Salary facts
The largest percentage of respondents (23.6%) reported a salary in the $100,000–$124,999 pay range. The second largest percentage (13.7%) was in a pay range of $125,000–$149,999. The average salary in the U.S. is now up to $106,772—that is an increase of $2,862 (or 2.8%) from last year. Two other regions of the world reported a higher average salary. Canadian respondents reported an average salary of $118,483, while Australia and New Zealand respondents reported a whopping $131,483. It is interesting to note that the dollar exchange rate in both of these regions is fairly close to a 1:1 ratio. However, the cost of living is typically higher in both regions, and the average salaries reflect those higher living expenses.
Within the U.S., the highest paid region is the west south central (south), with an average salary of $120,750, which is a $4,180 increase over last year. The lowest paid region is the east north central (midwest), with an average salary of $96,041, a $6,871 increase over last year. (Regions are defined on Wikipedia.)
The average salary of the largest percentage of respondents by job function (28.2%, automation/control engineering) was $105,650, which is a $1,610 increase over last year. The top five highest paid job functions are listed below.
Engineering management: $137,761 (6.6% of respondents), a $5,041 increase
Safety systems engineering: $129,285 (1.1% of respondents), a $7,255 increase
Consulting engineering: $127,398 (3.8% of respondents), a $3,108 increase
Sales (outside): $121,848 (4.5% of respondents), a $4,828 increase
Project management: $120,543 (3.5% of respondents), a $9,323 increase
Of respondents, 69.2% possessed a college degree or higher. The average salary of college graduates (without an advanced degree) is $109,029. The results show that those who attended at least some graduate school (but did not finish) were able to increase their annual salary by $5,647. Those respondents who actually completed an advanced degree reported an average salary of $123,004—that is a $13,975 increase (virtually unchanged from last year) over college graduates.A degree of higher learning
The largest percentage of respondents (33.1%) received a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, pulling in an average salary of $117,416, an increase of $4,666 over last year. The top five average salaries by degree are:
Chemical engineering: $123,789 (12.5% of respondents)
Physics: $123,125 (1.2% of respondents)
Other science: $122,222 (2.1% of respondents)
Liberal arts: $116,402 (1.9% of respondents)
Computer science: $112,459 (2.9% of respondents)
Participants in our survey work in 40 different industry segments. The largest number of responses came from the engineering services segment (12.3%), where the average salary is $123,444. It is interesting to note which industries are the biggest payers. The top five highest salaries are paid to professionals in these industry segments:
Petroleum refining and related industries: $125,805 (5.7% of respondents)
Oil and gas extraction: $125,326 (4.4% of respondents)
Instrument and control apparatus sales and solution: $115,105 (3.6%)
Utilities combination (nuclear/fossil fuel, etc.): $114,698 (2.2%)
Chemicals: $113,020 (6.4%)
Stating the obvious…
Again this year, we compared the salary of those with a professional engineering license to those without a license. It is no surprise that those with the license (16.1%) earn an average of $21,118 more each year, or an average salary of $124,857 versus $103,739 for those without the license.
refer to:http://www.automation.com/factors-that-affect-your-salary-what-you-need-to-know
