JobAfterNext

Industrial Engineers

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.

Wages

Median annual wage, U.S.$102,440
Employment, U.S.365,740
Median hourly wage$49.25
Annual wage percentiles, U.S., May 2025
10th25thMedian75th90th
$74,370$83,600$102,440$129,250$159,860
By state (51)
StateEmploymentMedian annualLocation quotient
Alabama7,650$99,8801.54
Alaska220$156,5100.28
Arizona7,520$108,2800.99
Arkansas1,710$98,4100.56
California32,680$124,6000.76
Colorado5,200$109,7500.77
Connecticut6,020$104,1601.51
Delaware820$120,1900.72
District of Columbia160$103,3000.10
Florida14,050$101,6100.60
Georgia8,940$100,1000.78
Hawaii50$123,8000.04
Idaho1,330$100,8400.66
Illinois18,640$100,5401.30
Indiana11,680$97,4801.55
Iowa3,600$97,6900.98
Kansas3,450$99,8301.02
Kentucky6,070$96,8201.29
Louisiana1,710$122,9200.38
Maine1,030$101,0300.68
Maryland3,900$119,9300.60
Massachusetts11,470$109,4201.34
Michigan30,990$101,6802.99
Minnesota17,580$102,6602.53
Mississippi2,450$95,8300.90
Missouri5,070$99,2900.73
Montana390$104,4300.33
Nebraska1,160$98,1700.48
Nevada1,570$102,0900.43
New Hampshire1,940$101,3101.21
New Jersey6,870$103,8400.68
New Mexico1,140$128,0900.56
New York11,810$102,6400.52
North Carolina11,580$99,3101.00
North Dakota600$96,9400.59
Ohio23,480$100,0601.80
Oklahoma2,170$97,5100.54
Oregon5,810$128,2901.26
Pennsylvania13,180$99,5600.92
Rhode Island990$109,3500.84
South Carolina7,960$101,0601.47
South Dakota830$93,2000.77
Tennessee7,440$99,0800.96
Texas30,980$104,5600.94
Utah5,520$103,9401.35
Vermont440$103,0100.62
Virginia5,580$102,5500.58
Washington6,130$129,0500.73
West Virginia850$108,3600.51
Wisconsin13,070$96,9801.89
Wyoming240$122,0700.36

Similar occupations

Similarity is our measure: the cosine of importance x level over all 120 O*NET skills, knowledge areas and abilities. It is not an O*NET finding. More.

#OccupationJob ZoneSimilarity
1Industrial Engineering Technologists and Technicians30.979
2Validation Engineers40.975
3Architectural and Engineering Managers50.972
4Mechanical Engineers40.972
5Electrical Engineers40.969
6Commercial and Industrial Designers40.968
7Mechatronics Engineers40.964
8Manufacturing Engineers40.960
9Automotive Engineers40.960
10Wind Energy Engineers40.960

One skill away

Among the 50 occupations most similar to Industrial Engineers, those at the same Job Zone or lower, where exactly one skill rated at least 3 in importance needs a level more than 0.75 points higher (on O*NET's 0-7 level scale). Our definition. Change the thresholds.

OccupationSkill to buildLevel gapSimilarity
Electrical EngineersScience1.870.969
Solar Energy Systems EngineersScience2.130.960
Health and Safety Engineers, Except Mining Safety Engineers and InspectorsPersuasion0.880.956
Agricultural EngineersScience1.630.950
Biofuels/Biodiesel Technology and Product Development ManagersPersuasion0.760.950
Petroleum EngineersScience2.250.947
Power Distributors and DispatchersOperation and Control0.870.945

Software to learn next

Software used by at least 3 of the 20 occupations most similar to Industrial Engineers, excluding software Industrial Engineers already lists and any you named. Ranked by how many of them use it, weighted by how much more common it is among them than across all occupations (lift). Our ranking.

SoftwareSimilar jobs using itLift
C9 of 206.0x
Siemens NX5 of 2023.1x
ANSYS simulation software5 of 2019.2x
Autodesk Revit7 of 208.1x
Autodesk AutoCAD Civil 3D6 of 209.2x
Rapid prototyping software4 of 2023.1x
C#7 of 205.9x
Computer aided design and drafting software CADD5 of 2010.5x
Geometric CAMWorks3 of 2046.2x
ReliaSoft Weibull++ 63 of 2046.2x

Skills

From O*NET data. Importance is rated 1 to 5 and level 0 to 7.

