In a perfect world, we would all aspire to the work that stirs our passion. In the real world, we need money to live. The perfect melding of the two worlds is doing work that fills our souls and wallets.
Engineering, as diverse as this field is, fits the bill.
Engineers are inventors, builders and problem-solvers. They're creative thinkers whose powers of imagination present them with unlimited possibilities. An engineer's imagination played a role in designing every comfort and convenience we enjoy today.
The word 'engineer' finds its source in Late Latin, the period between the 3rd and 6th Centuries. By the 12th Century, 'ingeniare' had evolved to represent inventors and designers.
That's a far more positive definition than the original 'schemer' and 'builder of war machines'. But it gives no hint of how well such schemers were compensated.
Some people choose their careers based on earning potential and others by compulsion - life offers them no other choice. Nicola Tesla is a prime example of such. This electrical engineer missed out on the credit and compensation for many of his discoveries but he never failed to explore ideas his fertile mind threw up.
Most of us fall in between those two extremes. This article explores that wide middle ground, exposing potential earnings and what role you might best play. We'll start with an overview of engineer salaries.
Engineer Salary Australia
Telling people you're an engineer might provoke momentary esteem, but then, you'd have to tell them what type of engineer you are. We could break down the engineering industry into its 18 separate categories, each with its own sub-specialities. And then, we might list starting salaries from highest to lowest and what an engineer in each field could earn, on average.
Doing so might cause an information overload so instead, we chose a few jobs and highlighted their average salaries. Not coincidentally, these are the types of engineers Australia needs the most. And they happen to be the jobs that suffer from a lack of female talent.
Overview of engineer salary Australia
| French Word | Phonetic Explanation | Audio |
|---|---|---|
| A (as in "chat") | Similar to the A sound in “cat” | |
| I (as in "fini") | Same as the English letter E, or ee as in “seed” | |
| O (as in "porte") | Like in “location” | |
| U (as in "lune") | Like the German Ü, “you” | |
| Y (as in "style") | The Y sound in yellow, not in spy; or an “ee” sound if followed by a consonant |
As you can see, some engineers' median income is much higher than others' but all are in the top 50% of earnings for our country. How high your pay might be depends on the type of engineering work you do and your level of education.
The rule of thumb in engineering is the same as in other career fields. The more education and experience you have the better the compensation but that's not the whole story.
Consider the highest salary on our table, software engineer's. Information Technology is a booming field making exponential advances. Thus, it stands to reason that companies would do what they could to hire and keep top talent.
And these engineers may work remotely, saving them commuting costs and having to maintain an expansive professional wardrobe.
On the other hand, reflecting on our climate crisis, we should prioritise filling our ranks of environmental and agricultural engineers. As our focus turns more towards sustainability, we need a new cohort of civil engineers to plan and build eco-friendly structures.
And what about 15-minute cities? As such initiatives gain traction, developers, materials engineers and project management teams will explore their inherent possibilities.
Balancing Education Costs and Engineer Salary
Before moving on, let's talk a little more about how much we need female representation in the engineering industry. Data show that in vocational training, the ratio of male-to-female students is more than 10 to one. University engineering programs count six male students for every female engineering candidate.
Going further, now. The Women in STEM organisation reports that female engineering students apply for and receive fewer scholarships and grants. What do these data reveal about education and engineers' salaries?
For one, more non-males in the industry would help to close the gender pay gap. More importantly, women in engineering pave the way for new ideas. These initiatives would lead to novel considerations, new projects and diversity in development.
As an example, people in Barcelona are waking up to intriguing possibilities in urban planning, thanks to their all-female team of civil engineers and developers.
But no matter the engineering student's preferred pronouns, learning the systems, skills and science they need could be a costly affair. Some engineering fields, such as biomedical engineering or chemical engineering, only demand a Bachelor's degree.
If you aim for a career as a software developer/engineer, you could earn your certificate through vocational training.
But other types of engineers demand the highest levels of education. Those include aeronautical engineers, environmental engineers, structural engineers and agricultural engineers.
As you likely know, any level of study above undergraduate is at the student's expense. Even if you benefit from grants, scholarships and bursaries, you'll have high fees to pay.
Many students take out loans to cover these extra costs. They then have to repay all that borrowed money, plus interest, once they start working.
So, as you consider your role in engineering, take into account that such loans will count against your earnings.
Here's what that will look like. Let's say you earn an electrical engineer's average salary - $92,894 but have to pay back $10,000 a year. You'll earn less than a biomedical engineer does because they won't have any loans to repay.
You shouldn't let this dissuade you from your chosen path; you only need to be aware that school loans will impact your earnings.
Specialised systems demand specialists to keep them running. Australian universities continuously develop new study programs to prepare tomorrow's engineers for this ever-changing industry.
Today, more engineering specialities 'cross borders' - geotechnical engineers often work with civil engineers, for instance. So it's best for each role to know something about all the others, which means you'll need graduate-level studies.
How Much Do Engineers Earn?
No matter how you slice it, you will have to do a lot of learning on your way to becoming a well-paid engineer. As we've shown throughout this article, how much you might earn as an engineer depends on what type of engineer you are. In Australia, the average salary for all types of engineers hovers around $93,326 per year.
The project manager role sits at the highest end of the engineer pay scale with an average base salary of $119,696 per year. A mechanical engineer earns roughly $11,000 a year less and electrical engineers report a base salary of $10,000 less than that.
But education, specialisation and experience aren't the only salary-determining factors. Where you work matters, too. East Perth engineers report earning just over $97,000 but all New South Wales engineers are among the best compensated in the business.
All the salaries we've cited throughout this article are base pay figures listed on Indeed. These numbers don't include pay for engineers who have to travel to job sites and/or who own specialised tools and equipment.
For instance, an environmental engineer may bring water and soil test kits to a job site they drive to in their own car. They would likely receive additional compensation for mileage as well as their resources.
What about engineers whose jobs send them into the field for months? Let's say developers are planning a new business complex. They need the best geotechnical engineers, environmental engineers, structural engineers and architects - building engineers. And, of course, a project management team to coordinate and catalogue the data they all gather.
Such a team might spend a month or more on location. As such, they may be entitled to extra pay for being away from home. As they must eat and sleep somewhere, they may also receive a per-diem allowance.
You might be a mechanical engineer building a new wind farm or an agricultural engineer overseeing land developments. Whichever role you play 'in the field' may earn you a little extra in your pay packet. Likewise, if you work overtime on a major project, you'll earn more for those hours.
Let's also consider engineers who are independent contractors versus employees. A software engineer working in a business may receive the same base salary as one who works on a job-by-job basis. But the company worker probably wouldn't have to buy the computer and accessories they need to get the job done.
By contrast, the freelance software engineer would have to invest in expensive equipment and have a suitable workspace. They wouldn't get any extra compensation for duty travel or working beyond standard hours. Furthermore, it would be on them to stay abreast of changes in the industry.
By contrast, continuous development would likely be a benefit company-employed software engineers enjoy.
From this writer's favourite engineer, Leonardo da Vinci, to John Bradfield - designer of the Sidney Harbour Bridge, engineers have built our world. You might aspire to a career in engineering because men like these inspire you.
Or you might join ranks with Lillian Galbreath, the first female mechanical engineer to graduate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is called the Mother of Modern Management for all the time-saving kitchen devices she helped design.
She was poorly compensated for her engineering work but these salary snapshots prove you won't be.
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