Best Jobs For Engineering Majors
A degree in engineering is the first step toward a challenging, high-paying career. Explore these popular jobs for engineering majors.
| Rank | Job Title | Most Common Major | % Workers with Major | Mid-Career Pay | % High Job Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank:1 | Job Title:Petroleum Engineer | Most Common Major:Petroleum Engineering | % Workers with Major:76% | Mid-Career Pay:$158,000 | % High Job Meaning:64% |
| Rank:2 | Job Title:Staff Engineer | Most Common Major:Civil Engineering (CE) | % Workers with Major:36% | Mid-Career Pay:$116,000 | % High Job Meaning:61% |
| Rank:3 | Job Title:Reliability Engineer | Most Common Major:Mechanical Engineering (ME) | % Workers with Major:48% | Mid-Career Pay:$104,000 | % High Job Meaning:54% |
| Rank:4 | Job Title:Aerospace Engineer | Most Common Major:Aerospace Engineering | % Workers with Major:60% | Mid-Career Pay:$102,000 | % High Job Meaning:65% |
| Rank:5 | Job Title:Aerospace Systems Engineer | Most Common Major:Aerospace Engineering | % Workers with Major:50% | Mid-Career Pay:$98,500 | % High Job Meaning:64% |
| Rank:6 | Job Title:Hardware Design Engineer | Most Common Major:Electrical Engineering (EE) | % Workers with Major:49% | Mid-Career Pay:$98,400 | % High Job Meaning:48% |
| Rank:7 | Job Title:Plant Engineer | Most Common Major:Mechanical Engineering (ME) | % Workers with Major:35% | Mid-Career Pay:$98,300 | % High Job Meaning:42% |
| Rank:8 | Job Title:Chemical Engineer | Most Common Major:Chemical Engineering | % Workers with Major:86% | Mid-Career Pay:$96,700 | % High Job Meaning:49% |
| Rank:9 | Job Title:Process Development Engineer | Most Common Major:Chemical Engineering | % Workers with Major:42% | Mid-Career Pay:$94,000 | % High Job Meaning:77% |
| Rank:10 | Job Title:Electrical Engineer | Most Common Major:Electrical Engineering (EE) | % Workers with Major:67% | Mid-Career Pay:$89,700 | % High Job Meaning:58% |
| Rank:11 | Job Title:Process Engineer | Most Common Major:Chemical Engineering | % Workers with Major:47% | Mid-Career Pay:$88,700 | % High Job Meaning:46% |
| Rank:12 | Job Title:Energy Engineer | Most Common Major:Mechanical Engineering (ME) | % Workers with Major:45% | Mid-Career Pay:$87,100 | % High Job Meaning:81% |
| Rank:13 | Job Title:Structural Engineer | Most Common Major:Civil Engineering (CE) | % Workers with Major:60% | Mid-Career Pay:$83,700 | % High Job Meaning:58% |
| Rank:14 | Job Title:Industrial Engineer | Most Common Major:Industrial Engineering (IE) | % Workers with Major:65% | Mid-Career Pay:$83,700 | % High Job Meaning:40% |
| Rank:14 | Job Title:Research and Development Engineer | Most Common Major:Mechanical Engineering (ME) | % Workers with Major:34% | Mid-Career Pay:$83,700 | % High Job Meaning:64% |
| Rank:15 | Job Title:Mechanical Engineer | Most Common Major:Mechanical Engineering (ME) | % Workers with Major:82% | Mid-Career Pay:$83,500 | % High Job Meaning:50% |
| Rank:16 | Job Title:Product Design Engineer | Most Common Major:Mechanical Engineering (ME) | % Workers with Major:70% | Mid-Career Pay:$83,300 | % High Job Meaning:45% |
| Rank:17 | Job Title:Water Resources Engineer | Most Common Major:Civil Engineering (CE) | % Workers with Major:37% | Mid-Career Pay:$83,000 | % High Job Meaning:70% |
| Rank:18 | Job Title:Transportation Engineer | Most Common Major:Civil Engineering (CE) | % Workers with Major:81% | Mid-Career Pay:$82,500 | % High Job Meaning:71% |
| Rank:19 | Job Title:Product Development Engineer | Most Common Major:Mechanical Engineering (ME) | % Workers with Major:50% | Mid-Career Pay:$82,400 | % High Job Meaning:47% |
| Rank:20 | Job Title:Manufacturing Engineer | Most Common Major:Mechanical Engineering (ME) | % Workers with Major:43% | Mid-Career Pay:$81,500 | % High Job Meaning:50% |
| Rank:21 | Job Title:Environmental Protection Engineer | Most Common Major:Environmental Engineering | % Workers with Major:45% | Mid-Career Pay:$81,200 | % High Job Meaning:63% |
| Rank:22 | Job Title:Civil Engineer | Most Common Major:Civil Engineering (CE) | % Workers with Major:77% | Mid-Career Pay:$80,600 | % High Job Meaning:68% |
| Rank:23 | Job Title:Mechanical Design Engineer | Most Common Major:Mechanical Engineering (ME) | % Workers with Major:61% | Mid-Career Pay:$78,600 | % High Job Meaning:48% |
| Rank:24 | Job Title:Architect (but not Landscape or Naval) | Most Common Major:Architecture | % Workers with Major:92% | Mid-Career Pay:$77,900 | % High Job Meaning:59% |
Engineering is a smart choice if you love math and want a high-paying career. Engineers draw on highly specialized practical knowledge to invent, build, improve and sustain some of society’s most fundamental systems, structures, processes, and materials, ranging from transportation infrastructures to weapons systems to biomolecule production. Students with this degree usually enter into careers that not only have a huge impact on society but are also extremely profitable.
Types of Engineers
There are many different and exciting disciplines that you can choose from when it comes to picking a career for yourself. Each career path comes with its own unique challenges, but you can do them if you’re willing to put in the time and discipline it takes. Some of the most common types include industrial, civil, aerospace, and mechanical.
Jobs For Engineering Majors
Petroleum Engineer – Mid-Career Salary: $145,000
This type of role designs and oversees the production and methods for extracting oil and natural gas and typically work for oil companies or research universities.
Staff Engineer – Mid-Career Salary: $117,000
Staff engineers may perform a wide variety of job duties depending on their field and the specific discipline of engineering required for their industry and company.
Engineering Supervisor – Mid-Career Salary: $102,000
Engineering supervisors lead teams of engineers. Duties may include support of operation, inspection and maintenance processes.
Other top-earning jobs with 10 or more years of experience are nuclear engineer, aerospace engineer and chemical engineer. Even the lowest median salaries on the list of common jobs are high paid. Some of the world’s most notable engineers include J. Robert Oppenheimer, Alfred Nobel, Bill Nye, Steve Wozniak, Ellen Ochoa, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, William R. Hewlett, and Neil Young.