SkillTypeImportanceLevel
Reading ComprehensionEssential skill 4.00 4.50
Active ListeningEssential skill 4.00 4.12
Critical ThinkingEssential skill 4.00 4.12
Complex Problem SolvingTransferable skill 3.88 4.12
SpeakingEssential skill 3.88 4.12
WritingEssential skill 3.75 4.12
MonitoringEssential skill 3.38 4.25
Active LearningEssential skill 3.25 3.88
MathematicsEssential skill 3.25 3.88
Systems EvaluationTransferable skill 3.25 3.88
Systems AnalysisTransferable skill 3.25 3.75
Judgment and Decision MakingTransferable skill 3.12 4.00
CoordinationTransferable skill 3.12 3.12
InstructingTransferable skill 3.00 3.00
Social PerceptivenessTransferable skill 3.00 3.00
Time ManagementTransferable skill 3.00 3.00
Management of Personnel ResourcesTransferable skill 2.88 2.88
Learning StrategiesEssential skill 2.75 3.00
Service OrientationTransferable skill 2.75 2.75
PersuasionTransferable skill 2.62 2.62
Management of Material ResourcesTransferable skill 2.50 2.62
Operations AnalysisTransferable skill 2.50 2.50
Operations MonitoringTransferable skill 2.38 2.75
NegotiationTransferable skill 2.38 2.38
Quality Control AnalysisTransferable skill 2.25 2.38
Operation and ControlTransferable skill 2.25 2.25
Management of Financial ResourcesTransferable skill 2.12 2.00
Technology DesignTransferable skill 2.12 1.88
ScienceEssential skill 2.12 1.75
TroubleshootingTransferable skill 2.00 1.75
ProgrammingTransferable skill 1.88 1.12
Equipment SelectionTransferable skill 1.25not rated
Equipment MaintenanceTransferable skill 1.00not rated
InstallationTransferable skill 1.00not rated
RepairingTransferable skill 1.00not rated
Knowledge (33) and abilities (52)
Knowledge
NameImportanceLevel
Engineering and Technology 4.41 5.02
Production and Processing 4.28 4.70
Mechanical 4.20 5.05
Design 4.08 5.18
English Language 3.96 4.38
Mathematics 3.89 4.86
Computers and Electronics 3.77 4.46
Administration and Management 3.45 3.91
Customer and Personal Service 3.42 3.88
Education and Training 3.34 4.49
Public Safety and Security 3.12 3.65
Physics 3.10 3.49
Administrative 3.01 3.77
Building and Construction 2.86 3.51
Personnel and Human Resources 2.81 3.12
Chemistry 2.65 3.12
Law and Government 2.62 2.69
Economics and Accounting 2.56 2.49
Sales and Marketing 2.35 2.68
Psychology 2.29 2.33
Transportation 2.28 2.15
Communications and Media 2.25 2.02
Telecommunications 2.16 1.74
Sociology and Anthropology 1.57 1.07
Geography 1.54 1.32
Biology 1.50 1.11
Medicine and Dentistry 1.40not rated
Food Production 1.35not rated
Fine Arts 1.34not rated
Therapy and Counseling 1.31not rated
Philosophy and Theology 1.30not rated
History and Archeology 1.29not rated
Foreign Language 1.28not rated
Abilities
NameImportanceLevel
Oral Expression 4.00 4.38
Written Comprehension 4.00 4.38
Inductive Reasoning 4.00 4.25
Oral Comprehension 4.00 4.25
Written Expression 4.00 4.25
Deductive Reasoning 4.00 4.12
Problem Sensitivity 3.88 4.00
Information Ordering 3.62 4.00
Near Vision 3.62 3.88
Category Flexibility 3.38 3.88
Selective Attention 3.38 3.00
Fluency of Ideas 3.25 3.62
Originality 3.25 3.50
Speech Clarity 3.25 3.25
Speech Recognition 3.25 3.25
Visualization 3.12 3.88
Mathematical Reasoning 3.12 3.50
Number Facility 3.12 3.38
Flexibility of Closure 3.00 3.12
Far Vision 3.00 3.00
Perceptual Speed 2.75 2.75
Time Sharing 2.75 2.75
Visual Color Discrimination 2.75 2.75
Auditory Attention 2.62 2.75
Hearing Sensitivity 2.50 2.50
Memorization 2.12 2.25
Speed of Closure 2.12 2.12
Arm-Hand Steadiness 2.12 2.00
Control Precision 2.00 2.00
Depth Perception 2.00 2.00
Reaction Time 2.00 1.88
Multilimb Coordination 2.00 1.75
Finger Dexterity 1.88 1.50
Rate Control 1.88 1.50
Trunk Strength 1.75 1.38
Wrist-Finger Speed 1.75 1.00
Response Orientation 1.62 1.00
Spatial Orientation 1.38 0.50
Static Strength 1.38 0.50
Stamina 1.38 0.38
Extent Flexibility 1.25not rated
Gross Body Coordination 1.25not rated
Dynamic Strength 1.12not rated
Explosive Strength 1.12not rated
Gross Body Equilibrium 1.12not rated
Manual Dexterity 1.12not rated
Night Vision 1.12not rated
Dynamic Flexibility 1.00not rated
Glare Sensitivity 1.00not rated
Peripheral Vision 1.00not rated
Sound Localization 1.00not rated
Speed of Limb Movement 1.00not rated

