Engineering

Contains Stem Majors

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Total Degrees
Awarded in 2021

196,606

declining 1.59%

Median In-State
Public Tuition

$8,878

growing 3.73%

Median Out-of-State
Private Tuition

$44,970

declining 0.702%

Average Wage

$121,976

growing 5.37%

People in Workforce

4.65M

growing 4.66%

Average Employee Age

43.1

growing 0.0579%

About

In 2021, the locations with the highest concentration of Engineering degree recipients are Los Angeles, CA, Boston, MA, and New York, NY. The most common degree awarded to students studying Engineering is a bachelors degree.

Photo by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Institutions

Information about the types of higher education institutions that grant degrees in Engineering and the types of students that study this field. Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus awards the most degrees in Engineering in the US, but Webb Institute and Franklin W Olin College of Engineering (441982) have the highest percentage of degrees awarded in Engineering.

Tuition costs for Engineering majors are, on average, $8,878 for in-state public colleges, and $44,970 for out of state private colleges.

The most common sector, by number of institutions, that offers Engineering programs are Public, 4-year or above institutions (425 total). The most common sector, by number of degrees awarded, is Public, 4-year or above (145,119 completions).

Institutions

Institution with the Most Degrees Awarded in Engineering

The most common sector, by number of degrees awarded in Engineering, is Public, 4-year or above (145,119 completions in 2021).

The following chart shows the share of universities that offer Engineering programs, by the total number of completions, colored and grouped by their sector.

Tuition Costs for Common Institutions

$8,878

Median In-State Public

$44,970

Median Out of State Private

Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus has the most Engineering degree recipients, with 3,407 degrees awarded in 2021.

The following bar chart shows the state tuition for the top 5 institutions with the most degrees awarded in Engineering.

Specialized Colleges

Highest Concentration Institution

Webb Institute
100%
Franklin W Olin College of Engineering (441982)
100%
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
74.1%

Out of all institutions that offer Engineering programs and have at least 5 graduates in those programs, Webb Institute has the highest percentage of degrees awarded in Engineering, with 100%.

Degrees Awarded by County

Counties with the Most Degrees Awarded in Engineering

This map shows the counties in the United States colored by the highest number of degrees awarded in Engineering by year.

Growth in Awarded Degrees

Counties with the Fastest Growing Number of Degrees Awarded

This map shows the counties in the United States colored by the highest growth in degrees awarded for Engineering.

Employment

Information on the businesses and industries that employ Engineering graduates and on wages and locations for those in the field.

The average salary for Engineering majors is $121,976 and the most common occupations are Software developers, Miscellaneous engineers, including nuclear engineers, and Other managers.

The industry that employs the most Engineering majors is Architectural, engineering & related services, though the highest paying industry, by average wage, is Internet publishing, broadcasting & web search portals.

Yearly Income for Common Jobs

$121,976

Average Wage in Workforce

± $1,185

5.37%

1 Year Growth

± 1.32%

The average salary for Engineering majors is $121,976 and the most common occupations are Software developers, Miscellaneous engineers, including nuclear engineers, and Other managers.

This chart shows the average annual salaries of the most common occupations for Engineering majors.

Highest Paying Locations

Highest Paying Pumas

This map shows the public use micro areas (PUMAs) in the United States colored by the average salary of Engineering majors.

Note that the census collects information tied to where people live, not where they work. It is possible that Engineering majors live and work in the same place, but it is also possible that they live and work in two different places.

Most Common

The most common occupations Engineering majors, by number of employees, are Software developers, Miscellaneous engineers, including nuclear engineers, and Other managers.

Most Specialized

Compared to other majors, there are an unusually high number of Engineering majors working as Chemical engineers, Civil engineers, and Aerospace engineers.

Highest Paid

The highest paid occupations by median income for Engineering majors are Podiatrists, Surgeons, and Physicians.

Occupations by Share

4.65M

2021 Workforce

± 52,096

4.66%

1 Year Growth

± 1.53%

The number of Engineering graduates in the workforce has been growing at a rate of 4.66%, from 4.44M in 2020 to 4.65M in 2021.

The largest single share of Engineering graduates go on to work as Software developers (8.41%). This chart shows the various jobs filled by those with a major in Engineering by share of the total number of graduates.

Most Common

The most common industries that employ Engineering majors, by number of employees, are Architectural, engineering & related services, Computer Systems Design, and Construction.

Highest Paid

The highest paying industries of Engineering majors, by average wage, are Internet publishing, broadcasting & web search portals, Offices of physicians, and Oil & gas extraction.

Industries by Share

4.65M

2021 Workforce

± 52,096

4.66%

1 Year Growth

± 1.53%

The number of Engineering graduates in the workforce has been growing at a rate of 4.66%, from 4.44M in 2020 to 4.65M in 2021.

