What's the typical salary progression for an engineer?

[Gibson486]

LOL...72K is doable in less than 6 years. 100k, not so much. In engineering, when you hit the 100k mark, you are involved in the business side. Also, when you get your PE, you will likely become a project Engineer or a Project manager. You still will not hit the 100K mark unless the industry suddenly is desperate for PEs. They are low in supply, but not enough to over pay that much for them.

If anything, the industry you chose has a higher ceiling than your typical engineering job, however, the starting pay is lower. As I told you in a past PM, your company is likely breeding you to become a consultant. When they can give your projects without hesitation and rely on your to get work on your own from clients, then you will see that 100K. Until then, you are SOL unless your company is ready to really throw you out to the sharks.

I hate to break it to you, and to the other engineers out there. If you took engineering for the sole purpose of becoming rich, you are in for a rude awakening.

 

[sunzt]

Depends on the location. Go to glassdoor.com, search for "engineer" in Mclean, VA (it's near DC). Plenty of engineering jobs that go past 100k although they're for engineers with good experience.

 

[brianmanahan]

Depends on the location. Go to glassdoor.com, search for "engineer" in Mclean, VA (it's near DC). Plenty of engineering jobs that go past 100k although they're for engineers with good experience.

also a way higher COL than places that pay less

its like making ~80$k-something in NYC or DC or SF, you could go to anywhere between the east and west coast and make 50$k and come out ahead.

 

[Imp]

LOL...72K is doable in less than 6 years. 100k, not so much. In engineering, when you hit the 100k mark, you are involved in the business side. Also, when you get your PE, you will likely become a project Engineer or a Project manager. You still will not hit the 100K mark unless the industry suddenly is desperate for PEs. They are low in supply, but not enough to over pay that much for them.

I hate to break it to you, and to the other engineers out there. If you took engineering for the sole purpose of becoming rich, you are in for a rude awakening.

My civil company starts you at about $50k as an EIT. Once you get your license, you move to mid-$60s plus increments, then you get to $75k as a project engineer/manager, and finally to $80 as a senior PE/PM. You have to hit officer manager to start at $90k and top out at $105k-ish. The next manager level up gets $130k-$160k, but there isn't a single one younger than 50. The Senior PE is doable after 5 years post-grad, assuming you immediately get a job and probably have a master's.

 

[spidey07]

LOL...72K is doable in less than 6 years. 100k, not so much. In engineering, when you hit the 100k mark, you are involved in the business side. Also, when you get your PE, you will likely become a project Engineer or a Project manager. You still will not hit the 100K mark unless the industry suddenly is desperate for PEs. They are low in supply, but not enough to over pay that much for them.

If anything, the industry you chose has a higher ceiling than your typical engineering job, however, the starting pay is lower. As I told you in a past PM, your company is likely breeding you to become a consultant. When they can give your projects without hesitation and rely on your to get work on your own from clients, then you will see that 100K. Until then, you are SOL unless your company is ready to really throw you out to the sharks.

I hate to break it to you, and to the other engineers out there. If you took engineering for the sole purpose of becoming rich, you are in for a rude awakening.

Experience talking in this post. Wise words. Heed them. Engineers hit a ceiling rather quickly. What they do from the is up to them. Most stay at their ceiling not knowing the money that can be made.

 

[sunzt]

also a way higher COL than places that pay less

its like making ~80$k-something in NYC or DC or SF, you could go to anywhere between the east and west coast and make 50$k and come out ahead.

northern Virginia is not THAT bad as NYC, DC, or SF. The primary differentiation is housing if you want to be within 15 minutes Mclean, VA. If you want to deal with a longer commute (about 30-1.5 hrs) then you can live in MD, or more west of Mclean and get a nice house for fair prices. Fair price is relative since housing prices didn't drop since '08 and are actually increasing.

Hell, you can rent a condo in McLean, VA (Newt Gingrich lives in that area btw) for 800 for a 1 br and 1800ish for 2 br.

Some info:
http://www.areavibes.com/mclean-va/cost-of-living/

Index McLean Virginia National
Cost of living index 132 97 100
Goods & Services index 101 99 100
Groceries index 113 95 100
Health care index 100 99 100
Housing index 191 95 100
Transportation index 110 97 100
Utilities index 124 101 100

 

[SeductivePig]

LOL...72K is doable in less than 6 years. 100k, not so much. In engineering, when you hit the 100k mark, you are involved in the business side. Also, when you get your PE, you will likely become a project Engineer or a Project manager. You still will not hit the 100K mark unless the industry suddenly is desperate for PEs. They are low in supply, but not enough to over pay that much for them.

