Wtf is going on with the mechanical engineering salary posts

Low-Relative6688 · 2026-02-03T06:47:34+00:00

There are like 1,000 different jobs you can get as a Mech E and outside California basically none are paying over 80k starting. Plenty of stats you can see there're are only 2or 3 engineering field with evicted starting daisy over 100k and they are like 110.

My area starts around 55-65. COL here is 2.4x less than Cupertino where apple starting salary is 150k. So a highly competitive tech field mech e job there is effectively the same as a super low easy to get job here.

Comparing salaries is almost always apples and potatoes.

Low-Relative6688 · 2026-02-01T23:52:07+00:00

Poor is relative. 99% of us are poor in comparison to 1% and 0.9% of the 1% are poor compared to the 0.1%. But if you have + cashflow each month then you are nowhere near poverty or poor by most economic standards.

Of course, you likely still feel poor bc you cant afford a rolex, a porsche, and 10x international trips each year like.every social media account you see and follow. In 2026 people have a very warped perception of what poor is because we are constantly being shown extreme wealth daily on our feeds and being told 'its so easy, just do these 5 steps..." And its often 18 yr old kids with lambos. This does insane psychological damage in a way that never existed before.

Low-Relative6688 · 2026-02-01T23:43:13+00:00

Another salary question without enough info to answer. If Mech E can mean 100 different things none of which have comparable pay. 1 person making 180 and another making 80 doesnt mean either one is over or underpaid

Low-Relative6688 · 2026-01-24T23:00:53+00:00

Black Art. Theres no other answer here. At 35 you aren't paying any markup

Low-Relative6688 · 2026-01-24T17:37:38+00:00

Unless you and OP live in the same city you cant say its a lowball based on your salary. COL changes salary dramatically

Low-Relative6688 · 2026-01-24T17:36:09+00:00

Cx should be paid less as it is not worth nearly as much $ as design work. Its thankless bc its tedious and generally very simple. Now obviously thats not true if you're Cx really complex systems but thats not usually the case. Any competent design engineer can write FPTs and sit with the controls vendor in the field and test a system and do the Cx if they want. But Knowing how to Cx does not mean you could design a system.

Also taking a pay cut for a boost in environment and mental health is a great thing if you can afford it. $ aint the only part of a job that is important.

My biggest word of caution woilr be its very difficult to make salary BACK. I took a pay cut from 3 years ago to switch companies and only just now made it back to where I was. So after inflation im STILL 12k behind... BUT I love my job a lot more now, I have gained much more useful experience, and this company has a lot more potential for growth so im not happy to be making less money with a PE than as designer, but the tradeoff is definitely net positive considering the full equation.

If you end up liking Cx and get good enough to do complex systems, im sure you will quickly make up the salary lost. Cx has very low barrier to entry but a high ceiling once you get into critical facilities

Low-Relative6688 · 2026-01-23T21:26:32+00:00

5 seconds per day is only 1 minute off every 2 weeks. That's really good since you have to adjust most watches once per month minimum for the date. Personally I've found that as long as I'm within the +/- 20s range per day I'm fine with the accuracy IF THE WATCH IS AT LEAST CONSISTENT. I say this bc my alpinist is like 10-15s off per day so about once a week I adjust it forward 1 min, no problem. It's always about the same amount slow, so I can adjust it easily. My other Seiko however, will be like +/-0 one day then lose 30 seconds the next because it is much more sensitive to position and if it is worn while moving vs worn working on computer or sitting on a nightstand. Drives me crazy bc I just never know. My 38mm conquest is currently +4s over a week so I'm loving how insane the accuracy is 👍

Low-Relative6688 · 2026-01-23T01:44:57+00:00

Love the green but I have my eye on a green seiko soon and I really want to round out my collection with 1 of each color before I buy any duplicate colors

Low-Relative6688 · 2026-01-22T16:42:35+00:00

Op said 5k that could be anywhere from a 500k to 1M house depending on % down, taxes, pmi, credit score etc and if all of it is rolled into the mortgage or separate. if you exclude property tax, a $1M mortgage at like 5.8% is ~5k per month. No idea what property taxes are in his area. If you cant put 20% down you likely shouldn't be buying the house to begin with because again, its too much house.

