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Earnings
 According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers
in their 2007 Salary Survey, engineering graduates saw increases across
the board and fared extremely well in terms of starting salaries. For
example, the average offer to mechanical engineering graduates spiked
7.7 percent, bringing the average to these graduates to $54,587.
Similarly, chemical engineering majors saw their average offer rise 7.4
percent; it now stands at $60,054. Civil engineering grads also saw a
healthy increase in their average salary offer, which is up 4.8 percent
over last year and bumps up to $47,145. Electrical engineering graduates
posted one of the "smaller" increases of the engineering disciplines
-- 3.2
percent. Still, that brings their average starting salary up to $54,599.
In the Federal Government, mean annual salaries for engineers ranged
from $75,144 in agricultural engineering to $107,546 in ceramic
engineering in 2007.
Earnings for engineers vary significantly by specialty, industry, and
education. Even so, as a group, engineers earn some of the highest
average starting salaries among those holding bachelor's degrees. The
following tabulation shows average starting salary offers for engineers,
according to a recent survey
by the National Association of Colleges and Employers.
|
Curriculum |
Bachelor's |
Master's |
Ph.D. |
|
Aerospace/aeronautical/astronautical |
$53,408 |
$62,459 |
$73,814 |
|
Agricultural |
49,764 |
|
|
|
Architectural |
48,664 |
|
|
|
Bioengineering
and biomedical |
51,356 |
59,240 |
|
|
Chemical |
59,361 |
68,561 |
73,667 |
|
Civil |
48,509 |
48,280 |
62,275 |
|
Computer |
56,201 |
60,000 |
92,500 |
|
Electrical/electronics and communications |
55,292 |
66,309 |
75,982 |
|
Environmental/environmental health |
47,960 |
|
|
|
Industrial/manufacturing |
55,067 |
64,759 |
77,364 |
|
Materials |
56,233 |
|
|
|
Mechanical |
54,128 |
62,798 |
72,763 |
|
Mining and
mineral |
54,381 |
|
|
|
Nuclear |
56,587 |
59,167 |
|
|
Petroleum |
60,718 |
57,000 |
|
Variation in median
earnings and in the earnings distributions for engineers in various
specialties is especially significant.
|
Specialty |
Lowest
10% |
Lowest
25% |
Median |
Highest
25% |
Highest
10% |
|
Aerospace
engineers |
59,610 |
71,360 |
87,610 |
106,450 |
124,550 |
|
Agricultural
engineers |
42,390 |
53,040 |
66,030 |
80,370 |
96,270 |
|
Biomedical
engineers |
44,930 |
56,420 |
73,930 |
93,420 |
116,330 |
|
Chemical
engineers |
50,060 |
62,410 |
78,860 |
98,100 |
118,670 |
|
Civil
engineers |
44,810 |
54,520 |
68,600 |
86,260 |
104,420 |
|
Computer
hardware engineers |
53,910 |
69,500 |
88,470 |
111,030 |
135,260 |
|
Electrical
engineers |
49,120 |
60,640 |
75,930 |
94,050 |
115,240 |
|
Electronics
engineers, except computer |
52,050 |
64,440 |
81,050 |
99,630 |
119,900 |
|
Environmental
engineers |
43,180 |
54,150 |
69,940 |
88,480 |
106,230 |
|
Health and
safety engineers, except mining safety engineers and
inspectors |
41,050 |
51,630 |
66,290 |
83,240 |
100,160 |
|
Industrial
engineers |
44,790 |
55,060 |
68,620 |
84,850 |
100,980 |
|
Marine
engineers and naval architects |
45,200 |
56,280 |
72,990 |
90,790 |
113,320 |
|
Materials
engineers |
46,120 |
57,850 |
73,990 |
92,210 |
112,140 |
|
Mechanical
engineers |
45,170 |
55,420 |
69,850 |
87,550 |
104,900 |
|
Mining and
geological engineers, including mining safety engineers |
42,040 |
54,390 |
72,160 |
94,110 |
128,410 |
|
Nuclear
engineers |
65,220 |
77,920 |
90,220 |
105,710 |
124,510 |
|
Petroleum
engineers |
57,960 |
75,880 |
98,380 |
123,130 |
Over 145,600 |
|
All other
engineers |
46,080 |
62,710 |
81,660 |
100,320 |
120,610 |
Note: Some resources in this section are provided by the US Department
of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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