Which Engineers earn the most?

 

Which Engineers earn the most?

Before we look into the countries that tend to offer the most money for engineers, we thought it might be useful to explore those disciplines of engineering that tend to pay the most.

After all, engineering is something of an umbrella term that encompasses many different industries, specializations and, of course, competition for employment. 

The following are the top twenty highest paid engineering jobs. This data comes courtesy of typeofengineering.com .

The website compiled data from the US. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics data compiled with self-reported data from Universities, Forbes Magazine, US News & World Report, and reputable Engineering associations, such as the National Society of Professional Engineers and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

Rank	Occupation	Average Annual Salary	Projected % growth in jobs between 2012 and 2022	Projected growth in jobs between 2012 and 2022
1	Petroleum Engineers	$147,520	25.50%	20,000
2	Architectural & Engineering Managers	$138,720	6.70%	61,000
3	Airline Pilots & Flight Engineers	$131,760	-6.60%	19,000
4	Computer Hardware Engineers	$110,650	7.40%	24,000
5	Aerospace Engineers	$107,700	7.30%	25,000
6	Sales Engineers	$104,660	8.90%	17,000
7	Nuclear Engineers	$104,630	9.30%	7,000
8	Chemical Engineers	$103,590	4.50%	9,000
9	Engineering Professors	$102,000	11.80%	11,000
10	Mining & Geological Engineers	$100,970	12%	3,000
11	Electronics Engineers	$99,660	3.40%	35,000
12	Marine Engineers	$99,160	10.30%	3,000
13	Engineers, All Other	$96,350	3.80%	30,000
14	Electrical Engineers	$95,780	4.70%	44,000
15	Biomedical Engineers	$91,760	26.60%	10,000
16	Materials Engineers	$91,150	0.90%	8,000
17	Mechanical Engineers	$87,140	4.50%	100,000
18	Civil Engineers	$87,130	19.70%	120,000
19	Environmental Engineers	$86,340	15.30%	21,000
20	Industrial Engineers	$85,100	4.5%	75,000

As interesting as this is, it must be borne in mind that these figures are just a snapshot in time. They don't, for example, capture potentially future trends in their respective industries. 

Some disciplines, like Petroleum Engineering, are highly paid at present but future employment could be affected by changes in the supply and demand of hydrocarbons around the world.

So long as consumption remains at least comparable to today, as well as reserves, this should be a lucrative choice for the near future.

But there is another interesting consideration with fields like Petroleum Engineering. It is predicted that many current employees are set to retire over the next ten years.

 This will certainly affect the demand for 'new blood', likely inflating offered salaries far in excess of current rates. 

Computer engineering is another field that might not be fairly represented in this data. It is a relatively new discipline in engineering with some claiming it is currently under-supplied with labor.

Of course, the future could see a dramatic reduction in wages as more and more new graduates flood the market over the next few years given its current popularity for undergraduates.