Engineering

What Can You Do With an Engineering Degree?

A broad path into designing and building technical systems across industries. Graduates earn a median $75,000 early in their careers and $105,000 by mid-career. We track 10 careers that an Engineering degree commonly leads to, with median pay from $64,950 to $172,250 depending on the role and how far you take it.

How these numbers work: A major does not have its own salary. Early and mid-career pay is what people who hold this degree earn at the start of their careers and midway through them. Career pay comes from the 10 careers an Engineering degree commonly leads to, and counts everyone in those jobs, including people who have been doing them for thirty years. The two answer different questions, which is why they do not match.

The New York Fed does not report Engineering on its own. Its early and mid-career figures here are for General Engineering, the broader group it places this major in.

Careers this major leads to

Physicist$172,250 median · About average Product Manager$166,790 median · Much faster than average Mechanical Engineer$104,110 median · Much faster than average Management Consultant$101,860 median · Much faster than average Technical Writer$90,390 median · Slower than average Cost Estimator$78,740 median · Declining Electrical Engineering Technician$78,190 median · Slower than average Mechanical Engineering Technician$74,510 median · Slower than average Career and Technical Education Teacher$66,270 median · Declining Civil Engineering Technician$64,950 median · Slower than average

Frequently asked questions

What can you do with an Engineering degree?

An Engineering degree commonly leads to 10 careers we track, including Physicist, Product Manager, and Mechanical Engineer. Graduates earn a median $75,000 early in their careers.

How much do Engineering majors make?

Graduates with an Engineering degree earn a median of $75,000 a year early in their careers, and $105,000 by mid-career (Federal Reserve Bank of New York, 2024 data). Those figures are reported for General Engineering, the broader group this major sits in.

What jobs can an Engineering major get?

Common roles include Physicist, Product Manager, Mechanical Engineer, and Management Consultant. Physicist is among the higher-paying, at $172,250 median.

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Where these pay figures come from

Early and mid-career pay is the median annual wage of full-time workers who hold a bachelor's degree in that major, ages 22 to 27 and ages 35 to 45, from 2024 data. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (IPUMS). Published as Outcomes by Major by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Career pay is the annual wage of everyone working in that occupation, not only recent graduates, so it includes people who have done the job for decades. The middle half is the 25th to the 75th percentile. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and O*NET OnLine (median and percentile annual wages May 2025; employment projections 2024-2034).

All figures are national. What you earn depends on where you work, who you work for, and how far you take the degree.

Job-growth figures: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and O*NET OnLine (median and percentile annual wages May 2025; employment projections 2024-2034).