Engineer Salaries on the Rise

Good news for engineers on the salary front: on average, base salaries rose 3% from last year.

The average salary for engineers in 2012 is $95,603, an increase of $2,877 over last year, according to a new salary survey by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). Annual income for engineers, including commissions and fees, increased nearly 4% from 2011 to 2012.

The data were compiled from an online survey of more than 12,000 engineers in multiple age groups and employed in varied industry sectors and technical disciplines. Nearly 72% of the respondents indicated a salary increase.

Other findings:

• Engineers working in the field of ocean engineering represent the highest full-time salaried median income, $169,000.
• The median annual income is the highest in California, Nevada, and Hawaii, and lowest in the Upper Mountain states.
• Nearly 57% of respondents are recipients of a standard benefits plan from their employers, the remaining group receives flexible benefits.

We are encouraged to see engineering salaries on the rise at a time when more engineers are needed to spur technological innovation in the U.S. and around the world, says ASCE.

ASCE and ASME have been collaborating on the salary survey report for the last five years.

Read the full survey

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Take our brief compensation survey and receive copies of the 29th and 30th editions of the final report at no charge. The 29th edition includes jobs not covered in this year’s questionnaire. Please contact Phillip Montgomery (phillip.montgomery@cbia.com; 860.244.1982), director of compensation services, for more details.