According to The Engineer‘s 2018 Salary Survey, the average salary for all engineers is £47,896, a slight decrease on last year’s survey average of £48,197. The average salary in the oil and gas sector, the highest-paid sector in engineering, is £53,900.
Each year, The Engineer surveys professionals from across the industry, to find out how much they earn, where in the UK they work and in which sector, and how they feel about their jobs. With 2,864 engineers taking part this year, from 11 different sectors, we have analysed the results to find out which industries and regions have the highest salaries, how large the gender imbalance within the profession is, and how satisfied respondents feel by their chosen career. By comparing this year’s results with those of previous surveys, we can also reveal how things have changed for engineers over the last year or so.
The average salary for all engineers in 2018 is £47,896, a slight decrease on last year’s average of £48,197. This compares reasonably well with other professions in the UK, sitting below those in strategy and consultancy on £57,554, qualified accountants on £53,887, and those in banking on £52,666, but above those in financial services on £47,250.
Average salary by UK engineering sector*
| Oil and Gas | £53,913 |
| Energy/Renewables/Nuclear | £52,653 |
| Chemicals and Pharma/Medical | £50,890 |
| Automotive | £48,967 |
| Food and Drink/Consumer Goods | £48,155 |
| Defence and Security/Marine | £47,968 |
| Aerospace | £47,752 |
| Materials | £47,130 |
| Rail/Civil and Structural | £45,871 |
| Academia | £44,774 |
| None of these | £44,563 |
| Telecoms and Utilities/Electronics | £44,504 |
*All data from The Engineer Salary Survey 2018.
Of those surveyed, 61.2 per cent of engineers are concerned about the potential impact of Brexit on the industry, a slight increase on last year. However, like 2017, only 37.1 per cent are worried about the impact of Brexit on their own job security.
Among the different sectors, once again engineers in the oil and gas industry command
the highest salaries, with an average of £53,913. This is a slight decrease on last year’s average salary in the sector, of £54,461.
Engineers in the energy, renewables and nuclear sector continue to earn the second-highest salaries in the profession, with an average of £52,653, up from £51,953 last year.
Just under a quarter of those engineers surveyed are employed directly in the automotive and aerospace industries, a slight drop on last year’s figure, while as in previous years, three-quarters describe themselves as senior engineers or managers.
Average UK engineering salary by seniority*
| Junior engineer/graduate | £30,557 |
| Senior engineer/manager | £47,972 |
| Director or above | £72,072 |
*All data from The Engineer Salary Survey 2018.
The manufacturing heartland of the West Midlands and East Anglia again employs the largest number of engineers, with a quarter of respondents based in the region. This is once again followed by London and the South East, where 21.8 per cent of respondents are based.
As in previous years, over 90 per cent of respondents are male, and just under 90 per cent are white, while over 80 per cent expect to remain in the profession for at least the next five years. Over the following pages we have analysed in greater detail what the findings of this year’s survey tell us about the state of engineering in 2018.
The Engineer’s 2018 Salary Survey was conducted in partnership with technical recruitment consultancy CBSbutler.
Your wages over there produce a good vacuum!
A fact: wages above do not represent the reality, in reality they are far lower than above. I believe the author may have considered a pool of engineers at a very senior level, almost at the Principal level, as a large amount of Junior, Intermediate and Senior Engineers do not get anywhere near the salary that’s mentioned above.!!!
I do not miss the salaries in the engineering sector. I moved over to the tech sector still doing engineering design but for R&D and the pay is far better. I’ve been in this sector for over 3 years currently in a principal/manager engineer role. I’m somewhat shocked that a director earns what an experienced junior (but not quite senior) would earn in my sector. I also regard this as being a little behind some other countries.
As a number the “Average” is quite a useless figure to describe a set of data, without knowing the rest of the statistics such as standard deviation, sample size, and whether the data fits a normal distribution, which in salary terms is highly unlikely. So the comment above from Janaka Rajapaksha is absolutely true, most engineers will fall below the “Average” and the few really highly paid engineers distort the distribution.
Absolutely spot on to my experience. My graduate salary 6 years ago was £30k exactly, I’m now a senior level, 6 years on earning £47,900 last year. I am Mr average 🙂
Fairly depressing, glad I’m retired. Is it any wonder we cannot attract people into engineering ?