1

February 2012 

Occupational Employment 

Statistics (OES) Highlights

Architecture and Engineering Occupations 

Architecture and engineering occupations are at the forefront of technological 

progress. Among the many possible tasks that workers in these jobs may perform 

are designing ships, aircraft, or computers; researching, developing, and evaluating 

medical devices; and devising improved processes for manufacturing products. 

Workers may use technical knowledge to design improved methods for extracting 

2,520

5,720

6,270

8,480

11,670

147,750

148,770

202,990

234,400

249,120

0 50,000 100,000 150,000 200,000 250,000

Agricultural engineers

Marine engineers and naval architects

Mining and geological engineers, including mining safety engineers

Aerospace engineering and operations technicians

Cartographers and photogrammetrists

Electrical and electronics engineering technicians

Electrical engineers

Industrial engineers

Mechanical engineers

Civil engineers

Employment

Occupation

Chart 1. Employment for the largest and smallest architecture 

and engineering occupations, May 2010 

Note: Darker bars indicate largest occupations and lighter bars indicate smallest occupations.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
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natural resources or to collect and analyze geographic information. Architecture and 

engineering jobs are highly skilled and high paying: nearly all of the occupations in 

this group pay above-average wages and typically require postsecondary education, 

often a bachelor’s degree or higher. This highlight provides an overview of 

employment and wages for architecture and engineering occupations, including 

information on industries in which architecture and engineering jobs are likely to be 

found and geographic areas in which these jobs are concentrated. 

There were 2.3 million architecture and engineering jobs in 2010, representing about 

2 percent of U.S. employment. By comparison, the two largest occupations, retail 

salespersons and cashiers, had employment of 4.2 and 3.4 million, respectively, 

more than all the architecture and engineering occupations combined. The largest 

architecture and engineering occupations were civil engineers, with employment of 

249,120, mechanical engineers (234,400), and industrial engineers (202,900). 

Agricultural engineers (2,520), marine engineers and naval architects (5,720), and 

mining and geological engineers (6,270) were the smallest architecture and 

engineering occupations. (See chart 1.) 

Although architecture and engineering was one of the smaller occupational groups, it 

was also one of the highest paying. The annual mean wage for the architecture and 

engineering group was $75,550, significantly above the U.S. all-occupations mean 

wage of $44,410 and exceeded only by the average wages for management 

($105,440), legal ($96,940), and computer and mathematical ($77,230) 

occupations. Of the 35 architecture and engineering occupations, only one—

surveying and mapping technicians—had a mean wage below the U.S. average. 

Among the highest paying architecture and engineering occupations were petroleum 

engineers ($127,970), computer hardware engineers ($101,600) and nuclear 

engineers ($101,500). Most of the lower paying architecture and engineering 

occupations were engineering technician or drafting jobs, which were typically held 

by workers with some college education or an associate’s degree. In addition to 

surveying and mapping technicians, with a mean annual wage of $40,370, the lowest 

paying architecture and engineering occupations included environmental engineering 

technicians ($46,820) and civil engineering technicians ($47,940). (See chart 2.) 
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Eighty-six percent of all architecture and engineering jobs were in the private sector 

and 14 percent were in the public sector, slightly below the public sector’s 17-

percent employment share across all occupations. Private sector businesses that 

provided architectural, engineering, and related services were by far the largest 

employer of architecture and engineering occupations. Twenty-eight percent of all 

architecture and engineering jobs were found in the architectural, engineering, and 

related services industry, where these occupations represented half of total industry 

employment. Several high-tech manufacturing industries—aerospace product and 

parts manufacturing; navigational, measuring, electromedical, and control 

instruments manufacturing; and semiconductor and other electronic component 

manufacturing—also were among the largest employers of architecture and 

engineering occupations, each representing about 4 percent of total employment in 

this occupational group. 

