JobAfterNext

Mechanical Engineers

Perform engineering duties in planning and designing tools, engines, machines, and other mechanically functioning equipment. Oversee installation, operation, maintenance, and repair of equipment such as centralized heat, gas, water, and steam systems.

Wages

Median annual wage, U.S.$104,110
Employment, U.S.296,810
Median hourly wage$50.05
Annual wage percentiles, U.S., May 2025
10th25thMedian75th90th
$73,990$84,130$104,110$132,590$164,340
By state (51)
StateEmploymentMedian annualLocation quotient
Alabama$100,230
Alaska380$124,3400.61
Arizona5,050$100,2700.82
Arkansas1,410$80,1800.56
California30,530$130,9000.88
Colorado7,190$124,4301.31
Connecticut4,600$105,0901.42
Delaware610$125,1300.66
District of Columbia510$133,3000.38
Florida10,740$99,9800.57
Georgia5,290$100,6200.57
Hawaii530$98,7400.44
Idaho1,070$93,1900.65
Illinois11,790$102,6801.01
Indiana8,690$99,5901.42
Iowa3,470$97,7001.17
Kansas4,630$86,2601.69
Kentucky4,170$101,0501.09
Louisiana1,890$119,5400.51
Maine890$102,4300.72
Maryland6,550$122,8701.24
Massachusetts7,680$119,3001.11
Michigan34,630$104,8904.12
Minnesota5,890$99,1401.05
Mississippi1,570$98,0000.71
Missouri4,870$99,3300.87
Montana500$94,1900.51
Nebraska950$88,0600.49
Nevada1,410$102,6800.48
New Hampshire2,760$103,6602.12
New Jersey4,180$112,3000.51
New Mexico2,710$157,7101.63
New York8,590$102,4400.46
North Carolina9,560$100,7201.01
North Dakota790$86,3300.96
Ohio14,390$99,1001.36
Oklahoma2,270$101,8500.70
Oregon2,920$103,4700.78
Pennsylvania13,550$97,9201.17
Rhode Island1,560$116,2301.63
South Carolina5,780$104,5801.31
South Dakota560$88,3800.64
Tennessee3,930$99,5500.63
Texas22,080$112,4100.82
Utah3,370$102,5001.02
Vermont530$107,3300.92
Virginia7,470$104,1800.95
Washington8,240$110,4301.22
West Virginia760$97,3900.57
Wisconsin7,470$95,8701.33
Wyoming230$117,7500.44

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 Technicians30.978
2Mechatronics Engineers40.975
3Manufacturing Engineers40.975
4Electrical Engineers40.974
5Industrial Engineers40.972
6Validation Engineers40.972
7Automotive Engineers40.970
8Aerospace Engineers40.967
9Nuclear Engineers40.966
10Wind Energy Engineers40.964

One skill away

Among the 50 occupations most similar to Mechanical 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
Industrial Engineering Technologists and TechniciansTechnology Design3.250.978
Mechatronics EngineersTechnology Design3.620.975
Manufacturing EngineersTechnology Design4.000.975
Automotive EngineersTechnology Design3.880.970
Nuclear EngineersCritical Thinking0.760.966
Chemical EngineersCritical Thinking0.880.964
Commercial and Industrial DesignersTechnology Design3.620.963
Electronics Engineers, Except ComputerTechnology Design3.250.962
Fire-Prevention and Protection EngineersTechnology Design3.000.953
Logistics EngineersSystems Analysis0.870.950

All 14

Software to learn next

Software used by at least 3 of the 20 occupations most similar to Mechanical Engineers, excluding software Mechanical 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
MathWorks Simulink8 of 2019.4x
C#9 of 207.6x
Linux12 of 204.5x
Microsoft Visual Studio8 of 208.0x
UNIX10 of 205.2x
Computer aided design and drafting CADD software6 of 2010.3x
Very high-speed integrated circuit VHSIC hardware description language VHDL4 of 2030.8x
Maplesoft Maple5 of 2015.4x
Oracle Java9 of 204.2x
AVEVA InTouch HMI4 of 2020.5x