Software used

Examples from O*NET data. "Hot" and "in demand" are O*NET flags for technologies often listed in job postings.

All 102
  • Allen Bradley PanelView
  • Assembly line balancing software
  • Automatic dynamic incremental nonlinear analysis ADINA
  • Computer numerical control CNC software
  • Dassault Systemes Abaqus
  • Dassault Systemes CATIA
  • Data acquisition software
  • Dataxiom StatMost
  • Decision support software
  • Design of experiments DOE software
  • Discrete event simulation software
  • ECHIP
  • EGS FeatureCAM
  • ETA Dynaform
  • Electronic breadboard software
  • Facilities design software
  • Facilities planning software
  • Finite element method FEM software
  • Hewlett Packard LoadRunner
  • Human machine interface HMI software
  • Human modeling software
  • IBM Notes
  • ILOG CPLEX
  • Integrated development environment IDE software
  • International TechneGroup IGESworks
  • Logic programming software
  • MAGMA MAGMASOFT
  • Main Injector Neutrino Oscillation Search MINOS software
  • Manhattan Associates PkMS Pickticket
  • Maplesoft Maple
  • Materials requirement planning MRP software
  • Mathsoft Mathcad
  • Maya HTT I-DEAS
  • Microsoft Visual Basic Scripting Edition VBScript
  • Minitab
  • Modular arrangement of predetermined time standards software MODAPTS
  • National Instruments LabVIEW
  • Neural network modeling software
  • NeuralWare
  • Numerical control software
  • Nupro CastView
  • Optimization software
  • Oracle Retek
  • PMC KanbanSIM
  • PTC Creo Parametric
  • Personnel scheduling software
  • ProModel
  • Process reengineering software
  • Production flow analysis software
  • Production scheduling and planning software
  • Quality control software
  • Robotic control software
  • Robotic simulation software
  • Rockwell Automation Arena
  • Rockwell RSLogix
  • Siemens UGS Jack
  • Statgraphics
  • Statistical software
  • Stratasys FDM MedModeler
  • Sun Microsystems Java
  • Supervisory control and data acquisition SCADA software
  • Supply chain capacity planning software
  • Task analysis software
  • Three-dimensional simulation translation software
  • Time and motion analysis software
  • UGS Solid Edge
  • User interface design software
  • Warehouse management system WMS
  • Windward Technologies GRG2
  • Wolfram Research Mathematica
  • Workcell simulation software
  • Yield management systems

Where it concentrates

Metro areas ranked by BLS location quotient: the occupation's share of the area's jobs divided by its share of all US jobs. Above 1 means more concentrated than the nation. Metros employing fewer than 100 are left out.

Metro areaEmploymentLocation quotientMedian annual
Columbus, IN9107.76$97,480
Kalamazoo-Portage, MI1,2404.34$97,250
Sheboygan, WI5603.95$94,170
Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI17,3503.87$104,110
Peoria, IL1,5003.85$117,180
Decatur, AL5303.65$106,230
Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL2,0303.52$101,610
Racine-Mount Pleasant, WI5603.12$86,000
Fond du Lac, WI3203.07$98,410
Oshkosh-Neenah, WI6703.06$97,180

More metros, other thresholds