Martin relocation package includes

There are three tiers in the Lockheed Martin relocation package. Employees report a lump sum for entry-level hires, a renter package for mid-level hires who lease, and a homeowner package for mid-level and senior hires who own.

Entry-level lump sum (E1 and E2)

New hires at Level 1 and Level 2 almost always get a flat lump sum, most commonly $5,000, even for cross-country moves. The money usually arrives by direct deposit a few weeks before your start date, or as a separate payment about a month after you start, according to multiple Reddit reports. You are not required to track expenses against it, and how you spend it is up to you. If you can move yourself cheaply, you keep the difference. If your move costs more than $5,000, the overage comes out of your pocket.

Employees repeatedly describe the entry-level lump sum as strict, with little to no room to negotiate the amount. If you are E1 to E3, plan around the $5,000 figure.

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Renter package (Level 3 and above)

Renters at Level 3 and above step up from a cash lump sum to a managed move. Employees report full-service packing and moving of household goods plus a covered house-hunting trip to the new location, coordinated through Cartus. Instead of a check you have to stretch, the company hires and pays the movers directly, and the value can far exceed $5,000.

Homeowner package (Level 3 and above)

The homeowner package is the most generous tier. Employees who owned a home and relocated at Level 3 or above consistently describe a package through Cartus that includes most or all of the following, per accounts on Reddit:

If your house does not sell quickly, employees report that Lockheed’s package does not include a company purchase of the home. If you are selling in a soft market, factor that risk in.

What is not included

Relocation is not offered on every program, and there is a distance requirement. Employees report a minimum distance of 50 miles between their old home and the new work location to qualify for relocation.

How much does Lockheed Martin pay for relocation?

Lockheed Martin does not publish relocation amounts. The figures below represent what employees report receiving, and your actual package depends on level, business area, homeowner status, and the hiring need for your role.

A few patterns stand out. Entry-level lump sums cluster tightly around $5,000. The real value jumps once you reach Level 3, where a renter or homeowner package can be worth many times the entry-level cash. Homeowner packages are the most valuable of all because covering the realtor commission and closing costs on two transactions can be worth tens of thousands of dollars. A competing offer most often produces a better outcome, whether that means a higher lump sum or a bump from cash to a full package.

Taxes on Lockheed Martin relocation benefits

Since the 2018 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, relocation benefits paid to non-military employees are treated as ordinary taxable income. This applies to lump-sum cash, managed-move costs, and temporary housing alike, so relocation money shows up on your W-2 and is taxed like wages.

Employees report that Lockheed grosses up the entry-level lump sum. In practice, that means that the gross payment is larger than $5,000 so that you net roughly $5,000 after withholding. One employee on Reddit explained that the $5,000 is set up as post-tax money, so the actual paycheck is bigger and the taxes bring it down to $5,000 in hand. Full managed moves are reported as tax assisted, which means Lockheed covers some or all of the tax liability on the move costs.

The Lockheed Martin relocation repayment clause

Lockheed Martin includes a repayment requirement in its relocation agreement. The standard window is one year from your effective start date. If you voluntarily leave or are terminated for misconduct inside that window, you repay the full amount of relocation money paid to or for you, including any tax assistance Lockheed covered.

An employee quoted the agreement language directly on Reddit: if you voluntarily terminate or are terminated for misconduct within one year of your effective start date, you are responsible for reimbursing the full amount of all relocation monies, including any tax assistance, and the rate of tax assistance you repay may differ from your income tax rate in the year of repayment. Lockheed deducts what it can from your final paycheck and bills you for the rest.

There is one notable wrinkle by state. In California, employees report a prorated repayment schedule rather than all-or-nothing. If you leave between three and six months, you repay 75%, with the share dropping the longer you stay. Employees outside California report the standard full-repayment terms.

The clock is generally tied to your effective start date, not the date you signed the agreement. If you are leaving for a new employer and still owe a repayment, it is common to ask the new company to cover it as part of your compensation negotiation.

How to negotiate your Lockheed Martin relocation package

Negotiating relocation at Lockheed Martin is possible, but how much room you have depends almost entirely on your level and how badly the company needs your skills. Here is what the employee accounts suggest actually works.

Know that entry-level lump sums barely move. If you are E1 to E3, the $5,000 lump sum is described across multiple reports as close to fixed.

Use a competing offer. If you have another offer, put it on the table.

Push to move from a lump sum to a package. A few Level 2 hires report negotiating off the flat lump sum and onto the full renter package, which is a far bigger win than squeezing a few thousand dollars out of the cash amount.

Ask if relocation is missing from your offer. Relocation terms are sometimes left off the offer letter, and some roles can have relocation added even when it was not initially budgeted.

Get a real moving quote first. Use moveBuddha’s free moving cost calculator to price your route before you negotiate. Walking into the conversation with a real number from a vetted mover is far more persuasive than a general request, and it keeps you from accepting a lump sum that will not cover the move.

Pros and cons of Lockheed Martin’s relocation package

Moving to a Lockheed Martin hub?

Lockheed Martin’s largest sites sit in a handful of metro areas, and most relocations land in one of them. Aeronautics is centered in Fort Worth and Marietta, Georgia; Missiles and Fire Control in the Dallas-Fort Worth area (Grand Prairie and Orlando); Space around Denver and Sunnyvale; Rotary and Mission Systems in the Northeast including the Valley Forge area near Philadelphia; and the corporate headquarters in Bethesda, Maryland. The relocation process is the same wherever you land, but moving costs swing widely by route and distance.

moveBuddha has vetted local and long-distance movers for the cities where most Lockheed relocations end up. Compare options for your route before you lock in a budget:

If your move includes a vehicle you would rather not drive cross-country, see our guide to the best car shipping companies, since vehicle transport is not always part of a Lockheed package.

FAQ

Relocation packages by company

Relocation policies vary widely between employers. We’ve researched specific company programs, drawing on public policy documents and employee reports so you can see exactly what to expect before you negotiate.