Occupational Employment and Wages, 2002

17-2141 Mechanical Engineers

Perform engineering duties in planning and designing tools, engines, machines, and other mechanically functioning equipment. Oversee installation, operation, maintenance, and repair of such equipment as centralized heat, gas, water, and steam systems.

National estimates for this occupation
Industry profile for this occupation
State profile for this occupation
Metropolitan area profile for this occupation

National estimates for this occupation: Top

Employment estimate and mean wage estimates for this occupation:

Employment (1)	Employment RSE (3)	Mean hourly wage	Mean annual wage (2)	Wage RSE (3)
203,620	1.9 %	$31.33	$65,170	0.4 %

Percentile wage estimates for this occupation:

Percentile	10%	25%	50% (Median)	75%	90%
Hourly Wage	$19.95	$24.42	$30.23	$37.52	$44.92
Annual Wage (2)	$41,490	$50,800	$62,880	$78,040	$93,430

Industry profile for this occupation: Top

Industries with the highest levels of employment in this occupation:

Industry	Employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage	Employment rank	Wage rank
Architectural and engineering services	34,010	$33.01	$68,670	1	30
Electronic instrument manufacturing	11,200	$32.33	$67,260	2	40
Federal government (OES designation)	9,320	$34.42	$71,590	3	17
Aerospace product and parts manufacturing	8,910	$32.35	$67,300	4	39
Other general purpose machinery manufacturing	8,060	$27.64	$57,490	5	116

Top paying industries for this occupation:

Industry	Employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage	Employment rank	Wage rank
Spectator sports	120	$56.97	$118,500	98	1
Other heavy construction	610	$42.83	$89,090	53	2
Tobacco manufacturing	30	$40.62	$84,480	144	3
Pipeline transportation of natural gas	220	$39.23	$81,590	78	4
Oil and gas extraction	120	$38.82	$80,750	104	5

State profile for this occupation: Top

States with the highest concentration of workers in this occupation:

State	Employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage	Percent of State employment	Wage rank within State
Michigan	15,710	$30.96	$64,400	0.360%	72
Connecticut	5,360	$30.97	$64,410	0.327%	94
Wisconsin	7,160	$28.59	$59,470	0.266%	62
New Hampshire	1,510	$29.52	$61,400	0.249%	60
Ohio	12,060	$28.69	$59,670	0.225%	79

Top paying States for this occupation:

State	Employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage	Percent of State employment	Wage rank within State
New Mexico	780	$37.56	$78,130	0.107%	20
District of Columbia	700	$36.92	$76,800	0.118%	45
Delaware	500	$35.25	$73,320	0.125%	35
Alaska	270	$34.95	$72,700	0.094%	33
California	22,090	$34.93	$72,660	0.153%	69

Metropolitan area profile for this occupation: Top

Metropolitan areas with the highest concentration of workers in this occupation:

MSA	Employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage	Percent of MSA employment
Peoria-Pekin, IL MSA	1,370	$32.47	$67,540	0.859%
Sheboygan, WI MSA	410	$27.34	$56,870	0.706%
Huntsville, AL MSA	1,110	$33.30	$69,260	0.636%
Bremerton, WA PMSA	450	$32.13	$66,820	0.609%
Pittsfield, MA MSA	240	$29.85	$62,090	0.572%

Top paying Metropolitan areas for this occupation:

MSA	Employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage	Percent of MSA employment
Tallahassee, FL MSA	(6)	$47.65	$99,110	(6)
Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, NC MSA	760	$41.61	$86,540	0.115%
San Jose, CA PMSA	3,720	$39.58	$82,330	0.417%
Richland-Kennewick-Pasco, WA MSA	430	$38.82	$80,750	0.542%
Boulder-Longmont, CO PMSA	540	$38.37	$79,800	0.340%

About 2002 National, State, and Metropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

To see profiles of other occupations, select from the major groups below:

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These estimates are calculated with data collected from employers in all industry sectors in metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas in every State and the District of Columbia. The top five employment and wage figures are provided above. The complete list is available in the downloadable Excel files(XLS).

Percentile wage estimates show the percentage of workers in an occupation that earn less than a given wage and the percentage that earn more. The median wage is the 50th percentile wage estimate—50 percent of workers earn less than the median and 50 percent of workers earn more than the median. More about percentile wages.

(1) Data for detailed occupations does not sum to the totals because the totals include data for occupations not shown separately. Estimates do not include self-employed workers.

(2) Annual wages have been calculated by multiplying the hourly mean wage by a "year-round, full-time" hours figure of 2,080 hours; for those occupations where there is not an hourly mean wage published, the annual wage has been directly calculated from the reported survey data.

(3) The relative standard error (RSE) is a measure of the reliability of a survey statistic. The smaller the relative standard error, the more precise the estimate.

(6) Estimates not released.

All Architecture and Engineering Occupations

2002 State Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

2002 Metropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

2002 National Industry-Specific Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

List of Occupations in SOC Code Number Order

List of Occupations in Alphabetical Order

Download 2002 Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates in Zipped Excel files

Technical notes

 

Last Modified Date: November 26, 2003