With pay that outpaces the averages of most other industries, and positive hiring projections for the foreseeable future, careers in engineering offer some of the most attractive opportunities in the American workforce.
But to use the label “engineering” alone covers a wide spectrum. Green technology and aerospace sciences are two entirely unique avenues, and both are covered in CareerCast.com’s Jobs Rated report on the best jobs in engineering.
Yes, these careers share qualities that are central to the Jobs Rated rankings. These are invariable criteria we evaluate to determine the attractiveness of jobs, including Bureau of Labor Statistics data on income and growth outlook.
When it comes to variables that appeal to the individual job seeker, which discipline of engineering one chooses to pursue depends on interest and skill set. Where someone wants to work factors in, too.
Consider the top locations for both employment and income among some of the best engineering jobs, and how they vary. For Petroleum Engineers, the states employing the most professionals are Texas, California and Oklahoma; the three highest average incomes for the profession are in the Chicago and Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metropolitan areas, and Anchorage, Alaska.
Michigan, California and Texas employ the most Industrial Engineers, and Texas and California cities combine to have seven of the 10 areas with the highest pay for the field.
In Aerospace Engineering, the intriguing addition to California and Texas among the top three hiring states is Alabama. In terms of pay, Omaha, Nebraska and Council Bluffs, Iowa’s shared metropolitan area is the second highest-paying region for Aerospace Engineers.
Indeed, different engineering disciplines can determine where you work as much as what you do, and are as varied as the fields themselves.
Regardless what you do in engineering or where you end up, however, the opportunities are rewarding. Each of the following ranked in the top 100 of the latest CareerCast Jobs Rated report for the Best Jobs of the past year.
1. Petroleum Engineer
Petroleum Engineer is the highest ranking engineering career in the Jobs Rated report, although its growth outlook in the coming decade ranks on the lower end. The high wages make it one of the most financially lucrative positions CareerCast.com tracks.