In this third installment of our annual Microwaves & RF Salary & Career Report, we examine a topic that’s of interest to many engineers—salary. What do salaries in the industry currently look like? Or maybe a better question is: Are engineers being sufficiently paid? Let’s look at how the survey numbers stacked up.
This year, respondents reported an average base salary of $120,544.37, which is a slight increase over last year’s number of $112,840. In 2016, average base salary was $110,844, and the year before that, it averaged out to $109,533. What’s evident is that base salaries saw slight increases each year over the last three years—certainly a positive trend in the industry.
On top of that, this year’s respondents reported an average bonus of $4,593.45. That’s also a slight increase over last year’s number of $4,294.
When asked how their total 2018 compensation (salary, bonuses, etc.) compares to what they earned in 2017, about 59% of respondents said their compensation has increased. About 71% of those who reported an increase had their compensation grow by 5% or less—that’s not a big surprise. What could be considered an eye-opener is that slightly under 19% of respondents who reported an increase were compensated at least 10% higher than the prior year. If you happen to be one of them, then congratulations to you!