Engineer Salary

Engineer Salary

“Scientists study the world as it is; engineers create the world that has never been.”-Theodore von Kármán

 

You watch, holding your breath, as the Dragon’s fiery breath stops and the world drops away slowly behind it. It is still drifting weightlessly, majestically turning over and preparing for orbit. Cheers ricochet off the walls of the command center. You and your team just successfully launched the first commercially built shuttle into space, to deliver food and other supplies to the International Space Station. The Falcon 9 rocket had already succeeded in its testing. But this, this, the Dragon Shuttle, was your design, your spacecraft and it succeeded. You were the engineer.
Throughout history, engineers have sought to solve problems that limit mankind’s abilities. The earliest use of simple tools to solve problems and make life easier was, strictly speaking, not human at all. Our ancestor, homo habilis, used tools such as the wheel and lever long before we were even around. From the Great Wall to the Aqueducts and even the Pyramids, homo sapiens quickly surpassed our ancestors.
And since the advent of the steam engine in 1698, humanity’s prowess has exploded. From computers, spaceships, vaccines, curiously structured architecture, motors, and robotics; all of them had an engineer sit down and think, “How can I make this idea become a reality?”
Currently, most engineers fall into roughly four major disciplines, known in the industry as the Big Four. Civil engineering, Computer engineering, Electrical engineering, and Mechanical engineering have all shaped and guided the world into the wireless computing era of commercial space travel and global economics that we enjoy today.


Civil Engineering Salary

Civil engineers are concerned with the design and construction of public and private works, such as but not limited to bridges, skyscrapers, dams, and railways. Some sub-disciplines include: environmental engineering, geotechnical engineering, architecture, surveying, and materials engineering. Common examples of their work: the Hoover Dam, Earthquake-proof buildings, Flood-proof buildings, Burj Khalifa (the world’s tallest building, located in Dubai), and the Bullet Train in Japan.

Average Salaries (per year, including benefits):

  • Starting: $42k-$53k
  • 5 years of experience: $55k-$71k
  • 10 years of experience: $64k-$89k
  • 20 years of experience $72k-$106k
  • Los Angeles, New York City, and Houston, TX are among the highest average salaries in the country for civil engineers.
  • Franchise Corporations/Self-Employment/Federal Government Comparison

◦ Franchise corporations average the highest salaries: $51k-$109k

◦ Followed by Self-Employment: $54k-$98k

◦ Federal Government: $55k-$91k

Computer Engineering Salary

Computer engineering integrates computer sciences and electrical and sometimes mechanical engineering for the development of computer and robotic systems. Software, Hardware, Wetware-Computer Integration, Robotics, and AI are the most commonly seen sub-disciplines of computer engineering. This broad category touches all aspects of the manufacturing process from base-line research and development (the old chalkboard), to schematic and mechanical design, and even the manufacture of integrated circuits used in other systems.


Robonaut, currently tweeting from the International Space Station, and Watson, famed Jeopardy! winner, are not only extreme examples of computer engineering, they are the beginning of an entire class of computers all their own.

Average Salaries (per year, including benefits):

  • Software Engineer (to include Video Game Programmer):

◦ Starting: $49k-$67k

◦ 5-10 years of experience: $63k-$99k

◦ 20+ years of experience: $100k+

  • Hardware Engineer:

◦ Starting: $49k-$67k

◦ 5-10 years of experience: $59k-$107k

◦ 20+ years of experience: up to $132k

  • Robotics Engineer:

◦ Starting: $30k-$60k

◦ After 10 years of experience, this jumps to $100k

Electrical Engineering Salary

A broad category of engineering, a catch-all, covering electrical systems not falling by way of computers (although Hardware Engineers would be considered equally both computer and electrical engineers). Modern accomplishments of electrical engineering include telecommunications, GPS, and medical designs such as PET scanners, MRI machines, EKGs, and pacemakers. Nikolai Tesla and Thomas Edison are two of the most famous electrical engineers ever.

Average Salaries (per year, including benefits):

  • Starting: $48k-$61k
  • 5-10 years of experience: $61k-$97k
  • 20+ years of experience: $81k-$117k
  • Self Employment and Foundations/Trusts lead the way in median earnings, each looking at over $95k/year.

Mechanical Engineering Salary

Mechanical engineering, more so than the other branches of engineering, are concerned with physics and physical principles and the applications of them. Aerospace and aircraft products and designs, in addition to weapon systems, all fall under this broad category with other industries, such as automotive and alternative energies. Nanotechnology even falls under this heading.

As the second largest category of engineering behind civil (in terms of number of people employed), the number of jobs is still expected to grow 6% over the course of the next decade, as reported by the U.S. Department of Labor.

Average Salaries (per year, including benefits):

  • Starting: $46k-$59k
  • 5-10 years of experience: $59k-$88k
  • 20+ years of experience: $73k-$107k
  • The Federal Government and Teams are the highest average paying employers, paying over $85k to their senior employees.

Engineering College

Every career in engineering starts with a Bachelor’s degree, while some also require a certification and exam (civil). And based salary potential, here are the top 10 schools, colleges and universities to go to for a degree in any engineering discipline. They are ranked according to mid-career median salaries of their alumni as reported to payscale.com.

College Median Starting Salary Median Mid-career Salary

  1. 1. Harvey Mudd College $69,000 $126,000
  2. 2. Caltech $70,000 $120,000
  3. 3. MIT $68,000 $119,000
  4. 4. Colorado School of Mines $61,000 $113,000
  5. 5. Polytechnic Institute of $62,000 $111,000

New York University

  1. 6. Renssalaer Polytechnic Institute $60,000 $109,000
  2. 7. Carnegie Melon University $62,000 $108,000
  3. 8. Georgia Institute of Technology $57,000 $105,000
  4. 9. Worcestor Polytechnic Institute $61,000 $104,000

10. New Mexico Tech $52,000 $102,000

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Thursday, March 31st, 2011 Civil Engineering Salary, Computer Engineering Salary, Electrical Engineering Salary, Engineer Salary, Mechanical Engineering Salary 7,428 Comments

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Thursday, March 31st, 2011 Privacy Policy 7,486 Comments