Automation Portals

Automation.com & InTech 2010 Salary Survey Results

Introduction

First, we'd like to say "Thank you!" to everyone who took the time to complete our 2010 survey. These salary statistics and information are specific to the Automation.com and InTech audience and/or subscribers (industrial automation, process control, and instrumentation engineers and other professionals) and are relative to job function, education level, years of experience, etc.

The following results were generated from a total of 3,389 responses from all over the world. The results are depicted in chart and table form.

Read the article summary of the 2010 Salary Survey Results, It's not all about the money. Should it be?, written by Rick Zabel, Publisher of Automation.com. The article was originally published in the October 2010 issue of InTech Magazine and InTech Online.

Typical Survey Respondent

The percent numbers indicated in the right-hand column are relative to the total number of survey respondents of 3,389.

Indicator	Percentage of Respondents or Average
Job Function	Automation/Control Engineering (27.7%)
Average Age	41.7
Gender	Male (94.5%)
Country	United States (55.7%)
US State	Texas (18.5% of US Respondents)
Education Level	College graduate (44.2%, 22.1% have advanced degree)
Degree Received (Field of Study)	Electrical Engineering - Bachelor's Degree (26.8%) Electrical Engineering - Advanced Degree (10.9%) Control Engineering - Advanced Degree (10.7%)
Years with Present Employer	3 to 5 years (26.1%) 2 year or less (24.8%)
2009 Annual Gross Income	$84,371 (average)
Compensation Increase for 2009	No Increase (34.6%) 1-3% Increase (28.8%)
Typical Work Week	44.4 hours (average)
Vacation	3.2 Weeks per year (average)
Job Satisfaction	Somewhat satisfied (49.1%)
Top 3 Job Satisfaction Factors	Feeling of accomplishment Technical challenge Salary
Top 3 Benefits, excluding salary	Health Insurance (65.9%) Flexible Working Hours (39.9%) Pension Plan/401K (35.5%)

Average Salary by Gender

Gender	Average Salary	Percent Respondents
Male	$84,715	94.5%
Female	$77,673	5.5%

Average Salary by Region of World

Region of World	Average Salary	Percent Respondents
United States	$99,337	55.7%
Canada	$96,060	8.4%
Africa	$66,210	1.9%
Asia (other than India)	$56,875	3.8%
Eastern Europe	$56,500	2.6%
India	$36,560	10.7%
Mexico & Central America	$60,183	1.3%
Middle East	$67,007	4.2%
South America	$53,244	3.67%
South Pacific	$103,684	1.2%
Western Europe & UK	$82,336	6.0%
Other	$58,889	0.8%

Average Salary by Highest Level of Education Received

Level of Education	Average Salary	Percent Respondents
Attended High School	$70,833	0.6%
High School Graduate	$70,657	3.1%
Attended Technical/Trade School	$80,779	2.3%
Technical/Trade School Graduate	$78,882	12.8%
Attended College	$86,301	7.2%
College Graduate	$85,153	44.2%
Attended Graduate School	$90,578	7.8%
Advanced Degree	$85,751	22.1%

Average Salary by Degree Received

Degree	Average Salary	Percent Respondents
Electrical Engineering	$89,434	27.3%
Electrical Engineering Technology	$81,096	9.5%
Mechanical Engineering	$88,114	6.6%
Computer Engineering	$73,047	3.0%
Control Engineering	$66,260	12.6%
Chemical Engineering	$110,275	6.5%
Other Engineering	$73,347	4.2%
Physics	$95,714	2.2%
Computer Science	$80,784	3.1%
Mathematics	$84,756	1.3%
Other Science	$92,833	1.4%
Business Administration	$94,583	3.3%
IT/Systems	$76,944	1.9%
Liberal Arts	$84,474	1.1%
All Other	$66,806	16.0%

Average Salary by Years of Professional Work Experience

Level of Education	Average Salary	Percent Respondents
2 Years or Less	$41,629	5.8%
3-5 Years	$50,166	9.8%
6-10 Years	$64,760	12.2%
11-15 Years	$77,420	14.2%
16-20 Years	$139,873	13.4%
21-25 Years	$100,260	15.3%
26-30 Years	$106,945	12.4%
31+ Years	$110,302	16.9%

