Mechanical Engineer: what the job is, what it pays, and how to get hired.
The work, the skills that matter, the tools in demand and the pay range, from U.S. government data, plus every TryHired page for the role.
10% of mechanical engineers earn less than this amount.
- Annual
- $73,990
- Hourly
- n/a
- Source
- BLS May 2025
25% of mechanical engineers earn less than this amount.
- Annual
- $84,130
- Hourly
- n/a
- Source
- BLS May 2025
Half of mechanical engineers earn more than this and half earn less.
- Annual
- $104,110
- Hourly
- $50.05
- Source
- BLS May 2025
75% of mechanical engineers earn less than this amount.
- Annual
- $132,590
- Hourly
- n/a
- Source
- BLS May 2025
90% of mechanical engineers earn less than this amount.
- Annual
- $164,340
- Hourly
- n/a
- Source
- BLS May 2025
Mechanical Engineers perform engineering duties in planning and designing tools, engines, machines, and other mechanically functioning equipment. The median pay is $104,110 a year ($50.05 an hour) (BLS, May 2025). The most commonly reported education requirement is a bachelor's degree (52% of workers surveyed by O*NET).
- Median pay
- $104,110
- BLS May 2025
- Employed in the U.S.
- 296,810
- BLS May 2025
- Preparation
- Job Zone 4 of 5
- considerable preparation
- Most common education
- Bachelor's Degree
- 52% of workers
Every page for Mechanical Engineers
Pay by percentile, state and metro, with a negotiation script.
Open →How to becomeMechanical Engineer how to becomeEducation, training and the skills to build first.
Open →ResumeMechanical Engineer resumeKeywords, bullet formulas and the skills to prove.
Open →Interview questionsMechanical Engineer interview questionsQuestions with what they test, plus practice mode.
Open →Career changeMechanical Engineer career changeWhere these skills transfer, with skill match and pay change.
Open →Free toolCheck your resumeParsed text, evidence per bullet, fixes first.
Open →What mechanical engineers do day to day
Data Core tasks rated most important by workers in the role (O*NET).
- Read and interpret blueprints, technical drawings, schematics, or computer-generated reports.
- Research, design, evaluate, install, operate, or maintain mechanical products, equipment, systems or processes to meet requirements.
- Specify system components or direct modification of products to ensure conformance with engineering design, performance specifications, or environmental regulations.
- Confer with engineers or other personnel to implement operating procedures, resolve system malfunctions, or provide technical information.
- Investigate equipment failures or difficulties to diagnose faulty operation and recommend remedial actions.
- Recommend design modifications to eliminate machine or system malfunctions.
- Research and analyze customer design proposals, specifications, manuals, or other data to evaluate the feasibility, cost, or maintenance requirements of designs or applications.
- Provide technical customer service.
Ranked by importance to the job
Data O*NET importance ratings. The first three are core.
Knowledge areas: Design, Engineering and Technology, Production and Processing, Mechanical, English Language, Mathematics.
Software mechanical engineers use
Data Examples reported for the role; employer demand flags from O*NET.
- Autodesk AutoCADComputer aided design CAD softwareIn demand
- Autodesk RevitComputer aided design CAD softwareIn demand
- Dassault Systemes SolidWorksComputer aided design CAD softwareIn demand
- PTC Creo ParametricComputer aided design CAD softwareIn demand
- Adobe IllustratorGraphics or photo imaging softwareHot technology
- Autodesk AutoCAD Civil 3DComputer aided design CAD softwareHot technology
- Bentley MicroStationComputer aided design CAD softwareHot technology
- ChefConfiguration management softwareHot technology
- ESRI ArcGIS softwareGeographic information systemHot technology
- Microsoft VisioProcess mapping and design softwareHot technology
- PuppetConfiguration management softwareHot technology
- Teradata DatabaseData base management system softwareHot technology
Also called: Application Engineer, Design Engineer, Equipment Engineer, Mechanical Design Engineer, Mechanical Designer.
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How this page is built
Tasks, skills, tools, education and related roles come from O*NET 31.0. Pay and employment come from the BLS OEWS May 2025 national estimates. The skill-match score is our calculation: Skill match is the correlation between the two occupations' skill profiles: for each of 35 O*NET skills (10 essential, 25 transferable) we multiply importance by level, subtract the average across all occupations, and correlate the two profiles. 100 means identical shape; 0 or below means unrelated. Only occupations that O*NET itself lists as related are compared.
- How a specific employer defines the job.
- Pay for self-employed workers (OEWS covers employees).
- Your own chances: data describes the occupation, not you.
- O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. TryHired selected, ranked and combined the data; O*NET is not responsible for these pages.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).