---
title: "Materials Engineer"
description: "Evaluate materials and develop machinery and processes to manufacture materials for use in products that must meet specialized design and performance…"
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/materials-engineer"
last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z"
---

# Materials Engineer

**Category:** Architecture and Engineering · **SOC code:** 17-2131 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 17-2131.00

Evaluate materials and develop machinery and processes to manufacture materials for use in products that must meet specialized design and performance specifications. Develop new uses for known materials. Includes those engineers working with composite materials or specializing in one type of material, such as graphite, metal and metal alloys, ceramics and glass, plastics and polymers, and naturally occurring materials. Includes metallurgists and metallurgical engineers, ceramic engineers, and welding engineers.

Also advertised as: Automotive Sheet Metal Engineer; Ceramic Engineer; Extrusion Engineer; Materials Development Engineer; Materials Research Engineer; Metallurgical Engineer; Metallurgist; Process Engineer.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $112,860 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $54.26/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $72,300 to $175,720, with the middle half between $88,080 and $142,720
- **Total US employment:** 22,770
- **Typical entry education:** Bachelor's
- **Preparation required:** Medium preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** +7.5% over 2025–2035 (BLS EP, 2025–2035)
- **Annual job openings:** 1,300 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 23/100 — a NueCareer heuristic over O\*NET work activities and context, not a BLS or O\*NET figure

## Pay

National wage distribution, BLS OEWS, May 2025, across 22,770 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $72,300 |
| 25th | $88,080 |
| 50th (median) | $112,860 |
| 75th | $142,720 |
| 90th | $175,720 |
| Mean (average) | $120,250 |

### Pay by state

The 15 highest-paying states, by median annual wage. The cost-of-living-adjusted column divides the state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, so the columns answer different questions: the first is what the job pays there, the second is what that pay buys there.

| State | Median annual wage | Cost-of-living adjusted | Employment |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| NM | $165,600 | $179,586 | 450 |
| MD | $140,640 | $133,995 | 740 |
| WA | $139,840 | $130,676 | 1,000 |
| DE | $131,320 | $131,573 | 40 |
| LA | $128,670 | $145,873 | 90 |
| CA | $128,470 | $116,031 | 3,020 |
| IL | $126,620 | $126,673 | 290 |
| NY | $125,900 | $116,659 | 590 |
| CO | $124,030 | $120,357 | 810 |
| AK | $123,360 | $120,517 | 70 |
| OR | $122,850 | $118,855 | 120 |
| CT | $122,300 | $118,039 | 420 |
| SC | $121,610 | $129,719 | 600 |
| FL | $118,780 | $114,859 | 690 |
| TX | $117,700 | $121,269 | 1,440 |

30 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 45 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/materials-engineer/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/materials-engineer.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 23,800 in the 2025–2035 base year to 25,600 by the end of the cycle — a gain of 1,800 jobs, or +7.5%. Much faster than average: 7.5% against 3.5% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 1,300 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2025–2035.

## How to get in

- **Typical entry education:** Bachelor's degree (BLS Employment Projections).
- **Preparation level:** Medium preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed".
- **Related work experience typically required:** None.
- **Typical on-the-job training:** None.

### Education people in this job actually hold

O\*NET surveys incumbents, so this distribution describes who is in the job today and can differ from the BLS entry requirement above.

| Education level | Share of workers |
| --- | --- |
| Bachelor's Degree | 80.0% |
| Doctoral Degree | 8.0% |
| Associate's Degree or other 2-year degree | 4.0% |
| Master's Degree | 4.0% |
| First Professional Degree | 4.0% |

## What the work involves

- Conduct or supervise tests on raw materials or finished products to ensure their quality.
- Evaluate technical specifications and economic factors relating to process or product design objectives.
- Plan and implement laboratory operations to develop material and fabrication procedures that meet cost, product specification, and performance standards.
- Guide technical staff in developing materials for specific uses in projected products or devices.
- Design and direct the testing or control of processing procedures.
- Supervise the work of technologists, technicians, and other engineers and scientists.
- Monitor material performance, and evaluate its deterioration.
- Review new product plans, and make recommendations for material selection, based on design objectives such as strength, weight, heat resistance, electrical conductivity, and cost.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Reading Comprehension — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Listening — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Science — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Critical Thinking — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Transferable skills

These are the skills that carry into other occupations, and they drive the related-occupation and career-change rankings on this site.

- Complex Problem Solving — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Quality Control Analysis — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Operations Analysis — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Systems Analysis — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Systems Evaluation — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Operations Monitoring — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Social Perceptiveness — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- Engineering and Technology — importance 4.7 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 4.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Production and Processing — importance 4.2 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Physics — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- English Language — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Chemistry — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Oral Comprehension — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Written Comprehension — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Expression — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Written Expression — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Problem Sensitivity — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Deductive Reasoning — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

## Who it suits

O\*NET rates every occupation on the six Holland (RIASEC) interest areas, on a 1–7 scale. This occupation's strongest areas are Realistic (R), Investigative (I), Conventional (C).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| R — Realistic | 5.88 |
| I — Investigative | 5.82 |
| C — Conventional | 4.11 |
| A — Artistic | 2.54 |
| E — Enterprising | 2.06 |
| S — Social | 1.38 |

### Personality fit

These scores are **derived by NueCareer**, not published by any government agency: they are cosine similarities between a personality type's trait profile and this occupation's O\*NET interest and work-style ratings, expressed 0–100. Treat them as a starting point for exploration, not as evidence that a type belongs in a job.

| Type | Fit score (0–100) |
| --- | --- |
| ISTP | 87.4 |
| ISTJ | 86.4 |
| INTJ | 85.9 |
| INTP | 73.0 |
| ESTJ | 59.3 |

Best-fitting types: ISTP, ISTJ, INTJ.

## Related occupations

O\*NET's primary related occupations, in its own ranked order.

- [Materials Scientist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/materials-scientist) — median $117,790
- [Chemical Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/chemical-engineer) — median $125,040
- [Manufacturing Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/manufacturing-engineer) — median $102,440
- [Industrial Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/industrial-engineer) — median $102,440
- [Mechanical Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/mechanical-engineer) — median $104,110
- [Nanosystems Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/nanosystems-engineer) — median $122,930
- [Nanotechnology Engineering Technologist and Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/nanotechnology-engineering-technologist-and-technician) — median $66,120
- [Commercial and Industrial Designer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/commercial-and-industrial-designer) — median $83,910
- [Electrical Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/electrical-engineer) — median $120,630
- [Bioengineer and Biomedical Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/bioengineer-and-biomedical-engineer) — median $109,370

## Sources

- **O\*NET** — O\*NET 31.0 Database, August 2026. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS OEWS** — BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS EP** — BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, 2025–2035. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **BLS OOH** — BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2025–2035 edition. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/
- **BEA RPP** — BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024. https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology

JSON representation of this page: https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/materials-engineer