# Typical Salary for Electrical Engineer (5 yrs)



## knd107

Hey guys,

Just wanted to ask a simple question. I know its been asked before but I wanted to see where everyone is now.

What is a typical salary for a electrical engineer in MEP consulting with 5 years experience?

After passing the PE, we are allowed to negotiate our raise/ salary. I looked up a typical salary which came up at ~$87,000. Adjusting for my region came up alittle higher. I am wondering does this really reflect the current rate.

It would be real helpful for someone that actually hires engineers to chime in.

Yes, I could go looking around in the job market but I do like where I am working and don't want to do interviews just to see some actual numbers.

Just want to be paid a fair market value and I want to make sure I am not overreaching.


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## Wildsoldier PE

Jezz, $87,000 is a loott of money...well it also depend on the state.

I use to worked for an electrical contractor...my duties were Cad Drafting, electrical design, and estimating....It was a complete package i will say so...from start to finish of a project and I was only doing less than half of that a year...it really sux...i felt that i was underpaid for what i was doing and some people only do estimating and did a lot more than what i was doing but didn't ask for raise since the company was in bad shape and it goes out of business leaving me unemployed and i still looking for a job thanks God I received my PE this past octuber...hope that helps...but looks that Construction is stuck right now.


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## knd107

My company seems to be doing well. I haven't ask for anything in the past 3 years because of the economy. I figure that this will be the best time to do something about that.

I haven't asked for anything in particular but my manager/ supervisor asked me what i thought I should be at and I had no idea.

I did send him those online salary estimates to see what would happen.


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## xd-data-ii

I would put $87k as being slightly low.


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## knd107

xd-data-ii said:


> I would put $87k as being slightly low.


So, what were you at (ballpark) at 5 years experience or maybe you are making more with less experience? Adjusting for my area (East Coast, major city), it comes back at 91k. Does your number match the online salary websites? I used both salary.com and engineersalary.com

This is a real generic question. Not taking into account things like benefits, cost of living, etc.


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## wilheldp_PE

I was an EE in the MEP department of an A/E firm in Louisville, KY. My salary when I left there was barely north of $70k (I think it was $70,750). I had 6 years experience as an EE before I went there, but none in an MEP department, so that may have lowered my salary some.


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## Ivory

knd107 said:


> Hey guys,
> 
> Just wanted to ask a simple question. I know its been asked before but I wanted to see where everyone is now.
> 
> What is a typical salary for a electrical engineer in MEP consulting with 5 years experience?
> 
> After passing the PE, we are allowed to negotiate our raise/ salary. I looked up a typical salary which came up at ~$87,000. Adjusting for my region came up alittle higher. I am wondering does this really reflect the current rate.
> 
> It would be real helpful for someone that actually hires engineers to chime in.
> 
> Yes, I could go looking around in the job market but I do like where I am working and don't want to do interviews just to see some actual numbers.
> 
> Just want to be paid a fair market value and I want to make sure I am not overreaching.


Your pay is determined by how well you negotiate. You are never overreaching. Many engineers are under paid because they lack negotiation skills. The reason business majors are paid well is because they know how to negotiate. Your market value is what your employer perceives what your value is.


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## knd107

yeah, I get your point but I think you need to know the limits. I could be asking too low which is my main concern.


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## mudpuppy

For MEP I have no idea. In the utility industry with 5 years experience and a BSEE I'd say around $75k.


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## ElecPwrPEOct11

$87k seems high to me, but if your boss doesn't freak it doesn't hurt asking. I did MEP consulting with 3 yrs of experience (BSEE, no PE) and got $63. East coast, not a major city.

I know some companies automatically give raises for passing the PE. Anyone care to share how much the raise is? It would help with negotiating.


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## knight1fox3

ElecPwrPEOct11 said:


> Anyone care to share how much the raise is?


Have you seen this thread? It's a pretty good collaboration of raises that people have received for passing the PE.


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## knd107

yeah, i saw that and have browsed it but it does not specifically talk about electrical salary (although there are some electrical responses).

I'm just going to cross my fingers and hope for the best. Hopefully, I won't have to start shopping around. Too busy to do that anyway.


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