Personal or work email, both work. No account needed. Unsubscribe anytime.
The national median salary for Industrial Engineers is $101,150 per year ($48.63/hr) according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, May 2024. The middle 50% of earners make between $81,910 and $127,483 annually. Top earners at the 90th percentile reach $157,144 per year. There are approximately 350,230 industrial engineers employed in the United States.
About This Role
BLS Standard Occupational Classification 2018
Design, develop, test, and evaluate integrated systems for managing industrial production processes, including human work factors, quality control, inventory control, logistics and material flow, cost analysis, and production coordination.
Career Outlook
BLS Employment Projections · 2024-2034
10-year growth
+11.0%
Much faster than average
Annual openings
25K
per year, on avg
Workforce today
351K
as of 2024
Why those openings exist
15% from new growth85% from people leaving the role
Most openings come from replacement, not growth. Retention matters more than recruiting here.
Typical entry requirements
Education
Bachelor's degree
Experience
None
On-the-job training
None
Industry Wage Breakdown
Top 5 industries by employment · median annual wage, sector-specific
Industry
Workforce
Median Pay
Architectural, Engineering, and Related Services
NAICS 541300
25K
$101,870
Aerospace Product and Parts Manufacturing
NAICS 336400
24K
$105,310
Semiconductor and Other Electronic Component Manufacturing
NAICS 334400
20K
$107,860
Machinery Manufacturing (3331, 3332, 3334, and 3339 only)
NAICS 3330A1
19K
$97,480
Motor Vehicle Parts Manufacturing
NAICS 336300
16K
$95,070
Wage range across top 5 industries: $95,070 to $107,860 (13% spread)
Wage Percentiles
Hourly & annualized (2,080 hours)
Percentile
Hourly Rate
Annual Salary
P10
$33.66
$70,013
P25
$39.38
$81,910
P50MEDIAN
$48.63
$101,150
P75
$61.29
$127,483
P90
$75.55
$157,144
Market Context Signal
JOLTS · professional sector
Cooling
Openings Rate
4.2%
Quits Rate
2.0%
Professional & Business Services openings tumbled 318K in March -- the largest single-sector drop in this release. Openings rate fell from 5.5% to 4.2%. Layoffs jumped to 527K (+99K). White-collar demand has cooled abruptly.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the average industrial engineers salary?
The national median salary for Industrial Engineers is $101,150 per year ($48.63/hr) according to BLS OEWS May 2024 data. The middle 50% earn between $81,910 and $127,483 annually.
How much do top-earning industrial engineers make?
The 90th percentile salary for Industrial Engineers is $157,144 per year ($75.55/hr). The 75th percentile is $127,483 per year.
What is the entry-level salary for industrial engineers?
Entry-level Industrial Engineers (10th percentile) earn approximately $70,013 per year ($33.66/hr). The 25th percentile is $81,910 per year.
Wage figures on this page come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, May 2024 release. OEWS surveys roughly 1.1 million establishments annually. It is the most comprehensive employer-reported wage dataset in the United States.
P10 through P90 percentiles represent the wage distribution across all surveyed employers (not self-reported by workers). Geographic adjustments use BLS-derived cost multipliers calibrated from regional wage variation.
Wages are estimates. Individual compensation depends on experience, education, employer size, industry, and negotiation. Use this as benchmark context, not absolute ground truth.
CompSignal is a free labor market intelligence tool built for HR, compensation, and talent acquisition teams. We make BLS data, the same primary source Mercer and Radford cross-reference in their paid surveys, searchable and actionable without an enterprise subscription.
Built and maintained by Falcon Incentives, a compensation strategy and incentive design consultancy.