Industrial Engineering Salaries Reported

Compensation of Industrial Engineers, 14th Edition

PUBLISHED: July 2000

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Compensation of Industrial Engineers, 14th Edition, the newly-published, 473-page, in-depth report resulting from this survey, reports income for 27 types of employer; 33 multi-state, state, and metropolitan areas; six primary job functions; 17 primary activities/specialties; six levels of education; 10 lengths of experience; and level of education vs. length of experience. Income data are reported for each variable by five levels of professional responsibility and 9 levels of supervisory/managerial responsibility. Compensation data are reported for each of the other ten demographic variable vs. job level, supervisory/managerial level, metropolitan/geographic area, type of employer, size of employer, and length of experience.  Copies of the report are available for $295.00 from our On-Line Order Form or Abbott, Langer & Associates, Dept. NET, 548 First St., Crete, IL 60417.

Who is the highest paid Institute of Industrial Engineers member? The lowest paid? Truthfully, we don't know. (Of course, we would not name names nor quote specific salaries even if we did.) However, from the results of the 2000 IIE income survey, we can conjure up imaginary members who might fill the bill ... as we have from the previous thirteen surveys in this series.

The composite IIE member with the highest current income holds a graduate degree, has 25 years of experience or more, and is a registered P.E. This individual is in a high-level position in an organization with 10,000 employees or more. The organization is probably a machinery manufacturing firm, an engineering firm, a petroleum or coal products firm, a stone/clay/glass product manufacturer, or a construction firm. This individual is undoubtedly a corporate official or in general management. The highest-paid individual makes over $1,000,000 annually. He or she is located in the St. Louis, New York City, Los Angeles/San Diego, Denver/Boulder/Colorado Springs/Pueblo, or Atlanta metropolitan area, or outside the largest metropolitan areas in the South Central or Mountain states.

At the other end of the income spectrum, the lowest-paid IIE member has a BS degree in engineering, has five to nine years of experience, and is an Engineer-in-Training. This individual is employed by an organization with under 1,000 employees. The organization probably is a printing or publishing firm, a state government, or a manufacturer of petroleum or coal products, transportation equipment, or fabricated metal products. This individual is probably involved in production/inventory control scheduling/forecasting, engineering economics, furniture or wood products manufacturing, or transportation equipment manufacturing. The lowest-paid individual in this group earns under $21,000.

The total median compensation for industrial engineers responding to the survey is $66,650 (up 25.4% in the four years since the previous survey in this series). The exact income varied according to highest degree earned; length of experience; region, state, and metropolitan area; registration status; type of employer; size of organization; primary job function; primary activity or specialty; job level; and level of supervisory/managerial responsibility. Obviously, a magazine article cannot comprehensively cover the material which appears in a tightly-packed, 473-plus page, in-depth report. Therefore, we will only attempt to cover the survey highlights in this article.

Survey participants who do not hold at least a bachelor's degree had a median income of $59,000. Income rose regularly by degree level to the $82,500 median income for those who hold doctoral degrees.

The total income of I.E's rose regularly by length of experience. Those with under two years of experience had a median income of $46,908, while those with 30 years of experience or more had a median income of $85,825. This provides a "spread" of 83% between the two groups. The spreads found in previous surveys in this series were 105% in 1996, 113.5% in 1993, 96.5% in 1989, 86.3% in 1987, 87.5% in 1985, 74.6% in 1983, 79.5% in 1982, 80.9% in 1980, 83.6% in 1979, 94.4% in 1977, 95.9% in 1975, and 102.9% in 1972.

For the second time, the effect of gender on the income of IEs was studied. It was found that the median income of female IEs was 90.4% of that of male IEs. Unfortunately, the sample of female IEs was too small to investigate the effect of level of education vs. length of experience on income.

Again for the second time, the effect of origin of respondent on the income of IEs was studied. It was found that the median incomes of white (not of hispanic origin), hispanic, and Asian/Pacific Islander IEs cluster between $61,000 and $69,000 (the sample of black IEs was too small to be significant), with the Asian/Pacific Islander IEs having the highest median income.

By primary activity or specialty, the highest median income went to those engaged in management information systems ($89,000); "organization, administration - IE department, plant" and materials management (both $84,000). Median incomes at the other end of the spectrum were those received by IIE members engaged in work measurement/standards/performance measures ($52,500), manufacturing engineering/automation ($55,000), methods engineering/process design/value analysis/human productivity ($59,119), and facility planning, design, layout, environment protection ($59,475).

As might be expected, the median income was highest for IIE members who were corporate officers or in general management ($125,000). Functional management/department heads were next ($84,908), followed by educators ($78,896) and consultants ($77,300). Supervisors of technical or professional personnel had a median income of $70,612. Those who were engineers, analysts, or other professionals had a median income of $58,000.

Median income varied considerably from one type of employer to another, with median income being higher in non-manufacturing organizations ($73,000) than in manufacturing firms ($63,150). The lowest median incomes of IIE members were found in firms involved in printing and publishing ($55,500), aerospace and aircraft manufacturing ($58,500), rubber & plastic products' manufacturing firms ($59,495), and in government, health care organizations, and colleges/universities (all under $70,000). IIE members whose median incomes were highest were those employed by communications services ($87,250); banks and other financial organizations ($85,575); non-engineering consulting firms ($85,000); utilities ($77,077); and transportation services ($76,303).

By major geographic region in the U.S., median incomes for IIE members ranged from $60,350 in the North Central states to $72,600 in the Pacific states.

An analysis of compensation in 26 metropolitan areas/individual states/regions revealed greater differences. Median income was highest in the Philadelphia, Denver/Boulder/Colorado Springs/Pueblo, and Los Angeles/San Diego metropolitan areas, with median incomes ranging from $90,000 to $79,823. The lowest median incomes were found in the Northeastern states (excluding Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh), and the Houston, Seattle/Everett, and Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan areas (all between $50,124 and $62,000).

IIE members working in the largest organizations (10,000 employees or more) had the highest median income - $72,000. Median income declined to $66,500 in organizations with 1,000 to 9,999 employees, and to $62,800 in organizations with under 1,000.

This factor is an excellent predictor of compensation in the industrial engineering field. Supervision of engineers, scientists, and/or technologists pays better than supervision of clerical/production/maintenance employees, and both (except for the supervision of a very small number of clerical/production/maintenance employees) pay better than non-supervisory positions. While the median income of non-supervisory positions is $59,000, supervision of one to four professional subordinates results in a median income of $68,592, rising to $134,750 with supervision of 50 of more such subordinates.

As indicated above, the median income of those supervising under ten to four sub-professional employees is lower than that of non-supervisory IE positions. However, the median income of those with five to nine such subordinates is higher (although not significantly so).

Order the 473-page survey report, Compensation of Industrial Engineers, 14th Edition, described on this page for $295, with charges for shipping & handling (and IL sales tax, if applicable). The report is IN STOCK and can be shipped out within two business days. The mean, median, 1st and 3rd quartile, and 1st and 9th decile data for base salary, bonus/commission/profit sharing, and total annual cash compensation are reported for many demographic variables, including geographic location, type and size of employer, etc. To purchase the report, use our On-Line Order Form, call 708/672-4200, email, fax, or write per the information at the bottom of this page.

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