The highest earning composite professional in this field (salary plus cash bonus and / or cash profit sharing) is President “A” (defined as a CEO who is an owner, full partner, or significant shareholder of the firm ) from an engineering consulting firm. The firm provides services in civil engineering (general, structural and / or urban) or geotechnical; receives more than $ 25,000,000 in gross annual fees for services rendered; have 500 or more employees; and is based in or near Raleigh / Durham / Chapel Hill, St. Louis, Oakland / East Bay, Milwaukee, Portland (OR), Lincoln (NE), Chicago, Middlesex-Essex (MA) or Sacramento counties. This person has an engineering degree or higher and 20 or more years of experience. While the median President “A” has a total annual income of $ 112,000, the highest reported income earners in this group earn more than $ 1,000,000.

Towards the other end of the income spectrum, field technicians have a median income of $ 27,400. Sometimes with incomes less than $ 18,000, the lowest paid employees in this group are typically located in or near St. Louis, Corpus Christi, Milwaukee, or Richmond / Petersburg (VA), or outside of the metropolitan areas studied in Missouri ; jobs for companies that provide surveying or civil or geotechnical engineering services in general; have less than three years of experience; and have no university education.

These compounds represent the shortest possible “summary” of the voluminous data provided regarding current wages and cash bonuses and / or profit sharing, and numerous demographic variables provided by 216 surveying and engineering consulting firms on more than 5,300 employees in 152 reference jobs. The final results of the survey appear in Compensation in Consulting Engineering and Land Surveying Firms, 10th Edition – 2004, an 888-page, four-volume statistical analysis of compensation in this field.

Copies of the full report are available for $ 1,200.00 from Abbott, Langer & Associates, Inc., Dept. ART, 548 First St., Crete, IL 60417 (phone 708 / 672-4200; fax 708 / 672-4674; http: //www.abbott-langer.com). Volumes can be purchased separately (Volume 1 – supervisory and management jobs and Volume 2 – non-supervisory engineers and scientists for $ 495.00 each; and Volume 3 – CADD / design / drafts jobs and Volume 4 – lab / surveying jobs / technician for $ 395.00 each).

It would be a futile exercise to attempt more than a cursory overview of the survey results in this summary. However, some general facts regarding compensation can be presented here, and some comments can be made.

General compensation

In addition to the income from the reference jobs already discussed, the national average total cash compensation for some of the other 150 reference jobs included in the survey report is:

Engineering Branch Managers “B” – $ 105,562

Senior Mechanical Engineering Project Managers – $ 95,500

Senior Managers of Environmental Engineering Projects – $ 89,322

Chief Financial Officers – $ 89,018

Senior Electrical / Electronics Engineers – $ 77,700

Executive Marketing / Sales Directors – $ 66,200

Senior Scientists – $ 66,000

Human Resources Chief Executives – $ 65,780

Project Highway / Traffic / Transportation Engineers – $ 61,168

Lead Designers – $ 55,000

Design / Drafting / CADD Managers – $ 52,000

Civil Engineers on Staff – $ 48,240

Survey Group Heads – $ 40,120

Engineering Technicians – $ 37,000

Associate Field Technicians (Inspection – Construction) – $ 36,360

Junior CADD Traders – $ 31,840

Associate writers (writing) – $ 27,874

Laboratory Technicians – $ 27,190

Naturally, these national pay rates vary by region, state, and metropolitan area, the type of services provided and annual fees received by the business, the size of the business, the type of work performed / supervised / managed. , level of education, length of experience, and supervisory / managerial responsibility involved: all demographic variables for which data is provided in the full report.

Geographic area

Average total annual cash compensation for supervisory / management personnel is highest in the South and Southwest states and lowest in the Midwest and North Central states. The Pacific, Rocky Mountain, and Northeast states are in the middle of the range. For metropolitan areas only, the highest median annual incomes are found in: Raleigh / Durham / Chapel Hill; Charlotte / Gastonia; Dallas / Ft. Valer; Orlando; and Daytona Beach / Melbourne / Titusville. The lowest median annual incomes are in Eugene / Springfield (OR); Big falls; Monks; Butte; and Pittsburgh.