The industry which employs the most Engineering graduates by share is Architectural, engineering & related services, followed by Computer Systems Design. This visualization shows the industries that hire those who major in Engineering.

Specialty Locations

PUMAS with a relatively high number of Engineering majors

This map shows the public use micro areas (PUMAs) in the United States where there are a relatively high population of Engineering majors.

Diversity

Demographic information for those who earn a degree in Engineering in the United States.

The average age of a person in the workforce with a degree in Engineering is 43.1.

The most common degree type these workers hold is a Bachelors Degree. Male employees are more likely to hold Engineering degrees, and White students are the most common race/ethnicty group awarded degrees in Engineering (92,991 students).

Workforce Age

43.1

Average Age in 2021

± 0.149 Years

0.0579%

1 Year Change

± 0.493%

This chart shows distribution of ages for employees with a degree in Engineering. The most common ages of employees with this major are 30 and 35 years old, which represent 2.81% and 2.71% of the population, respectively.

Degrees Awarded

The most common degree types awarded to students graduating in Engineering are Bachelors Degree, Masters Degree, and Research Doctorate.

Workforce Degrees

The most common degree types held by the working population in Engineering are Bachelors Degree, Masters Degree, and Doctorate degree.

Sex Imbalance for Common Institutions

Male (74.9%)

Most Common Sex with a Degree in this Field

This chart shows the granted degrees by sex at the 5 institutions that graduate the most students in Engineering.

Race & Ethnicity by Degrees Awarded

Most Common Race or Ethnicity

White
92,991 degrees awarded
Non-resident Alien
42,585 degrees awarded
Hispanic or Latino
21,591 degrees awarded

This chart shows the number of degrees awarded in Engineering for each race & ethnicity. White students earned the largest share of the degrees with this major.

Race & Ethnicity by Sex

Most Common Race/Ethnicity and Sex Combination

White Male
53,848 degrees awarded
White Female
16,007 degrees awarded
Hispanic or Latino Male
12,465 degrees awarded

This chart illustrates the differences by sex for each race & ethnicity of Bachelors Degree recipients in Engineering.

White Male students, who earn most of the degrees in this field, are the most common combination of race/ethnicity and sex.

Global Diversity

Most Common Countries of Origin

India
476,620 degree recipients
China
148,359 degree recipients
Mexico
86,323 degree recipients

High Relative Number of Students

India
4.27 times more than expected
Libya
3.83 times more than expected
Other Asia, not specified
3.36 times more than expected

There are a relatively high number of people that were born in India that hold Engineering degrees (4.27 times more than expected), and the most common country of origin by total numbers for non-US students earning a degree in this field is India (476,620 degree recipients).

Skills

Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for those working in the Engineering field from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Engineering majors need many skills, but most especially Reading Comprehension. The revealed comparative advantage (RCA) shows that Engineering majors need more than the average amount of Management of Financial Resources, Management of Material Resources, Technology Design, Quality Control Analysis, Mathematics, Troubleshooting, Programming, Science, Management of Personnel Resources, Negotiation, Complex Problem Solving, Operation Monitoring, Time Management, Coordination, Systems Analysis, Judgment and Decision Making, Operations Analysis, Instructing, Active Learning, Writing, Monitoring, Persuasion, Reading Comprehension, Systems Evaluation, Critical Thinking, Learning Strategies, Speaking, Service Orientation, Social Perceptiveness, Active Listening, Operation and Control, Installation, Equipment Selection, Equipment Maintenance, and Repairing.

These two visualizations, one a radial chart and one a bar chart, show the same information, a rating of how necessary the following skills are for Engineering majors. Toggle between "value" and "RCA" to see the absolute rating of that skill (value) and the revealed comparative advantage (RCA), or how much greater or lesser that skill's rating is than the average. The longer the bar or the closer the line comes to the circumference of the circle, the more important that skill is. The importance of Management of Financial Resources is very distinctive for majors, but the Reading Comprehension, Complex Problem Solving, Critical Thinking, Writing, Active Listening, Judgment and Decision Making, Speaking, Mathematics, Active Learning, Monitoring, Time Management, Coordination, Social Perceptiveness, Systems Analysis, Instructing, Management of Personnel Resources, Negotiation, Persuasion, Systems Evaluation, Learning Strategies, Service Orientation, Quality Control Analysis, Science, Management of Financial Resources, Management of Material Resources, Operation Monitoring, Operations Analysis, Troubleshooting, Technology Design, Programming, Operation and Control, Equipment Selection, Equipment Maintenance, Repairing, and Installation are the three most important skills for people in the field.