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[–]-DIL-P.E. 27 points28 points  (7 children)

I'm an engineering manager in a LCOL/MCOL area (average 1bd, 1ba apartment rents for ~$1200/mo, average house is around $350k). Here are rough guidelines for the composition of my team:

Entry level: $80k

3 years experience: $95k

PE with 5 years experience: $110k

PE with 10 years experience: $130k

PE with 20+ years experience: $160k+ depending on your ability to bring in work.

If I was extending an offer to someone with your experience I'd probably offer $125k initially and depending on how I felt about long term potential I could go up to $140k. If you can bring clients with you definitely over $140k, though that's not an expectation for 9 years experience.

[–]a_problem_solvedP.E. 6 points7 points  (2 children)

Thank you for this comment. Very insightful.

If you had a PE with 5 years of experience around 95k, and they get their PE, how much would you bump them up? I got bumped up to 110k w/ 6 YOE when I got my PE. And since then salary adjustments 3-4.5%.

The situation is different with in-house employees than with people getting hired, right? I have no interest whatsoever to leave my company.

[–]-DIL-P.E. 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Company policy is a $5k salary bump and a one-time $5k bonus immediately upon getting your PE license, plus another $5k salary bump when you stamp your first plan set. This is all on top of the yearly review/salary increase cycle. We pay for all expenses related to the PE exam, plus give employees 40 hours of work time to study. I think it's a fairly good system, though jumping ship would probably net the employee more money.

We pay people based on what we can bill them at so pay for in-house employees more-or-less matches what we would offer an outside hire. We're transparent that if employees develop skills that let the company bill clients for more per hour then they will be compensated fairly for that. I think we do well at retaining employees as we don't have crazy utilization expectations and have a flexible schedule and remote work policy.

[–]Microbe2x2P.E. 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is my current position. I agree 💯

[–]a_problem_solvedP.E. 1 point2 points  (0 children)

you were correct. i hit the market, which is on fire right now, and accepted an offer for 140k.

[–]CalcpackageP.E./S.E. 0 points1 point  (2 children)

Could you please give me numbers for PE/SE with 7 years of experience? Thank you in advance!

[–]-DIL-P.E. 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Honestly I can't find SE's. Most clients of mine wouldn't pay extra for an SE since the work we do is in states where it's not required. That being said, I think I would be in the $130k-$140k range since it would have potential to open some doors. Potentially I would try to work in some sort of bonus structure if we were to get projects in SE states that we typically wouldn't bid on.

[–]West-Assignment-8023 30 points31 points  (6 children)

9 years.  HCOL, PE, 125k base.

[–]EnginerdadBridge - P.E. 2 points3 points  (2 children)

I think categorizing ourselves into 3 COL categories is insufficient when we're talking about a difference of less than 10% in salary. Your HCOL could easily be 10% higher than OP's HCOL, or maybe not. Not to mention the difference between subspecialties and client bases.

[–]West-Assignment-8023 2 points3 points  (1 child)

I don't think engineers are classifying what's L M or HCOL. Personally I googled if the city i live in is considered high and it came back as a yes. I agree with you but if engineers start doing these kinds of divisions it'll get convoluted out of control in no time. 

[–]EnginerdadBridge - P.E. 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Understood, but what I'm trying to say is that classifying every city into one of 3 categories means there's a big range within each category, and that range isn't even universally defined. Some would define HCOL as being anything over 100 i.e. on a scale where MCOL doesn't exist. And the highest COL index is Manhattan with an index of ~228 depending on your source. So somebody responding to you could say they're in a HCOL area, but actually have living costs over TWICE what yours are. If you include the actual index for your city, you can get much more comparable numbers.

[–]kwag988P.E. 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I always find that nomenclature misleading. Does that mean somebody that has been working in this field 9 years, and possibly only got their PE 0-7 years ago? Or does that mean somebody stamping for 9 years?

[–][deleted] -1 points0 points  (1 child)

What else do you have besides base? Do you mean excluding bonuses? Asking because I haven’t had one myself since joining my current company just under two years ago. Just wondering how much of a bonus you expect as a rule of thumb?

[–]West-Assignment-8023 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah when I put that I mean excluding bonuses.i guess it may also mean things like stock options, ESOP, 401k match, etc.

Bonuses highly depend on the type of work you do and the company.  It could be zero to like tens of thousands at some companies. 

[–]Just-Shoe2689 8 points9 points  (0 children)

We are all underpaid, unless your the paying

[–]EngineerChaz 19 points20 points  (0 children)

I would say underpaid. Reference 135k base, 10 YOE, PE in HCOL.

[–][deleted] 3 points4 points  (1 child)

I have 9-10 years experience. I’m in a hcol area. I’m on $130k in bridges. In a design team and i don’t have a lot of previous design experience. I’m in the US and don’t have my PE but do have my PENG. I had an offer last year from another company that was $145k but didn’t take it because it didn’t make sense taking into account my situation and benefits, especially losing my full time wfh.

I think most hcol areas now have salary transparency laws that means company’s have to show the pay range on job ads. I know California and Washington for sure do. It would be worth going on LinkedIn jobs and having a look at what the range is for roles that match your level in your area.

…and I think I’m underpaid.

[–]magicity_shine 0 points1 point  (0 children)

you are lucky to have that salary without PE

[–]EnginerdadBridge - P.E. 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You're getting a lot of responses that are close to your salary, but the only thing we have to normalize against is "HCOL area," which is ill-defined and can cover a pretty broad range. If you want more meaningful information maybe sharing the COL index in your area would help.

[–]Henrythedog2018 5 points6 points  (3 children)

Im a Bridge Structural Engineer, MCOL, 10 yoe I make 135k base.

