Engineering
Manufacturing Engineers
Design, integrate, or improve manufacturing systems or related processes. May work with commercial or industrial designers to refine product designs to increase producibility and decrease costs.
Median salary (BLS)
$102,440
10th–90th percentile (BLS)
$74k – $160k
Job outlook
+11% (faster than average)
AI exposure
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports one wage for this occupational group, which covers 4 related roles — so read the median as an approximate group figure, and the range as the truer picture for this specific title. BLS source.
Early-career check: graduates of the matching programs below typically earn $99,000 ten years after starting college — an early-career figure, vs. the all-experience BLS median above. Source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard.
Plan a path to Manufacturing Engineers
Education
Typical entry: Bachelor's degree
Plan my path to this →Typical progression
Manufacturing Engineers Intern
Internship
$37,185
~4 mos to advance
Junior Manufacturing Engineers
Entry / Junior
$74,370
~2 yrs to advance
Manufacturing Engineers
Established
$102,440
~3 yrs to advance
Senior Manufacturing Engineers
Senior
$131,150
Internships are a common on-ramp here — they speed up landing that first role and improve your odds, which is why the Safe and High-ceiling plans build one in.
Key skills
A typical day
- •Troubleshoot new or existing product problems involving designs, materials, or processes.
- •Investigate or resolve operational problems, such as material use variances or bottlenecks.
- •Identify opportunities or implement changes to improve manufacturing processes or products or to reduce costs, using knowledge of fabrication processes, tooling and production equipment, assembly methods, quality control standards, or product design, materials and parts.
- •Apply continuous improvement methods, such as lean manufacturing, to enhance manufacturing quality, reliability, or cost-effectiveness.
- •Provide technical expertise or support related to manufacturing.
Fields of study
Any field
Top colleges for Engineering
Explore all- Massachusetts Institute of Technology4% admit · $124,000 grad pay
- Stanford University4% admit · $122,000 grad pay
- University of California, Berkeley11% admit · $97,000 grad pay
- Georgia Institute of Technology16% admit · $99,000 grad pay
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign45% admit · $80,000 grad pay
Reputation-based selection; stats shown are outcome data per school.