Cashing in: How much do engineers get paid

Engineers are engineers because of the love of the job. Very few groups of professionals pride themselves on their work as much as engineers do.

It is – for many – more than a job, but a lifestyle. The number of retired engineers who keep a keen interest in New Civil Engineer’s reporting is testament to the dedication of the engineering workforce.

And their dedication is well placed. At the end of the day engineers are responsible for ensuring our roads and railways are safe, our hospitals and schools get built and our bridges and tunnels are robust enough to withstand the test of time.

So, with that weight of responsibility of their shoulders, it should come as no surprise that engineers are well paid as a consequence.

The average (mean) Civil Engineers full time annual salary in the UK is £42,942 and the median £41,041. For men the mean full time salary of £43,070 is 5% higher than the full time mean for women £41,677. This is calculated on the basis of different levels of Civil Engineers jobs in the UK and is based on the provisional ONS dataset (Occupation (4 digit SOC) – ASHE: Table 14) which was released on 25 October 2018.

Compare that to other professions the financial benefits of a career in engineering is plain as day, with engineers ranked within the top five professions in the UK when it comes to average salary.

Usually, the starting salary is around £25,000-£30,000 for an entry level, graduate or junior civil engineering. However, this salary scale can be around £46,000 – £55,000 for a senior civil engineering .

The salaries can be considerably higher and vary a lot in cities like London, Brighton, Birmingham, Manchester, Edinburgh. It is also a fact that your salary will depend whether you are a junior, trainee, graduate or a senior civil engineer.

And civil engineering also stacks up when pitted against different engineering professions.

Chemical, pharmaceutical and medical engineers are the highest paid among the engineering sphere, with an average take home pay packet of £51,000. Electrical engineers are then close behind, with an average pay of £48,900, with aerospace engineers taking home an average annual salary of £47,800. Academic engineers (engineering professors, researchers etc.) pocket an average of £44,500 per year, while mechanic and civil engineers both take home slightly over £41,000 on average.

Meanwhile design and development engineers can expect an average salary of £40,900, and environmental and agricultural engineers take home an average pay of £40,500.

Production and process engineers average pay is £39,815 while quality control & planning engineers can expect an average salary of £38,100 annually.