Industrial Engineers

Pay and outlook

Median annual wage, May 2025

$102,440

Half earn more, half earn less

Middle half earn

$83,600 – $129,250

25th to 75th percentile

People employed, May 2025

365,740

Wage and salary jobs (OEWS)

Projected change, 2025–35

+12.4%

Growing at twice the all-jobs rate or more (7%+)

Openings a year (projected)

23,100

New jobs plus replacing people who leave

Typical education to enter

Bachelor's degree

BLS

• All figures are for the United States as a whole. Pay varies a lot by state and city.
• Wages are for everyone working in the occupation in May 2025, at every career stage. They are not starting salaries or figures for new graduates.
• Growth and openings are BLS projections for 2025–35. They are estimates, not promises. Openings include jobs that open up when people retire or change occupation, not just new jobs.

What the work involves

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.

Main tasks

• Estimate production costs, cost saving methods, and the effects of product design changes on expenditures for management review, action, and control.
• Plan and establish sequence of operations to fabricate and assemble parts or products and to promote efficient utilization.
• Analyze statistical data and product specifications to determine standards and establish quality and reliability objectives of finished product.
• Confer with clients, vendors, staff, and management personnel regarding purchases, product and production specifications, manufacturing capabilities, or project status.
• Communicate with management and user personnel to develop production and design standards.
• Evaluate precision and accuracy of production and testing equipment and engineering drawings to formulate corrective action plan.
• Recommend methods for improving utilization of personnel, material, and utilities.
• Record or oversee recording of information to ensure currency of engineering drawings and documentation of production problems.

More specific O*NET® occupations under this one: Human Factors Engineers and Ergonomists, Manufacturing Engineers, Validation Engineers.

Description and tasks from the O*NET® 31.0 Database.

Getting in

Typical education to enter (BLS)

Bachelor's degree

O*NET Job Zone 4

Considerable preparation

Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

Fields of study that lead here

From the federal CIP–SOC crosswalk, which links 5 programmes to this occupation. A link means the programme prepares people for this kind of work. It doesn't mean the programme is required, or that it's the only route.

Related careers

Related occupations from the O*NET database, in its order.

• Industrial Engineering Technologists and Technicians

  $66,120 median · +3.1% projected

• Industrial Production Managers

  $126,060 median · +2.6% projected

• Mechanical Engineers

  $104,110 median · +11.2% projected

• Electrical Engineers

  $120,630 median · +9.9% projected

• Materials Engineers

  $112,860 median · +7.5% projected

• Mechanical Engineering Technologists and Technicians

  $74,510 median · +1.3% projected