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Engineering Overview - Engineering Disciplines - Preparation - Day In The Life - Earnings - Employment - Career Path Forecast - Professional Organizations

Employment
Engineers hold 1.6 million jobs in the United States. About 36 percent of engineering jobs were found in manufacturing industries, and another 30 percent were in the professional, scientific, and technical services industries, primarily in architectural, engineering, and related services. Many engineers also worked in the construction, telecommunications, and wholesale trade industries.

Federal, State, and local governments employed about 12 percent of engineers in 2008. About 6 percent were in the Federal Government, mainly in the U.S. Departments of Defense, Transportation, Agriculture, Interior, and Energy, and in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Many engineers in State and local government agencies worked in highway and public works departments. In 2008, about 3 percent of engineers were self-employed, many as consultants.

The distribution of employment by engineering specialty follows:

Civil engineers	278,400
Mechanical engineers	238,700
Industrial engineers	214,800
Electrical engineers	157,800
Electronics engineers, except computer	143,700
Computer hardware engineers	74,700
Aerospace engineers	71,600
Environmental engineers	54,300
Chemical engineers	31,700
Health and safety engineers, except mining safety engineers and inspectors	25,700
Materials engineers	24,400
Petroleum engineers	21,900
Nuclear engineers	16,900
Biomedical engineers	16,000
Marine engineers and naval architects	8,500
Mining and geological engineers, including mining safety engineers	7,100
Agricultural engineers	2,700
Engineers, all other	183,200

Engineers are employed in every state, in small and large cities and in rural areas. Some branches of engineering are concentrated in particular industries and geographic areas; for example, petroleum engineering jobs tend to be located in States with sizable petroleum deposits, such as Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Alaska, and California. Other branches, such as civil engineering, are widely dispersed, and engineers in these fields often move from place to place to work on different projects.

Engineers are employed in every major industry. The industries employing the most engineers in each specialty are given in the table below, along with the percent of occupational employment in the industry.

Specialty	Industry	Percent
Aerospace engineers	Aerospace product and parts manufacturing	49
Agricultural engineers	Food manufacturing	25
	Architectural, engineering, and related services	15
Biomedical engineers	Medical equipment and supplies manufacturing	20
	Scientific research and development services	20
Chemical engineers	Chemical manufacturing	29
	Architectural, engineering, and related services	15
Civil engineers	Architectural, engineering, and related services	49
Computer hardware engineers	Computer and electronic product manufacturing	41
	Computer systems design and related services	19
Electrical engineers	Architectural, engineering, and related services	21
Electronics engineers, except computer	Computer and electronic product manufacturing	26
	Telecommunications	15
Environmental engineers	Architectural, engineering, and related services	29
	State and local government	21
Health and safety engineers, except mining safety engineers and inspectors	State and local government	10
Industrial engineers	Transportation equipment manufacturing	18
	Machinery manufacturing	8
Marine engineers and naval architects	Architectural, engineering, and related services	29
Materials engineers	Primary metal manufacturing	11
	Semiconductor and other electronic component manufacturing	9
Mechanical engineers	Architectural, engineering, and related services	22
	Transportation equipment manufacturing	14
Mining and geological engineers, including mining safety engineers	Mining	58
Nuclear engineers	Research and development in the physical, engineering, and life sciences	30
	Electric power generation, transmission and distribution	27
Petroleum engineers	Oil and gas extraction	43

Note: Some resources in this section are provided by the US Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.