Average Salary by Job Function

Job Function	Average Salary	Percent Respondents
Application Engineering	$71,856	3.1%
Automation/Control Engineering	$82,746	27.7%
Consulting Engineering	$100,458	4.6%
Design Engineering	$81,964	5.2%
Engineering (Other)	$81,875	2.0%
Engineering Management	$109,236	5.4%
Environmental Controls	$76,875	0.1%
Facilities Management	$95,263	0.6%
General or Operations Management	$105,857	2.1%
Information Technology	$79,677	1.0%
Instrumentation Engineering	$80,320	8.1%
Marketing & Public Relations	$90,409	1.7%
Networking/Communication Systems	$72,167	0.4%
OEM Product/Systems Engineering	$63,214	0.4%
Operations and Maintenance	$77,179	5.9%
Plant Engineering	$86,691	1.0%
Process Engineering	$80,000	1.3%
Production Design Engineering, incl. applied R&D	$78,173	0.9%
Production/Manufacturing Engineering	$84,091	0.6%
Project Management	$88,319	3.7%
Quality Control, Evaluation & Testing	$76,857	1.2%
Research & Development	$82,598	1.6%
Safety Systems Engineering	$105,900	0.7%
Sales (inside)	$51,354	0.8%
Sales (outside)	$92,707	5.1%
Software Engineering	$71,029	1.6%
Systems Integrator	$77,532	2.4%
Technical/ Application Support	$74,645	5.2%
Training/Education	$69,239	1.4%
Other	$84,085	4.3%

Average Salary by Employment Type

Employment Type	Average Salary	Percent Respondents
Direct Employee	$83,903	89.3%
Contractor	$88,240	10.7%

Average Salary by Current Company Tenure

Years With Present Employer	Average Salary	Percent Respondents
2 years or less	$69,673	24.8%
3 to 5 years	$74,311	26.1%
6 to 10 years	$87,777	17.7%
11 to 15 years	$94,461	11.2%
16 to 20 years	$101,520	7.4%
21 or more years	$107,995	12.8%

Average Salary by Industry Organization Membership

Organization	Average Salary	Percent Respondents
ISA - International Society of Automation	$94,945	46.6%
IEEE - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers	$90,127	10.8%
SME - Society of Manufacturing Engineers	$81,923	1.3%
AlChE - American Institute of Chemical Engineers	$112,037	2.4%
MCA - Motion Control Association	$91,125	0.6%
RIA - Robotic Industries Association	$97,321	0.9%
AIA - Automated Imaging Association	$79,063	0.5%
None	$71,166	41.1%
Other	$96,588	14.3%

Average Salary by Company Size

Company or Division Size	Average Salary	Percent Respondents
less than 30	$74,349	13.3%
30 to 49	$75,204	5.1%
50 to 99	$81,303	6.8%
100 to 249	$79,257	12.5%
250 to 499	$79,506	8.8%
500 to 999	$78,604	8.3%
1,000 to 4,999	$83,178	14.8%
5,000 to 9,999	$98,902	7.4%
10,000 or more	$101,112	22.8%

Average Salary by Company's Primary Industry

Industry	Average Salary	Percent Respondents
Chemicals	$96,831	5.6%
Communications	$75,000	0.5%
Communications Equipment	$65,000	0.4%
Construction	$74,917	1.9%
Education	$65,585	1.5%
Electronic & Other Electric Equipment	$76,673	4.5%
Engineering Services	$86,550	15.9%
Food & Beverage	$81,699	3.3%
Government	$79,167	0.7%
Industrial Machinery & Equipment, include Computers	$76,344	4.8%
Instrument & Control Apparatus Sales & Service	$78,750	5.6%
Instrument/Measurement/Analysis & Control Apparatus	$85,036	4.5%
Lumber & Wood Products	$75,909	0.4%
Management Consulting	$142,500	0.5%
Medical Instrumentation & Systems	$84,048	0.7%
Mining	$77,037	0.9%
Miscellaneous Manufacturing Industries	$68,422	3.3%
Oil & Gas Extraction	$111,895	6.2%
Petroleum Refining & Related Industries	$100,900	6.5%
Pharmaceuticals	$92,647	3.3%
Primary Metal Products	$72,200	1.6%
Printing & Publishing	$67,083	0.4%
Pulp, Paper & Allied Products	$82,277	1.8%
Research, Development & Testing	$78,917	1.0%
Rubber & Miscellaneous Plastics	$76,711	0.6%
Semiconductor & Electronic Components	$80,469	0.5%
Stone, Glass & Concrete Products	$77,000	0.3%
Systems Integration	$78,469	4.2%
Textiles	$66,944	0.3%
Transportation - Aerospace	$100,313	0.3%
Transportation - Aircraft	$74,500	0.2%
Transportation - Automotive	$79,318	0.7%
Transportation Equipment	$79,000	0.2%
Utilities	$84,615	0.8%
Utilities - Combo (Nuclear/Foss Fuel, etc.)	$108,286	1.1%
Utilities - Electrical	$93,750	3.2%
Utilities - Natural Gas	$104,375	0.8%
Utilities - Pipelines, except Natural Gas	$93,636	0.4%
Utilities - Water/Wastewater	$79,093	3.3%
Valves, Fittings, Fabricated Metal Products	$93,875	0.6%
Other	$74,419	6.8%