Skills

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

SkillTypeImportanceLevel
Reading ComprehensionEssential skill 3.88 4.75
Critical ThinkingEssential skill 3.88 4.12
Active ListeningEssential skill 3.88 4.00
Complex Problem SolvingTransferable skill 3.75 4.50
MathematicsEssential skill 3.75 4.50
ScienceEssential skill 3.75 4.50
Judgment and Decision MakingTransferable skill 3.75 4.12
Operations AnalysisTransferable skill 3.50 4.38
Active LearningEssential skill 3.50 4.25
WritingEssential skill 3.38 4.00
SpeakingEssential skill 3.38 3.88
Systems AnalysisTransferable skill 3.38 3.88
Systems EvaluationTransferable skill 3.38 3.88
MonitoringEssential skill 3.25 4.12
Technology DesignTransferable skill 3.12not rated
Quality Control AnalysisTransferable skill 3.12 4.00
Operations MonitoringTransferable skill 3.12 3.62
CoordinationTransferable skill 3.00 3.38
Time ManagementTransferable skill 3.00 3.38
InstructingTransferable skill 2.88 3.50
Learning StrategiesEssential skill 2.88 3.38
TroubleshootingTransferable skill 2.88 3.25
Management of Personnel ResourcesTransferable skill 2.88 3.12
Social PerceptivenessTransferable skill 2.88 3.00
Service OrientationTransferable skill 2.88 2.88
PersuasionTransferable skill 2.75 3.12
Operation and ControlTransferable skill 2.75 2.62
NegotiationTransferable skill 2.62 3.12
Management of Financial ResourcesTransferable skill 2.50 2.62
Management of Material ResourcesTransferable skill 2.38 2.75
ProgrammingTransferable skill 2.38 2.25
Equipment SelectionTransferable skill 2.25 2.50
Equipment MaintenanceTransferable skill 2.12 1.88
InstallationTransferable skill 2.00 2.12
RepairingTransferable skill 1.88 1.75
Knowledge (33) and abilities (52)
Knowledge
NameImportanceLevel
Design 4.50 6.04
Engineering and Technology 4.46 5.65
Production and Processing 4.34 4.49
Mechanical 4.23 5.15
English Language 4.06 3.90
Mathematics 3.88 4.80
Public Safety and Security 3.73 4.08
Computers and Electronics 3.63 4.51
Education and Training 3.39 3.84
Physics 3.38 4.56
Administrative 3.22 3.94
Administration and Management 3.21 3.76
Customer and Personal Service 3.09 3.17
Building and Construction 2.68 2.78
Personnel and Human Resources 2.65 2.82
Chemistry 2.63 3.01
Law and Government 2.62 2.60
Sales and Marketing 2.48 2.35
Economics and Accounting 2.39 2.25
Communications and Media 2.32 2.29
Telecommunications 2.30 2.24
Transportation 2.13 2.36
Psychology 2.08 1.94
Biology 1.85 1.60
Sociology and Anthropology 1.83not rated
Geography 1.76 1.48
Foreign Language 1.64 1.44
Medicine and Dentistry 1.63not rated
Philosophy and Theology 1.50 1.50
Therapy and Counseling 1.42not rated
Fine Arts 1.32not rated
History and Archeology 1.32not rated
Food Production 1.00not rated
Abilities
NameImportanceLevel
Deductive Reasoning 4.00 4.75
Oral Comprehension 4.00 4.75
Oral Expression 4.00 4.75
Written Comprehension 4.00 4.75
Inductive Reasoning 4.00 4.25
Problem Sensitivity 4.00 4.12
Mathematical Reasoning 3.88 4.50
Information Ordering 3.88 4.25
Near Vision 3.88 4.00
Number Facility 3.62 4.12
Written Expression 3.62 4.00
Category Flexibility 3.50 4.12
Fluency of Ideas 3.50 3.88
Visualization 3.50 3.88
Originality 3.38 4.00
Speech Recognition 3.25 3.50
Flexibility of Closure 3.25 3.38
Speech Clarity 3.25 3.25
Perceptual Speed 3.00 3.25