$40,370

$44,410

$46,820

$47,940

$48,190

$48,740

$75,550

$94,590

$99,000

$101,500

$101,600

$127,970

$0 $20,000 $40,000 $60,000 $80,000 $100,000 $120,000 $140,000

Surveying and mapping technicians

U.S. all-occupations mean

Environmental engineering technicians

Civil engineering technicians

Drafters, all other

Architectural and civil drafters

All architecture and engineering occupations

Chemical engineers

Aerospace engineers

Nuclear engineers

Computer hardware engineers

Petroleum engineers

Annual mean wage

Occupation

Chart 2. Annual mean wages for the highest and lowest 

paying architecture and engineering occupations, May 2010 

Note: Darker bars indicate highest paying occupations and lighter bars indicate lowest paying occupations.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
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However, the distribution across industries varied for individual occupations within 

the architecture and engineering group. For example, more than 60 percent of 

petroleum engineers were employed in businesses that performed oil and gas 

extraction or support activities for mining, while industries employing the largest 

numbers of biomedical engineers included medical equipment and supplies 

manufacturing, scientific research and development services, and pharmaceutical 

and medicine manufacturing. 

The share of public sector employment varied across individual architecture and 

engineering occupations, ranging from less than 1 percent of mechanical drafters 

and electrical and electronics drafters to about 47 percent of civil engineering 

technicians. Within the public sector, individual architecture and engineering 

occupations tended to be more prevalent at specific levels of government. Chart 3 

shows employment for the largest architecture and engineering occupations in the 

public sector, broken down by level of government. The two engineering occupations 

with the highest public sector employment, civil engineers and civil engineering 

technicians, were primarily in state and local government. Both of these occupations 

also had relatively high shares of public sector employment overall. State 

government employed nearly half of public sector environmental engineers, and 

more than three-quarters of public sector surveying and mapping technicians were in 

local government. The federal government accounted for the majority of public 

sector employment in the remaining occupations shown, ranging from 71 percent of 

public sector electrical and electronics engineering technicians to 95 percent of public 

sector aerospace engineers. 
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The states with the highest employment and highest employment concentrations of 

selected engineering occupations are shown in Table 1. In general, states with high 

overall employment also tended to have the highest employment of most of the 

engineering occupations shown. Of the 18 engineering occupations listed in the 

table, California had the highest employment for 10 and Texas had the highest 

employment for 4; these were also the two states with the highest total employment 

of engineers.

30

47

15

15

30 6 21 12

0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

60,000

70,000

80,000

Civil engineers

Civil engineering technicians

Electrical and electronics engineering technicians

Electronics engineers, except computer

Environmental engineers

Mechanical engineers

Surveying and mapping technicians

Aerospace engineers

Public sector employment

Local

State 

Federal

Note: Excludes residual ("all other") occupations.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Public sector 

as a percent 

of total 

occupational 

employment 

Chart 3. Employment for the largest architecture and engineering 

occupations in the public sector, by level of government, May 2010 
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Table 1. States with the highest location quotients and highest employment, selected engineering occupations, May 2010

Occupation State with 

highest location 

quotient

Location 

quotient in 

state with 

highest location 

quotient

Employment

in state with 

highest 

location 

quotient 

State with 

highest 

employment

Employment

in state with 

highest 

employment

Location 

quotient in 

state with 

highest 

employment

Aerospace engineers Washington 3.9 6,460 California 19,460 2.3

Agricultural engineers North Dakota 7.3 50 Texas 290 1.5

Biomedical engineers Massachusetts 3.9 1,440 California 3,820 2.3

Chemical engineers Delaware 7.9 710 Texas 5,030 2.2

Civil engineers Alaska 2.5 1,510 California 36,120 1.3

Computer hardware engineers New Mexico 3.8 1,570 California 17,780 2.4

Electrical engineers Alaska 2.3 810 California 18,320 1.1

Electronics engineers, except computer Rhode Island 2.3 1,080 California 27,170 1.8

Environmental engineers Wyoming 3.1 330 California 6,080 1.1

Health and safety engineers, except 

mining safety engineers and inspectors

Alaska 2.6 150 California 2,360 .9

Industrial engineers Michigan 3.3 19,680 Michigan 19,680 3.3

Marine engineers and naval architects Virginia 5.1 810 Texas 1,090 2.4

Materials engineers Washington 2.6 1,220 California 2,520 1.0

Mechanical engineers Michigan 4.4 30,260 Michigan 30,260 4.4

Mining and geological engineers, 

including mining safety engineers

Wyoming 16.7 220 Colorado 680 6.4

Nuclear engineers Tennessee 4.0 1,520 California 3,180 1.6

Petroleum engineers Alaska 15.2 1,040 Texas 15,510 6.9

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
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Although the architecture and engineering group made up about 1.8 percent of 

overall U.S. employment, its share of total employment varied by state from about 1 

percent in Arkansas, South Dakota, and Nebraska to nearly 3 percent in Michigan, 

Alaska, and Washington. Employment shares of detailed architecture and 

engineering occupations varied more by state, as shown by the location quotient 

data in table 1. Location quotients are defined as the ratio of an occupation’s share 

of employment in a specific geographical area relative to its share of national 

employment; a location quotient greater than 1 indicates that the occupation makes 

up an above-average share of local employment. For example, an occupation that 

makes up 10 percent of local employment in a certain area, but only 2 percent of 

national employment, will have a location quotient of 5 in that area. 