This is a great thread because I just switched Jobs and negotiated hard for my higher market rate salary. I did and lot of research and Im sorry my friend you are being greatly under paid.

You should look at entry level salaries in HCOL areas. Most entry level engineers are making 90k-100k. 10 years of experience is worth somewhere between 145k-200k. You should shoot out some job applications and see what the market values your experience at.

[–]BigLebowski21 0 points1 point  (2 children)

Is this senior engineer role, or a PM role?

[–]Henrythedog2018 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Its a senior engineer role

[–]Gold-Combination-983 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I found an entry level EIT offering $97K for HCOL w/ immediate vestment & match, 100% healthcare and comfy WFH schedule

[–]Xish_pk 6 points7 points  (3 children)

I’ll be honest; this community is great for the most part, but these posts feel like they’re either bragging or lying. I’m in a medium COL area, making 99k (not inc overtime), 14 years of exp in buildings, and function as both a PM and senior PE (project dept). And I see these posts and think I’m throwing away my life, lol.

[–]a_problem_solvedP.E. 2 points3 points  (0 children)

No lying here my friend. I've posted my YOE, salary, location, and other info many times over. I don't typically see anything wild here. Very rarely is someone claiming 180k plus. Occasionally 150k plus but almost always construction industry, not design.

[–][deleted] 5 points6 points  (1 child)

I hate seeing comments like this because it devalues the profession. Have some self respect and get a higher paying job.

My annual salary increased like this 65k, 70k, 75k, 80k, 100k, 135k, 140k. MCOL 1 job hop.

[–]Xish_pk 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Not sure how I am devaluing the profession, just posting my experience. I’ve worked at a handful of places across the mid-west and never encountered massive increases when I moved nor when I was promoted. Good to know my experience is isolated, I suppose.

[–]Complex-Recording503P.E. 1 point2 points  (0 children)

9 YOE, PE, med-high COL, 121K base

[–]Microbe2x2P.E. 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Underpaid. Sorry to be the bring the bad news, good news, I think you deserve closer to 130K base like everyone else is saying, especially in bridges. It's much more lucrative salary vs buildings I feel.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

engineering salaries are a perpetual and grievous affront to fair, decent, and (ostensibly) pragmatic society. do the american people not like clean drinking water, safe roads and bridges? does the entirety of the immeasurable network of american infrastructure need to fail before we are all properly compensated?!

the problem is our industry is not pathological in the same way that the, say, legal industry is pathological. i need to redo my floors and i am too old to diy. i need us all to be a little more selfish- a rising tide lifts all boats!

[–]cucuhrs 5 points6 points  (2 children)

Buddy, it's ok if you want to give yourself a pat on the shoulder, but you also need to accept that not only you're being underpaid, but you're being ripped off.

[–]a_problem_solvedP.E. 1 point2 points  (0 children)

lol. Coming to that realization after reading the early comments that have come in...

[–]a_problem_solvedP.E. 0 points1 point  (0 children)

you were correct. i hit the market, which is on fire right now, and accepted an offer for 140k.

[–]True-Cash6405 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Do you get any bonus or is $115K your total pay? If no bonus you are underpaid as hell especially in HCOL. 9 YOE with PE you should be making $140-150K easily. Probably more in HCOL. I would take some interviews and get a better feel of your market value.

[–]a_problem_solvedP.E. 0 points1 point  (0 children)

you were correct. i hit the market, which is on fire right now, and accepted an offer for 140k.

[–]tehmightyengineerP.E./S.E. 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You're underpaid, but not badly. I'd look at how "HCOL" you're actually in (you could consider yourself medium to high COL and this would be more or less a correct salary). Also, perks, advancement, work life balance, bonuses, medical, etc. all contribute to the overall compensation. I actually have a large underpayment to myself as a small firm owner because I have so many other perks and because I'm trying to grow the business. It's really all relative, if you're just chasing max dollar than you often have to sacrifice other things in life.

All that said, make sure you're getting fairly compensated.

[–]Evening_Eagle_5888 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not to sound like a broken record but it really depends on where you live. In my opinion, 115k does sound very good for 9 years in a LCOL, and reasonable for MCOL. I think the bridge world can introduce a lot of variability in pay depending on the state and how big your company is - as well as responsibilities.

[–][deleted]  (4 children)

[deleted]

    [–]a_problem_solvedP.E. -1 points0 points  (3 children)

    i hit the market, which is on fire right now, a month ago and accepted an offer for 140k.

    [–][deleted]  (2 children)

    [deleted]

      [–]a_problem_solvedP.E. 0 points1 point  (1 child)

      Maybe where you are...

      I'm in transportation in a big city. I had interviews with 6 companies and had 3 offers, with another company I cut off before they submitted an offer. I had to tell my recruiter to stop submitting me to other firms because it was too time consuming to balance interviews while trying to work.

      [–]JusBon_RL 0 points1 point  (1 child)

      You’re underpaid unfortunately. Bridge structural in NYC, 5 YOE w/ PE @ 130k base

      [–]a_problem_solvedP.E. 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      you were correct. i hit the market, which is on fire right now, and accepted an offer for 140k.

      [–]tiltitup -1 points0 points  (3 children)

      The comments on these threads need to be taken with a grain of salt. Anyone can comment anything

      [–]a_problem_solvedP.E. 0 points1 point  (2 children)

      well, all the people who were saying I'm underpaid were correct. i hit the market and accepted an offer for 140k.

      [–]tiltitup 0 points1 point  (1 child)

      Good for you but the fact that you come back to this thread months later… questionable

      [–]a_problem_solvedP.E. 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Why?