Selective Attention 3.00 3.25
Memorization 3.00 3.00
Far Vision 2.88 3.12
Speed of Closure 2.88 2.88
Visual Color Discrimination 2.75 2.88
Time Sharing 2.62 2.75
Auditory Attention 2.50 2.50
Hearing Sensitivity 2.25 2.50
Finger Dexterity 2.25 2.12
Arm-Hand Steadiness 2.00 2.00
Depth Perception 1.88 1.75
Reaction Time 1.88 1.50
Control Precision 1.88 1.25
Trunk Strength 1.75 1.25
Wrist-Finger Speed 1.75 0.88
Manual Dexterity 1.62 1.00
Spatial Orientation 1.50 0.50
Extent Flexibility 1.38 0.38
Rate Control 1.38 0.38
Peripheral Vision 1.12not rated
Dynamic Flexibility 1.00not rated
Dynamic Strength 1.00not rated
Explosive Strength 1.00not rated
Glare Sensitivity 1.00not rated
Gross Body Coordination 1.00not rated
Gross Body Equilibrium 1.00not rated
Multilimb Coordination 1.00not rated
Night Vision 1.00not rated
Response Orientation 1.00not rated
Sound Localization 1.00not rated
Speed of Limb Movement 1.00not rated
Stamina 1.00not rated
Static Strength 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 92
  • Teradata Database hot
  • The MathWorks MATLAB hot
  • Trimble SketchUp Pro hot
  • 1CadCam Unigraphics
  • ANSYS simulation software
  • Accelerated life testing software
  • Adobe ActionScript
  • Bill of materials software
  • Blink
  • Blue Ridge Numerics CFDesign
  • Computational fluid dynamics CFD software
  • Computer aided design and drafting software CADD
  • Computer numerical control CNC software
  • Cost estimating software
  • Dassault Systemes CATIA
  • Data acquisition software
  • Design of experiments DOE software
  • Failure assessment software
  • Failure mode and effects analysis FMEA software
  • Finite element method FEM software
  • G-code
  • Geographic information system GIS software
  • Grid generation software
  • Hewlett-Packard HP Graphics Language HPGL
  • Human machine interface HMI software
  • IBM Notes
  • InnovMetric PolyWorks
  • Intergraph Plant Design System PDS
  • Ladder Logic
  • Lambda Research OSLO
  • Life cycle cost software
  • MAYA Nastran
  • MUMPS M
  • Mathsoft Mathcad
  • Mesh generation software
  • Metrix Imageware Surfacer
  • Microsoft Dynamics
  • Microsoft Exchange
  • Minitab
  • Modal analysis software
  • Motion analysis software
  • National Instruments LabVIEW
  • Optical analysis software
  • Oracle JD Edwards EnterpriseOne
  • Perforce Helix software
  • Rapid prototyping software
  • ReliaSoft Alta 6 Pro
  • ReliaSoft BlockSim
  • ReliaSoft Weibull++ 6
  • Reliability analysis software
  • Reverse engineering software
  • Rockwell Automation software
  • Sigmetrix CETOL 6 Sigma
  • SmugMug Flickr
  • SolidWorks COSMOSWorks
  • Statistical energy analysis SEA software
  • Statistical software
  • Supervisory control and data acquisition SCADA software
  • UGS I-DEAS
  • Verilog
  • Video analysis software
  • Zemax

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, IN1,00010.52$127,700
Peoria, IL2,1206.70$128,710
Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI22,5006.19$109,470
Ann Arbor, MI2,2805.43$127,310
Lexington Park, MD6704.97$127,650
Niles, MI5504.84$106,320
Elizabethtown, KY4504.56$102,590
Kokomo, IN3004.47$105,410
Huntsville, AL2,1504.23$102,450
Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA7504.21$109,550

More metros, other thresholds