With the exception of industrial and mechanical engineers in Michigan, states with 

the highest employment of a given engineering occupation did not typically have the 

highest concentration of that occupation. For example, the employment share of 

health and safety engineers in Alaska was about 2.6 times the U.S. average, but this 

number represented only about 150 jobs. By comparison, the much larger state of 

California had nearly 16 times as many health and safety engineering jobs, despite a 

location quotient of only 0.9 for the occupation. In some cases, however, the state 

with the highest employment also had a high location quotient for that occupation. 

For example, Colorado had a location quotient of 6.4 for mining and geological 

engineers, and Texas had a location quotient of nearly 7 for petroleum engineers. 

However, these quotients were significantly lower than the location quotients for 

mining and geological engineers in Wyoming (16.7) and petroleum engineers in 

Alaska (15.2). These two location quotients were among the highest for any 

architecture and engineering occupation. 

The architecture and engineering occupations with the highest location quotients in 

Michigan, Alaska, and Washington are shown in chart 4. Architecture and 

engineering occupations that made up an above-average share of employment in 

Michigan tended to be associated with manufacturing processes. Among these 

occupations were mechanical engineers and mechanical engineering technicians, 

industrial engineers and industrial engineering technicians, and mechanical drafters. 
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The largest two were mechanical engineers and industrial engineers, with state 

employment of 30,260 and 19,680, respectively. Alaska had high concentrations of 

occupations associated with natural resource extraction; among these occupations 

were petroleum engineers, mining and geological engineers, environmental 

engineers, and occupations associated with geographical surveying and mapping, 

such as cartographers and photogrammetrists (not shown in the chart). Architecture 

and engineering occupations with the highest location quotients in Washington 

included several associated with aerospace equipment and marine vessels, as well as 

nuclear engineers and landscape architects. 

Chart 4. Architecture and engineering occupations with the highest location quotients, 

selected states, May 2010

 

 

Note: Numeric labels on bars show area employment in the occupation. Excludes residual (“all other”) occupations.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

3,250

5,880

19,680

4,660

30,260

0 4 8 12 16

Mechanical drafters

Industrial engineering technicians

Industrial engineers

Mechanical engineering 

technicians

Mechanical engineers

Location quotient

Michigan

370

390

210

90

1,040

0 4 8 12 16

Environmental engineers

Surveyors

Environmental engineering 

technicians

Mining and geological engineers, 

inc. mining safety engineers

Petroleum engineers

Location quotient

Alaska

950

500

1,210

6,460

490

0 4 8 12 16

Landscape architects

Aerospace engineering and 

operations technicians

Nuclear engineers

Aerospace engineers

Marine engineers and naval 

architects

Location quotient

Washington
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The employment share of architecture and engineering occupations varied even more 

by local area than by state. Metropolitan areas with the lowest shares of architecture 

and engineering occupations—less than 0.5 percent of employment—included 

Merced, CA; Vineland–Millville–Bridgeton, NJ; Visalia–Porterville, CA; and Punta 

Gorda, FL. At the other end of the spectrum, architecture and engineering 

occupations made up nearly 9 percent of employment in Huntsville, AL; nearly 7 

percent of employment in Kokomo, IN; and about 6 percent of employment in San 

Jose–Sunnyvale–Santa Clara, CA; Kennewick–Pasco–Richland, WA; and Palm Bay–

Melbourne–Titusville, FL. 