If anything, the industry you chose has a higher ceiling than your typical engineering job, however, the starting pay is lower. As I told you in a past PM, your company is likely breeding you to become a consultant. When they can give your projects without hesitation and rely on your to get work on your own from clients, then you will see that 100K. Until then, you are SOL unless your company is ready to really throw you out to the sharks.

I hate to break it to you, and to the other engineers out there. If you took engineering for the sole purpose of becoming rich, you are in for a rude awakening.

Very helpful.

To be honest, I don't consider 100k rich. Sure it's a great salary to have, but I would be disappointed if that was my maximum. Mainly because of what people in different industries make.. my roommate graduated a semester earlier than me and got into a leadership development program at a fortune 500 company in Business IT and I have a strong feeling he will be making a ton more money than me.. not jealous but it makes me strive for more.

There are so many ways to get income, I mean I enjoy bodybuilding so I'll be getting a personal trainer license within the next year and start doing that part time.. I have no doubt I could reach 100k by 30 in terms of multiple income sources, but it would be really nice to have a single salaried job with 100k+.

 

[Gibson486]

Very helpful.

To be honest, I don't consider 100k rich. Sure it's a great salary to have, but I would be disappointed if that was my maximum. Mainly because of what people in different industries make.. my roommate graduated a semester earlier than me and got into a leadership development program at a fortune 500 company in Business IT and I have a strong feeling he will be making a ton more money than me.. not jealous but it makes me strive for more.

There are so many ways to get income, I mean I enjoy bodybuilding so I'll be getting a personal trainer license within the next year and start doing that part time.. I have no doubt I could reach 100k by 30 in terms of multiple income sources, but it would be really nice to have a single salaried job with 100k+.

you picked the wrong major then. I see engineers all the time who claim to be entrepreneurs and have aspirations of making it big. Then they are shocked by the amount of work and effort they have to do ON THEIR OWN because making that much money in engineering means you do it on a consulting basis...and i do not mean working for a consulting firm, I mean being an engineer that has his own independent business.

 

[Dr. Zaus]

Wait, you are claiming to be a top end head hunter, then say you are on government assistance in another thread? And then saying you will be making $120k+ as a teacher?

I'm a sock puppet of Bob the Builder, ya stupid jack ass.

keep up.


Actual answer:

1: I was suggesting the OP of a thread be entrepreneurial, such as becoming a head hunter, instead of cry-babying about losing his job.
2: I'm a poor as shit grad student
3: The median income starting for newly minted assistant-professors in my field is over six figures.

 

[LurkerPrime]

I'm EE (more programming), and this is my pay progression. number in () is pay with OT/bonuses. Keep in mind I dont live in a big city.
2006: 48k (52k)
2007: 60k (77k)
2008: 71k (89k)
2009: 74k (99k)
2010: 80k (105k)
2011: 87k (100k)

I'm with a company that pays pretty good bonuses and OT compensation, so that helps with breaking the 100k mark.

 

[TecHNooB]

if you're badass, you can make 100k by 30.

 

[BurnItDwn]

Then so be it, that's their limitation.

Yea, you don't need to be a manager to get paid ....

Sure, if you want 7 figure incomes then you pretty much need to be a corporate suit, but, lots of companies have senior/lead IT or Engineering jobs that pay about the same or more than a Manager paygrade ... still guaranteed to be less than Director paygrade...
That said, the only guys here who are in that pay grade are in their 50s with 30+ years experience...

 

[LurkerPrime]

As an engineer doing engineering you'll never be "rich" however you'll never be poor. You should make enough money to live a very comfortable life. You can definately use your engineering degree as a stepping stone to management/leadership for more money. However at that point you're no longer doing engineering. As one of my senior leaders once told me.
"Sometimes you have to weigh the extra headaches vs. the extra dollars, and the ratio of headaches to dollars skyrocketed when I became a manager. If they would let me, I would take the pay cut to be an engineer again."

Also I'm curious what other peoples actual pay progression has been.

 

[Dr. Zaus]

As an engineer doing engineering you'll never be "rich" however you'll never be poor. You should make enough money to live a very comfortable life. You can definately use your engineering degree as a stepping stone to management/leadership for more money. However at that point you're no longer doing engineering. As one of my senior leaders once told me.
"Sometimes you have to weigh the extra headaches vs. the extra dollars, and the ratio of headaches to dollars skyrocketed when I became a manager. If they would let me, I would take the pay cut to be an engineer again."

Also I'm curious what other peoples actual pay progression has been.