Average total annual cash compensation for engineering and scientific jobs is highest in the Pacific and North Central states and lowest in the Northeast and South states. The southwestern states, the Rocky Mountains, and the Midwest are in the middle. For metropolitan areas only, the highest median annual incomes are in: Houston; Las Vegas; Moline / Rock Island / Davenport; Denver / Boulder; Chicago; and Minneapolis / St. Paul. The lowest median annual incomes are found in: Harrisburg / Lancaster / York; Glenwood Springs (CO); Albany / Schenectady / Troy; Charleston (WV); Rockford (IL); and Eau Claire (WI).

Average annual total cash compensation for CADD / design / writing jobs is highest in the Pacific and Midwest states. The southwestern and southern states are the lowest, with the Rocky Mountain, North Central, and Northeast states in between. Treating only metropolitan areas, the highest median annual incomes are found in: Oakland / East Bay; Detroit; Small desk; Champaign / Urbana; and Seattle / Everett. The lowest median annual incomes are found in: Harrisburg / Lancaster / York; Raleigh / Durham / Chapel Hill; Louisville; Kansas City; and Austin.

Average annual total cash compensation for laboratory, surveying, and technical work is highest in the Pacific and Rocky Mountain states and lowest in the Southwest and South states, with the Midwest, Northeast, and North Central states being they are in the middle. For metropolitan areas only, the highest median annual incomes are found in: San Diego; Inland Empire (CA); The Angels; Oakland / East Bay; Philadelphia; and Cherry Hill (New Jersey). The lowest median annual incomes are in Corpus Christi; Jacksonville; Anchorage; Orange County (CA); Atlanta; and Orlando.

Type of service provided by the employer

In general, supervisory / management personnel are better paid in architectural, civil (general) and environmental engineering firms, and worse in surveying firms and electrical / electronic engineering firms. Engineering and scientific jobs pay best in electrical and highway / traffic / transportation engineering companies, and worst in environmental, topographic, and geotechnical engineering companies. CADD / design / drawing jobs pay best in highway / traffic / transportation and civil engineering companies (general development and mainly land), and worst in environmental and surveying engineering companies. Laboratory, surveying and technical jobs pay best in highway / traffic / transportation and civil engineering companies (general or primarily structural), and worst in surveying and geotechnical engineering companies.

Annual fees

In general, this factor is not a good indicator of the median total annual cash compensation received by all types of employees in the surveying / consulting engineering field, except at the highest levels.

Number of employees

This factor is also not a good overall predictor of average total annual cash compensation in the field of surveying / consulting engineering, again, except at the highest levels.

Type of work performed

For supervisory / management personnel, average annual total cash compensation is highest in computer science and civil engineering (general), and lowest in CADD design, surveying, and electrical / electronic engineering. For engineering and scientific jobs, it is highest in aeronautical / aerospace and chemical engineering, and lowest in ecology and surveying. Among CADD / design / drawing staff, designers (excluding CADD) are paid more and draftsmen (excluding CADD) are paid less. For laboratory, surveying, and technical work, annual compensation is highest in civil engineering (primarily land development) and surveying, and lowest in laboratory and earth science.

Experience

In most areas surveyed, this is an excellent indicator of median total annual cash compensation – typically, the more years of experience, the higher the compensation.

Education

This is an important indicator of the average total annual cash compensation in all surveyed areas. For supervisory / management personnel and those in the engineering / scientific field, a Ph.D. brought the highest compensation. An advanced degree resulted in the highest compensation for both CADD / design / drawing and laboratory, surveying and technical work.

Experience versus education

A combination of experience and education is a better predictor of compensation than any area alone. While covered in detail in the report, space does not allow for an analysis of the data here.

Managerial / supervisory responsibility

Average total annual cash compensation varies greatly depending on the level of supervisory responsibility. Compensation is highest for supervisory / management personnel supervising 50 or more professional employees (with little or no responsibility for supervising technicians and / or writers). For engineering and scientific jobs, compensation is lower without constant supervisory responsibility and higher when supervising 10 or more professional and subprofessional employees. For CADD / design / writing jobs, supervising three or four sub-professionals brings the highest compensation, while no constant supervisory responsibility results in the lowest earnings. For laboratory, surveying, and technical jobs, supervising five to nine technicians and / or writers results in the highest compensation; no constant supervisory responsibility results in the lowest salary.

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