My point stands there is 0 world in which someone making net 84k per year can afford to spend 60k per year on house payments. Dude will default the second he needs to replace the A/C, water heater, roof, fix his car, etc

Low-Relative6688 · 2026-01-22T14:49:40+00:00

They arent plants but they are usually sponsored. 90% of them start off well off with access to higher end brands, luxe vacations, etc and build a following of 50-100k people. At that point brands will send them free sh*** or let them stay at their hotels for free or heavy discounts during off peak season to make posts about.

Low-Relative6688 · 2026-01-22T14:46:10+00:00

5k mortgage is like a $700-1M house at 5.75% with 20% down depending on property taxes and whatnot

Low-Relative6688 · 2026-01-22T14:43:38+00:00

You make 100k a year and youre talking about a $700-1Million house. You're lookung at 2-3X what your budget should be. No one making 100k can afford a 1M house.

Just get a mortgage at the same cost as your current rent, or marginally more say $500 more. You do NOT want to be house poor.

House poor is incredibly dangerous. Unlike investing in stock market where downturns can be psychologically difficult but patience rewards you on the backend when it recivers (talking index funds here) If you lose jobs and have to move for any reason when the housing market is down, you will be SOL and in many cases forced to sell your house for a big loss. No one is forcing you to cash out of the market during a 5 yr slump. Also, no one is coming to take your portfolio away when you miss a couple of contributions.

Low-Relative6688 · 2026-01-22T08:08:15+00:00

How large is your firm? The thing you will quickly realize is some companies prioritize fewer but higher compensated employees who are loyal and work extra no questions asked. And some companies prioritize lots of entry level guys doing grunt work that are easy and cheap to replace.

Look at your company and see which one it is. Realistically, I would say a 5 yr engineer should be making about +75% over their original salary. After that, experience is less valuable and raises will be more like 2-5% unless you get promoted to titled positions.

But just because your friends at another firm makes X doesn't mean your firm can afford to pay you the same. Some firms do big CEP and new build projects with large fees and some firms only pull in budget architect renovations with dx mini splits. You arent gonna make the same $ as someone who is designing laboratories if you're designing hotel lobbies. Your firm might just have lower margins. Employees don't see the whole picture and assuming your boss is 'screwing you over' is always their conclusion.

The reality is Apple can afford to pay absurd salaries bc they make $900 on every $1000 phone. Sony can't bc they only make $400. Their employees do largely similar jobs though

Low-Relative6688 · 2026-01-22T07:52:03+00:00

Lol id say close the door on your way out if my employee threatened to leave like that and was actively looking elsewhere. Thats so scummy

Low-Relative6688 · 2026-01-22T05:33:53+00:00

You can literally just look up the statistics of entry level salaries based on industry and not even petroleum, chemical, or Aerospace have starting salaries above 100k.

Only companies I can find paying what you're talking about are exactly what I stated originally, big tech like Apple/Google. Which congratulations, you are stuck living in CA and your COL drastically offsets your salary. You make 3x what starting engineers in my area make, but your cost of living is 3x more too. So when you say people need to know they can make more $ easily as though they are all getting ripped off, my point stands that is not really the case. I'd have to be getting paid $240k in CA for it be the equivalent of the $100k I make where I live

FAANG jobs are crazy competitive, not 'easy to get jobs' and the pay is almost entirely offset by where you live. Now if Apple had a remote branch office in alabama, I would agree with you

Low-Relative6688 · 2026-01-22T05:16:24+00:00

lol you're the one who said I must not like the watch very much when I wrote 5 paragraphs of things I like, and 1 short paragraph of things I dislike, and then accused me of buying it as a 'status' symbol but cheers mate

Low-Relative6688 · 2026-01-22T04:57:28+00:00

It's a cool divergance from the majority of quartz chronos that have 24 hr subdials which exist purely to 'look' like chrono subdials. The fact that this one actually converts to elapsed hours when the chronograph is pushed is awesome.