Live on 32k make 82k over a 20 year period and invest the rest in a low-load aggressive-growth mutual fund. You'll have between 1 and 2 million in the bank.

No reason that a professional can't become rich, except that they choose to live on more than they need to.

 

[Jeff7]

As an engineer doing engineering you'll never be "rich" however you'll never be poor. You should make enough money to live a very comfortable life. You can definately use your engineering degree as a stepping stone to management/leadership for more money. However at that point you're no longer doing engineering. As one of my senior leaders once told me.
"Sometimes you have to weigh the extra headaches vs. the extra dollars, and the ratio of headaches to dollars skyrocketed when I became a manager. If they would let me, I would take the pay cut to be an engineer again."

Also I'm curious what other peoples actual pay progression has been.

Two of my instructors at college were like that. They were promoted to management, ended up hating it, and weren't given the option to go back to engineering. One was mostly doing people management and resolving conflicts, and the other was doing a lot of financial and spreadsheet stuff - not much in the way of any engineering. So they did something of a career shift, and switched to teaching. One of them still did consulting for at least one day during the week.

Based on the types of cars, boats, and/or companies that some of the professors there owned, I don't think any of them were hard-up for money.

 

[TuxDave]

I'm EE (more programming), and this is my pay progression. number in () is pay with OT/bonuses. Keep in mind I dont live in a big city.
2006: 48k (52k)
2007: 60k (77k)
2008: 71k (89k)
2009: 74k (99k)
2010: 80k (105k)
2011: 87k (100k)

I'm with a company that pays pretty good bonuses and OT compensation, so that helps with breaking the 100k mark.

I hate you for having overtime pay.

 

[brianmanahan]

Live on 32k make 82k over a 20 year period and invest the rest in a low-load aggressive-growth mutual fund. You'll have between 1 and 2 million in the bank.

No reason that a professional can't become rich, except that they choose to live on more than they need to.

^ this

 

[alkemyst]

^ this

he is projecting, he is also on government assistance.

 

[alkemyst]

As an engineer doing engineering you'll never be "rich" however you'll never be poor. You should make enough money to live a very comfortable life. You can definately use your engineering degree as a stepping stone to management/leadership for more money. However at that point you're no longer doing engineering. As one of my senior leaders once told me.
"Sometimes you have to weigh the extra headaches vs. the extra dollars, and the ratio of headaches to dollars skyrocketed when I became a manager. If they would let me, I would take the pay cut to be an engineer again."

Also I'm curious what other peoples actual pay progression has been.

Become a CCIE, do Network Engineering...you will be making enough to be around 1%er.

Get two CCIE's and know how to speak to it (sort of impossible not too at that level), never worry about unemployment again.

 

[Oil]

I know I'm not typical but I made 6 figs (w/ bonus) last year at 23 y/o. The oil industry is very rewarding to those who work hard

Edit: Should clarify that my BS was in Petroleum Engineering. Other engineers in oil and gas usually start out with a lower base salary

 

[Dr. Zaus]

I know I'm not typical but I made 6 figs (w/ bonus) last year at 23 y/o. The oil industry is very rewarding to those who work hard

Yep.

he is projecting, he is also on government assistance.

Lawlz, my very own troll, I'm so excited!

/hug

 

[TecHNooB]

I know I'm not typical but I made 6 figs (w/ bonus) last year at 23 y/o. The oil industry is very rewarding to those who work hard

that oil money sooo good.

 

[yh125d]

I know I'm not typical but I made 6 figs (w/ bonus) last year at 23 y/o. The oil industry is very rewarding to those who work hard

I'm in a similar boat. 21 y/o with nothing but HS deep in the natural gas industry, and I should take home ~80k this year, even without the ~$3 raise I'll likely be getting any time now

 

[alkemyst]

Yep.


Lawlz, my very own troll, I'm so excited!

/hug

I wasn't trolling at all. I am clarifying your post. What's your projected first year salary again as a fresh teacher? $150k?

 

[rcpratt]

I'm EE (more programming), and this is my pay progression. number in () is pay with OT/bonuses. Keep in mind I dont live in a big city.
2006: 48k (52k)
2007: 60k (77k)
2008: 71k (89k)
2009: 74k (99k)
2010: 80k (105k)
2011: 87k (100k)

I'm with a company that pays pretty good bonuses and OT compensation, so that helps with breaking the 100k mark.

I guess I'll go with this format. Graduated in '10, NukeE. No overtime, but the () includes bonus. I also live in a fairly average COL area.

2010: 70k
2011: 72k (77k)
2012: 75k (85k) + promotion coming

That being said, I don't know many other engineers that made as much as me out of school.