Industrial Engineers: salary, outlook & degrees
Design, develop, test, and evaluate integrated systems for managing industrial production processes, including human work factors, quality control, inventory control, logistics and material flow, cost analysis, and production coordination.
Middle half $83,600–$129,250. 365,740 jobs.
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
Census ACS 2020-2024 microdata, workers with at least a high school diploma; EducationGuide calculation
About 23,100 openings a year, including replacements.
BLS Employment Projections 2025-35
Considerable preparation (usually a bachelor's).
BLS; O*NET 31.0 job zone
Education workers say the job requires
O*NET 31.0 survey of workers (“required level of education”); small samples, so treat shares as approximate.
Pay by state and metro
| State | Median wage |
|---|---|
| Alaska | $156,510 |
| Washington | $129,050 |
| Oregon | $128,290 |
| New Mexico | $128,090 |
| California | $124,600 |
| Hawaii | $123,800 |
| Louisiana | $122,920 |
| Wyoming | $122,070 |
| Delaware | $120,190 |
| Maryland | $119,930 |
| Colorado | $109,750 |
| Massachusetts | $109,420 |
| Rhode Island | $109,350 |
| West Virginia | $108,360 |
| Arizona | $108,280 |
| Texas | $104,560 |
| Montana | $104,430 |
| Connecticut | $104,160 |
| Utah | $103,940 |
| New Jersey | $103,840 |
| District of Columbia | $103,300 |
| Vermont | $103,010 |
| Minnesota | $102,660 |
| New York | $102,640 |
| Virginia | $102,550 |
| Nevada | $102,090 |
| Michigan | $101,680 |
| Florida | $101,610 |
| New Hampshire | $101,310 |
| South Carolina | $101,060 |
| Maine | $101,030 |
| Idaho | $100,840 |
| Illinois | $100,540 |
| Georgia | $100,100 |
| Ohio | $100,060 |
| Alabama | $99,880 |
| Kansas | $99,830 |
| Pennsylvania | $99,560 |
| North Carolina | $99,310 |
| Missouri | $99,290 |
| Tennessee | $99,080 |
| Arkansas | $98,410 |
| Nebraska | $98,170 |
| Iowa | $97,690 |
| Oklahoma | $97,510 |
| Indiana | $97,480 |
| Wisconsin | $96,980 |
| North Dakota | $96,940 |
| Kentucky | $96,820 |
| Mississippi | $95,830 |
| South Dakota | $93,200 |
| PR | $81,820 |
Largest metro areas for this job
- Detroit-Warren-Dearborn MI$104,110
- Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington MN-WI$104,730
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin IL-IN$101,760
- Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim CA$113,040
- Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington TX$105,640
- Boston-Cambridge-Newton MA-NH$118,970
- Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands TX$111,690
- New York-Newark-Jersey City NY-NJ$105,840
- Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington PA-NJ-DE-MD$103,370
- Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler AZ$109,020
- San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont CA$132,230
- Cincinnati OH-KY-IN$105,140
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025: median annual wage, all workers in the job. Metro areas: the largest by employment.
What the work takes
Top skills
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Listening
- Critical Thinking
- Speaking
- Writing
Knowledge used
- Engineering and Technology
- Production and Processing
- Mechanical
- Design
- English Language
Work styles
- Attention to Detail
- Dependability
- Intellectual Curiosity
- Innovation
- Achievement Orientation
People in this job tend to have Conventional (organizing), Investigative (analytical), Realistic (hands-on) interests.
O*NET 31.0 (U.S. Department of Labor, CC BY 4.0): skills and knowledge by importance; work styles; interest high points.
Industrial Engineers: questions
How much do industrial Engineers make?
Industrial Engineers earn a U.S. median $102,440 a year; the middle half earn $83,600 to $129,250 (BLS, May 2025).
Is industrial Engineers a growing field?
BLS projects growth of 12.4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 23,100 openings a year, including replacements.
What degree do you need to be an industrial Engineer?
BLS lists the typical entry education as bachelor's degree. In O*NET's survey, 74% of workers say a bachelor's or higher is required.
How much do industrial Engineers make in Florida?
The median in Florida is $101,610 a year (BLS, May 2025), compared with $102,440 nationally.
Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS May 2025; Employment Projections 2025-35); O*NET 31.0 (U.S. Department of Labor, CC BY 4.0); U.S. Census Bureau ACS microdata. SOC 17-2112. Method
Data: JSON · Markdown · all careers
Cite this: “Industrial Engineers: salary, outlook and degrees,” EducationGuide.com, https://educationguide.com/careers/industrial-engineers.