How much does an engineer earn in the UK? A guide to engineering salaries

Thinking about becoming an engineer and want to know how much you could earn? We’ll explain what your wages could be as an engineer in the UK.

The UK is a great place to take on an engineering role, with plenty of home-grown businesses – many of them key players in the global market. As engineers continue to be in high demand, the average engineering wage is climbing to encourage more bright sparks to enter the industry.

But what is the average engineering salary? We’ll explain:

• How much does an engineer earn?
• How do engineering salaries vary across the sector?
• Five factors affecting an engineer’s pay

How much an engineer earns will depend on the type of engineering work they do, their employer, location, seniority and experience.

As of April 2024, the cross-sector average starting salary for engineering graduates sits at £37,994 – up almost £10,000 on 2021's figures.

What’s even better is the increase in earning potential. By the time you receive chartership (generally around four years), you're looking at an average salary of around £52,000.

Overall, experienced engineers in the UK are paid well, with the average engineering wage for senior engineers ranging between £47,000 and £82,000 per year. It’s even higher in industries like aerospace and oil and gas.

Engineering salaries differ depending on your area and exact role. A civil engineer salary won’t necessarily be the same as mechanical engineering earnings.

The figures we’ve shared give you an insight into the average engineering wage across the whole sector. However, there are lots of specific career routes and specialisms that will shape your individual earnings potential.

For example, there is a range of starting salaries for young engineers. In some industries (eg. food and drink, pharmaceuticals, defence and manufacturing), a typical starting wage is higher than the average in other sectors. The best-paying engineering jobs tend to be in oil and gas, as it’s the highest-paying sector overall. In contrast, wages in automotive and rail can be around 10% lower than the average, so engineering salaries are often sector specific.

Your specialism and whether you’re working for a private or public organisation can also influence your wages. A graduate mechanical engineer will earn around £30,000, while a graduate civil engineer's salary will be around £28,000.

For a decade or more, engineering grads have been in relatively short supply, so you can afford to be a bit picky during your job hunt. Think carefully about what an employer will give you in terms of a progressive pay scale. Look out for leadership opportunities and consider other factors that might make the role more appealing to you. Perhaps you’d like a large peer group, remote working opportunities, health and wellbeing benefits or social incentives? A lot of employers are putting more emphasis on those things.

Other factors affecting how much an engineer makes include:

Engineers often travel the world, completing stints in various countries for months or years at a time. Jobs with travel tend to be compensated with higher average salaries – 27% higher, in fact, than the national average in 2024.

It might be more convenient for you to jump on board with a local, small-scale firm. Alternatively, you might want to try to make it as an independent contractor. However, if you're looking for opportunities and career progression, it's worth looking at the bigger companies with bigger budgets for their engineering salaries.

There's a lot of variation depending on the area you're working in. London comes out ahead in the UK regions, with its overall average almost 10% higher than the national average.

Since engineers must deal with a lot of pressure (lives could be at risk if standards slip), it’s unsurprising that proving yourself over several years will result in sufficient financial rewards.

Degrees, apprenticeships and diplomas can influence your pay grade. It varies depending on the area you’re focusing on, but higher education, in this instance, is the surest path to a high-earning job.

So, how much do engineers make? The answer is that it depends! The average mechanical engineering salary in the aerospace industry is different from typical earnings in biomedical engineering.

While it’s hard to know exactly how much you’ll earn, engineers are in demand and the cross-sector average salary has risen substantially since 2021.

If you're fascinated by engineering, it's a great sector to enter with good job security, competitive pay and cutting-edge projects. Just be sure to do your research into the company and industry so that you start your journey in a role that's right for you.

Whether you're a grad or trainee looking to get into mechanical or civil engineering or your passion lies in electronics or structures, you can have your pick of sectors, including military defence, automotive production, biochemical plants, IT software and telecommunications.

With the rise of Industry 4.0 (the Fourth Industrial Revolution) and the growing emphasis on sustainability and climate change, key areas such as data, artificial intelligence and renewable energy are also looking for tech-savvy young team members – and they’ll use attractive salaries to attract top talent.

This article was last updated in July, 2025.