And at any level of experience in the engineering industry, those with supervisory or budget responsibilities earn significantly more than those without. And as usual, the larger companies pay more. Money isn't everything. So if engineers were just interested in money, they would all move to California and job-hop between computer companies. But the numbers say this trend isn't happening.
Money finishes close to the bottom of the list.
And when engineers rank the most exciting industries to work in, they don't choose the highest-paying. They predictably name aerospace first, but then chose low-paying industries such as automotive and electronics. And they choose the most lucrative job opportunities as least appealing, including medical, telecommunications, defense, and computers. The average bachelors-degreed engineer must work an extra year to earn as much as one with a masters, and four years to reach the Ph.D. level. Consumer products, medical, and electronics employ most of the rest.