Materials engineers

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Total Workforce

40.2k

Average Age

43.9

Average Salary

$87,164

Average Male Salary

$88,953

Average Female Salary

$75,879

About

Materials engineers are most often employed by the Electronic component & product manufacturing, n.e.c. industry. The average yearly wage for Materials engineers was $87,164 in 2016. The top 3 most similar occupations to Materials engineers by wage are Firstline supervisors of police & detectives, Credit analysts, and Elevator installers & repairers.

Materials engineers are part of the Architecture & engineering occupations, along with Architects, except landscape and naval, Landscape architects, Surveyors, cartographers, & photogrammetrists, Aerospace engineers, Chemical engineers, and 16 more.

The top 3 locations that employ the most Materials engineers are Sunnyvale & San Jose (North) Cities PUMA, CA. The top 3 locations with a relatively high concentration of Materials engineers are Sunnyvale & San Jose (North) Cities PUMA, CA.

Management, business, science, & arts occupations Computer, engineering, & science occupations Architecture & engineering occupations

Information on the businesses and industries that employ Materials engineers and on wages and locations for those in the field. Electronic component & product manufacturing, n.e.c. is the industry that employs the most Materials engineers, both by share and by number, though the highest paid industry for Materials engineers, by average wage, is Architectural, engineering & related services. Materials engineers are paid most in Hillsboro City PUMA, OR but are relatively concentrated in Sunnyvale & San Jose (North) Cities PUMA, CA.

Wages

Yearly Wage

$87,164

AVERAGE SALARY

± $5,910

In 2018, Materials engineers earned an average of $87,164, $33,276 more than than the average national salary of $53,888.

Firstline supervisors of police & detectives make somewhat more than Materials engineers while Elevator installers & repairers make somewhat less. This chart shows the various occupations closest to Materials engineers as measured by average annual salary in the US.

Wage Distribution

0.245

WAGE GINI

In 2018, Materials engineers had a wage GINI coefficient of 0.245, which is lower than than the national average of 0.479. In other words, wages are distributed more evenly for Materials engineers (shown in red) than for the overall labor force (shown in gray).

Wage by Location

HIGHEST PAYING PUMAS

This map shows the Public Use Microdata Areas (PUMAs) in the United States shaded by average annual wage for Materials engineers.

Spatial Concentration

PUMAs with a Relatively High Concentration of Materials engineers

This map displays which Public Use Microdata Areas (PUMAs) in the United States have a relatively high population of Materials engineers.

Industries

Most Common

The most common industries employing Materials engineers, by number of employees, are Electronic component & product manufacturing, n.e.c. , Motor vehicles & motor vehicle equipment manufacturing, and Aircraft & parts manufacturing.

Highest Paying

The highest paying industries for Materials engineers, by average wage, are Aerospace products & parts manufacturing, Nonferrous metal (except aluminum) production & processing, Architectural, engineering & related services, Communications, & audio & video equipment manufacturing, Electronic component & product manufacturing, n.e.c. , and National security & international affairs.

Industries by Share

40.2k

2018 Workforce

± 4,924

-11.5%

1 YEAR GROWTH

± 19%

The number of people employed as Materials engineers has been declining at a rate of -11.5%, from 45,448 people in 2017 to 40,239 people in 2018.

This graphic shows the share of Materials engineers employed by various industries. Electronic component & product manufacturing, n.e.c. employs the largest share of Materials engineers at 17.5%, followed by Motor vehicles & motor vehicle equipment manufacturing with 11% and Aircraft & parts manufacturing with 10.5%.

Diversity

Demographic information on Materials engineers in the US. The average age of male Materials engineers in the workforce is 44.7 and of female Materials engineers is 38.8, and the most common race/ethnicity for Materials engineers is White (Non-Hispanic).

Gender Composition

34.7k

MALE WORKFORCE

± 4,575

5.51k

FEMALE WORKFORCE

± 1,822

86.3% of Materials engineers are Male, making them the more common gender in the occupation. This chart shows the gender breakdown of Materials engineers.

Race & Ethnicity

Most Common Race or Ethnicity of Materials engineers

White (Non-Hispanic)
Asian (Non-Hispanic)
Other (Hispanic)

74% of Materials engineers are White (Non-Hispanic), making that the most common race or ethnicity in the occupation. Representing 17.9% of Materials engineers, Asian (Non-Hispanic) is the second most common race or ethnicity in this occupation. This chart shows the racial and ethnic breakdown of Materials engineers.

Age by Gender

44.7

AVERAGE MALE AGE

± 1.76

38.8

AVERAGE FEMALE AGE

± 4.43

The median age of Materials engineers is 43.9, and Male employees are generally 5.9 years older than than their Female counterparts.

Education

Data on higher education choices for Materials engineers from The Department of Education and Census Bureau. The most common major for Materials engineers is Engineering but a relatively high number of Materials engineers hold a major in Engineering Technologies.

Majors

ACS PUMS data only shows the major for bachelor's degree-majorss. However, we can filter the data based on highest degree-majors obtained.

MOST COMMON MAJORS

MOST SPECIALIZED MAJORS

Skills

Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for Materials engineers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Materials engineers need many skills, but most especially Reading Comprehension, Critical Thinking, and Science. The revealed comparative advantage (RCA) shows that Materials engineers need more than the average amount of Science, Technology Design, and Operations Analysis.