Materials Engineers salary

SOC 17-2131 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$112,860

per year, nationally

Middle half

$88,080–$142,720

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

22,770

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+5.7%

1,500 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$72,300$175,720

10th: $72,300
25th: $88,080
Median: $112,860
75th: $142,720
90th: $175,720

Getting in

Typical education to enter: Bachelor's degree
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: None

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where materials engineers earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	New Mexico	$165,600	92.2	450	3.56×
2	Maryland	$140,640	105.0	740	1.82×
3	Washington	$139,840	107.0	1,000	1.92×
4	Delaware	$131,320	99.8	40	0.51×
5	Louisiana	$128,670	88.2	90	0.31×
6	California	$128,470	110.7	3,020	1.13×
7	Illinois	$126,620	100.0	290	0.33×
8	New York	$125,900	107.9	590	0.42×
9	Colorado	$124,030	103.1	810	1.92×
10	Alaska	$123,360	102.4	70	1.36×
11	Oregon	$122,850	103.4	120	0.43×
12	Connecticut	$122,300	103.6	420	1.68×
13	South Carolina	$121,610	93.7	600	1.77×
14	Florida	$118,780	103.4	690	0.47×
15	Texas	$117,700	97.1	1,440	0.70×
16	Virginia	$116,720	101.1	620	1.03×
17	Massachusetts	$114,100	105.8	1,360	2.56×
18	Wyoming	$110,970	92.7	40	0.90×
19	Alabama	$107,580	88.8	650	2.11×
20	New Jersey	$106,920	108.8	260	0.41×
21	Arizona	$106,810	100.7	580	1.23×
22	Ohio	$106,510	92.8	1,790	2.20×
23	Minnesota	$106,220	98.6	150	0.34×
24	Idaho	$105,820	95.5	90	0.71×
25	North Carolina	$104,240	94.3	640	0.88×
26	Arkansas	$103,900	86.9	90	0.48×
27	New Hampshire	$101,290	104.2	70	0.68×
28	Indiana	$101,120	93.3	570	1.21×
29	Georgia	$100,840	96.3	700	0.98×
30	Kentucky	$100,620	90.2	280	0.94×
31	Kansas	$100,000	90.1	270	1.28×
32	Oklahoma	$99,950	87.8	240	0.97×
33	Nevada	$99,010	100.0	100	0.44×
34	Missouri	$98,860	90.8	300	0.70×
35	Nebraska	$98,270	90.1	160	1.06×
36	Pennsylvania	$98,030	97.6	720	0.81×
37	Maine	$97,110	97.0	100	1.08×
38	Wisconsin	$96,210	94.1	280	0.66×
39	Michigan	$94,050	96.2	810	1.25×
40	Tennessee	$91,940	91.9	330	0.70×
41	Utah	$88,080	98.9	460	1.79×
42	Rhode Island	$87,180	102.3	50	0.66×
43	Mississippi	$78,700	87.0	100	0.59×
44	Montana	$76,030	94.6	90	1.25×
45	Iowa	$64,270	87.8	200	0.87×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where materials engineers wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for materials engineers

The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$156,730	110.4	550	3.32×
2	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$156,130	111.1	820	2.68×
3	Boulder, CO	$151,940	105.2	210	7.58×
4	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$147,490	112.6	330	0.23×
5	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$144,010	104.5	200	1.03×
6	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$140,640	108.9	660	1.44×
7	Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL	$138,430	101.4	—	—
8	Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH	$137,290	92.7	260	4.85×
9	Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY	$134,630	99.6	130	1.92×
10	Decatur, AL	$134,370	87.2	50	5.83×
11	Charleston-North Charleston, SC	$131,080	101.0	200	3.49×
12	Bakersfield-Delano, CA	$130,440	100.9	50	1.09×
13	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$130,040	106.7	100	0.60×
14	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$129,480	115.6	340	0.99×
15	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$128,250	105.4	70	0.39×
16	Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN	$127,740	95.4	380	2.33×
17	Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN	$127,230	95.7	160	1.02×
18	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$125,750	105.8	480	2.03×
19	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$125,200	113.6	1,250	1.37×
20	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	$125,190	102.6	320	0.75×
21	Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ	$124,990	103.3	310	0.88×
22	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$124,180	111.9	260	1.14×
23	Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL	$123,720	100.0	130	3.65×
24	Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX	$123,250	98.6	560	1.15×
25	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$122,450	110.5	60	1.20×
26	Columbia, SC	$121,290	93.7	40	0.63×
27	Huntsville, AL	$120,720	93.1	280	7.07×
28	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	$117,700	103.1	440	0.74×
29	Durham-Chapel Hill, NC	$117,000	97.6	80	1.50×
30	Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC	$116,720	97.9	190	1.69×
31	Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ	$116,510	100.0	30	0.58×
32	St. Louis, MO-IL	$114,670	95.1	120	0.63×
33	Worcester, MA	$114,100	102.5	220	4.27×
34	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$111,480	108.3	1,020	2.58×
35	Madison, WI	$111,050	97.3	30	0.52×
36	Tulsa, OK	$110,690	89.2	70	1.04×
37	Toledo, OH	$110,620	91.5	260	6.00×
38	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$110,350	104.8	130	0.45×
39	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$109,100	106.4	90	0.36×
40	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$108,840	102.7	60	0.64×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where materials engineers wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.

Civil Engineers$100,840
Industrial Engineers$102,440
Mechanical Engineers$104,110
Electrical Engineers$120,630
Engineers, All Other$122,930
Electronics Engineers, Except Computer$130,220
Computer Hardware Engineers$161,740
Aerospace Engineers$134,960