SAE International recently released its biennial engineering salary study and online interactive salary calculator.
The 2014 Mobility Engineering Professional Salary Study explores levels and changes in compensation and employment for engineers and technical employees in the automotive, aerospace, and commercial vehicle industries.
The study benchmarks compensation levels based by geography, education, industry sector, experience, and managerial and budgetary responsibility. It shows an overall increase for average base salaries and hiring in the United States.
The biennial study is based on an email survey issued to 54,615 mobility engineers and related technical employees across the world. Members and non-members of SAE International were asked 30 questions regarding their respective industry, company, educational background, job responsibilities, compensation, retirement, ethnicity, and other topics.
“Our members will find the 2014 study and interactive salary calculator incredibly valuable,” said Matt Creech, Business Unit Leader of Membership & Sections, SAE International. ”This information, which is free to members, will help mobility professionals to better assess their job today as well as explore where they may want to take their career in the future.”
A total of 5,651 individuals responded. There was an optimal margin of error at ±1.7%. The survey also carried a confidence level of 95%.
The study found there was an 11% increase in average base salary and total compensation for U.S. engineers, with an increase to $114,900 in 2014 from $95,700 in 2012. Worldwide, there was also an increase in salaries with an 8% increase to $99,300 in 2014, up from $91,800 in 2012.
Almost three quarters of U.S. full-time employees received an increase in their Jan. 1, 2014, base salary compared with the previous year; 21% indicated no change, while only 1% indicated a salary decrease.
The latest survey features new data tables to provide more insight along with a wider range of professional experience years. Additionally, the online salary calculator has been updated and embedded data and reports reflect the enhanced level of analysis seen in the new report.
Forty-four percent of those who responded said their highest degree was in mechanical engineering. The second highest response was electrical/electronic engineering with 8% saying that was the field in which they had earned their highest degree.
The responses indicated that 62% of U.S. full-time employees said automotive was the principal industry served by their organization, while 31% indicated off-highway and heavy equipment as the principal industry. Twenty-seven percent responded with aerospace as the principal industry, and 23% indicated defense/military.
The survey also breaks down base annual salaries by the field of the highest degree of the participants. For example, in the field of mechanical engineering, 25% of participants earn less than $91,000 while 50% responded that they earn less than $110,000 and 75% earn less than $134,000. The survey also breaks down the base salaries for other engineering fields, including electrical/electronic engineering. controls engineering, chemical engineering and several others.
The study is free to members and $249 for non-members and can be accessed online at the SAE International website.