Annual Salary, Salary Range, and Highest Paying States and Industries
Materials Engineers
Materials Engineers evaluate materials and develop machinery and processes to manufacture materials for use in products that must meet specialized design and performance specifications. Develop new uses for known materials. Includes those engineers working with composite materials or specializing in one type of material, such as graphite, metal and metal alloys, ceramics and glass, plastics and polymers, and naturally occurring materials. Includes metallurgists and metallurgical engineers, ceramic engineers, and welding engineers.
Table of contents
- Average salary
- Starting salary
- Salary rank
- Salary range
- Highest paying states
- Highest paying industries
Average salary
Starting salary
Entry-level Materials Engineers with little to no experience can expect to make anywhere between $57,970 to $73,950 per year or $28 to $36 per hour. Similar to any other job, their salary will increase as they gain experience.
Salary rank
We wanted to make it easy for our readers to compare the salary of Materials Engineers to all the other careers out there. So we created Salary Rank. We compared the salary of all careers then we gave them a rank of A, B, C, or D depending on where their average salary sit in comparison to other careers.
Salary range
Level | Hourly | Annual |
---|---|---|
Highest (Top 10%) | $74 | $154,340 |
Senior (Top 25%) | $59 | $123,590 |
Middle (Mid 50%) | $46 | $95,640 |
Junior (Bottom 25%) | $36 | $73,950 |
No experience (Bottom 10%) | $28 | $57,970 |
Highest paying states
State | Hourly | Annual |
---|---|---|
NM | $61 | $126,020 |
MD | $59 | $123,250 |
LA | $54 | $112,020 |
CA | $53 | $110,710 |
TX | $52 | $108,710 |
CO | $52 | $107,480 |
TN | $51 | $105,110 |
AZ | $50 | $103,160 |
MA | $50 | $103,100 |
ID | $49 | $102,930 |
Another simple way to increase your salary as a Materials Engineer is to move to a higher paying state. However moving to a higher paying state like NM doesn’t guarantee that you will make more because the expenses at NM might be much higher than where you are currently living at right now.
According to BLS, the highest paid Materials Engineers are in the states of NM, MD, LA, CA and TX.
Highest paying industries
Salary by industry | Annual | Hourly |
---|---|---|
Oil and Gas Extraction | $137620 | $66.16 |
Pipeline Transportation of Crude Oil | $130440 | $62.71 |
Federal Executive Branch | $121610 | $58.47 |
Remediation and Other Waste Management Services | $118090 | $56.77 |
Chemical Manufacturing | $116510 | $56.02 |
Aerospace Product and Parts Manufacturing | $116150 | $55.84 |
Computer Systems Design and Related Services | $111170 | $53.44 |
Scientific Research and Development Services | $109260 | $52.53 |
Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing | $109020 | $52.41 |
Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods | $108410 | $52.12 |
Local Government | $108210 | $52.02 |
Natural Gas Distribution | $107530 | $51.70 |
Navigational, Measuring, Electromedical, and Control Instruments Manufacturing | $106070 | $50.99 |
Machine Shops; Turned Product; and Screw, Nut, and Bolt Manufacturing | $104480 | $50.23 |
Electric Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution | $104140 | $50.07 |
Commercial and Service Industry Machinery Manufacturing | $103960 | $49.98 |
Computer and Peripheral Equipment Manufacturing | $103550 | $49.78 |
Machinery, Equipment, and Supplies Merchant Wholesalers | $103330 | $49.68 |
Semiconductor and Other Electronic Component Manufacturing | $102820 | $49.43 |
Support Activities for Mining | $101070 | $48.59 |
Management of Companies and Enterprises | $100770 | $48.45 |
Architectural, Engineering, and Related Services | $100760 | $48.44 |
Converted Paper Product Manufacturing | $100190 | $48.17 |
Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services | $98750 | $47.48 |
Pharmaceutical and Medicine Manufacturing | $97670 | $46.96 |
Pipeline Transportation of Natural Gas | $97300 | $46.78 |
Medical Equipment and Supplies Manufacturing | $96380 | $46.34 |
Support Activities for Air Transportation | $95560 | $45.94 |
Other Transportation Equipment Manufacturing | $95500 | $45.91 |
Nonresidential Building Construction | $95470 | $45.90 |