Architecture and engineering occupations with the highest location quotients in the 

Huntsville, Kokomo, and San Jose areas are shown in chart 5. Aerospace engineers 

had both the highest location quotient (22.6) and highest employment (2,830) of 

any architecture and engineering occupation in Huntsville. Other architecture and 

engineering occupations with high location quotients in this area included computer 

hardware engineers and aerospace engineering and operations technicians. Like 

Michigan, Kokomo, IN, had high concentrations of several occupations associated 

with manufacturing, including industrial engineers, materials engineers, and 

mechanical engineers. San Jose had both the highest employment (7,990) and 

highest location quotient (17.7) of any area for computer hardware engineers. Other 

engineering occupations with above-average concentrations in San Jose were 

electronics engineers, except computer; biomedical engineers; aerospace 

engineering and operations technicians; and electrical engineers. 
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Chart 5. Architecture and engineering occupations with the highest location quotients, 

selected metropolitan areas, May 2010

 

 

 

Note: Numeric labels on bars show area employment in the occupation. Excludes residual (“all other”) occupations.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

1,690

210

140

1,120

2,830

0 10 20 30 40

Electrical engineers

Environmental engineering 

technicians

Aerospace engineering 

and operations technicians

Computer hardware 

engineers

Aerospace engineers

Location quotient

Huntsville, AL

90

230

40

320

800

0 10 20 30 40

Electrical and electronics 

engineering technicians

Mechanical engineers

Materials engineers

Electrical engineers

Industrial engineers

Location quotient

Kokomo, IN

4,410

250

530

7,510

7,990

0 10 20 30 40

Electrical engineers

Aerospace engineering 

and operations technicians

Biomedical engineers

Electronics engineers, 

except computer

Computer hardware 

engineers

Location quotient

San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA
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San Jose–Sunnyvale–Santa Clara was also one of the highest paying areas overall 

for architecture and engineering occupations, with an annual mean wage of 

$100,750, more than $25,000 above the U.S. average for this group. Chart 6 shows 

mean wages for architecture and engineering occupations, along with the difference 

from the U.S. average for this group, for other high- and low-paying metropolitan 

areas. 

$100,750

$97,710 

$95,000 

$93,600 

$91,950 

$51,980 

$51,950 

$50,050 

$48,140 

$46,960 

-$30,000

-$20,000

-$10,000

$0

$10,000

$20,000

$30,000

San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA

Anchorage, AK

Bloomington-Normal, IL

Midland, TX

Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metro Div

College Station-Bryan, TX

Sumter, SC

Jonesboro, AR

Brownsville-Harlingen, TX

Palm Coast, FL

Difference between area and U.S. mean 

U.S. annual mean wage for 

architecture and 

engineering occupations: 

$75,550

Chart 6. Annual mean wages and differences from the U.S. mean 

for architecture and engineering occupations in the highest and 

lowest paying areas for this occupational group, May 2010

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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In general, the lowest paying areas for architecture and engineering occupations 

tended to be smaller metropolitan areas with below-average concentrations of these 

occupations. For example, the low-paying areas shown in chart 6 had overall 

employment ranging from 16,960 in Palm Coast, FL, to 123,680 in Brownsville–

Harlingen, TX; of the areas shown, only College Station–Bryan, TX, had an aboveaverage share of architecture and engineering jobs. The picture is more mixed for 

the highest paying areas. Some, such as San Jose or the Washington, DC, 

metropolitan division, were large metropolitan areas that were more likely to have 

above-average wages in general. Others, including Midland, TX, with overall 

employment of 64,210, were smaller areas. However, in general, areas with higher 

concentrations of architecture and engineering occupations also had higher wages for 

this group. 

Within a given metropolitan area, average wages for the architecture and 

engineering group were affected by both the wages for individual occupations and 

the relative shares of high- and low-paying occupations within the group. San Jose, 

for example, had above-average wages for nearly all of the area’s architecture and 

engineering occupations for which wage estimates were available. In many cases, 

the differences were large; for instance, the mean wage for biomedical engineers in 

San Jose was $30,780 higher than the U.S. average for the occupation, and the 

mean wage for chemical engineers was $27,250 higher than average. In contrast, 

most architecture and engineering occupations in Midland, TX, had wages below or 

similar to their respective U.S. averages, but nearly 46 percent of Midland’s 

architecture and engineering employment consisted of petroleum engineers, typically 

one of the highest paying occupations in the group. 

Occupational profiles for architecture and engineering occupations are available at 

www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_stru.htm#17-0000. Complete Occupational 

Employment Statistics data for May 2010 are available from the OES homepage at 

www.bls.gov/oes. This highlight was prepared by Audrey Watson. For more 

information, contact the OES program at www.bls.gov/oes/home.htm#contact.