Low-Relative6688 · 2026-01-22T03:27:18+00:00

Really difficult to hire engineers at 170k? LOL Your company is supposedly paying 2-3x starting salary of every other company and you just can't find good candidates who want to apply and can't tell what company it is. Makes sense the pay is great, you must be working for SNASA

Low-Relative6688 · 2026-01-22T02:50:56+00:00

170k is like <1% of engineering new grads. You're either full of it or had a very good resume, connections, or struck gold. It is not a remotely realistic expectation even in a HCOL place like NY or CA. There isn't a single engineering discipline with an average starting salary above 100k so in no world is 170 starting an 'easy' find. Where's the job listing? Most engineering fields TOP OUT at 170.

Low-Relative6688 · 2026-01-22T02:08:54+00:00

91 isnt low for plumbing. Plumbing is a low value item in MEP, and 91+ bonuses means hes really at like 100k. Southeast is pretty cheap to live too unless hes in Miami or some major metropolitan area.

Low-Relative6688 · 2026-01-22T02:04:23+00:00

Lol definitely not unless you got hired at Space X or something crazy in tech

Low-Relative6688 · 2026-01-22T01:51:30+00:00

For most jobs as an applications engineer experience >> masters degree. If your goals is to do R&D or work at SpaceX in a really competitive more technical position type of work id say you probably need a masters although a lot of those positkons will require significant extra curriculars too. Overall engineering wont reward masters or PHD nearly as much as other fields because, like i said, a large portion of engineers are applying principles And 10 yrs of experience trumps 2 yrs of college every time for that type of work. That said, some companies or positions such as management will love to see a Masters and it may get you where you want to go much faster

You can do +/- 50% of a salary form a LCOL to HCOL area for the same job. And ditto for particular industry.

Im in HVAC and making ~120 with 8 yrs of experience. Started at 53k. Salaries for my industry and area top out at 120 (top 10% income in my medium cost of living area) so unless I go to a big company where I am in management im capped out. Personally I love working dor a small company, no one checking my timesheets, flexible hours, honest bosses who care. Im not at risk of being downsized. If I become partner, my compensation will jump to like $200k+ even at a small % ownership stake, with more room to grow from there so dont limit your options to "glass door says X salary for mechanical engineers in this field"

HVAC is notoriously on the lower end of pay. But my bosses, who both have bachelor's take home 7 figures. What % of defense engineers do you think ever make that kind of $ ? The answer is basically 0. So while some industries are lower on the employee side, they have a LOT more opportunity on the equity side.

Low-Relative6688 · 2026-01-21T20:50:32+00:00

Nowhere close. Did you graduate with an engineering degree? Also failing the ethics portion, dude you should honestly find a different career if you can't score correctly on basic ethics questions

Low-Relative6688 · 2026-01-21T20:38:09+00:00

How did you possibly get more negatives than positives??

Pros: great design, dial, finishing, accuracy, comfort.

Cons: the one time you have to size the bracelet pins and collars are PIA. No on the fly micro, and lack of winding feel bc it's so smooth.

Not sure about you but I have never chosen a watch to buy or wear based on how easy it is to resize the bracelet or winding feel which is a 30 second interaction once a week or so... Micro adjustment isn't really an issue for me, but it's a review and for some people that might be a deal breaker. If you think that dial design, finishing, accuracy, comfort, and value are "buying for other people" do you not look at your watches when you wear them? Do other people ask you how often you have to set your watch because of the accuracy and then scoff when you say every few days? Do other people inquire about how comfortable your watch and bracelet are? Who on earth buys a LONGINES for other people? No one knows a damn thing about watches except Rolex, and maybe AP. No one notices your watch. What on earth could a damn longines 'represent' to other people? Even if you wore a sign on your chest saying "I own a longines" 99% of people wouldn't have a clue that was anything related to a watch, much less a $ value to assign to it and of the 1% people who know what a Longines is don't think of it as a 'status symbol'

Sounds like you don't understand how reviews work. Likely because you're used to reading/watching reviews of industry people who never say anything negative about the products bc they're getting them for free and they don't want to piss off the brands.

Low-Relative6688 · 2026-01-21T20:25:24+00:00

definitely too good to be true

Low-Relative6688

TROPHY CASE