Side-by-side distribution
Civil Engineer
$107,250
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 35.8%
- Live roles
- 851
Materials Engineer
$129,675
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 47.8%
- Live roles
- 276
Highest-paying jobs
Senior Civil Engineer - Water/Sewer/Gas - Rail and Transit
Resident Engineer - Heavy Civil - Gateway Hudson Tunnel Project
Principal Civil Engineer
Civil Engineer, Capacity Delivery
Civil Engineer
Civil Engineer
Senior Supervising Engineer/Civil Design Discipline Lead – Water & Wastewater
Environmental Engineer, Civil
Civil/Structural Engineer
Wastewater Civil Engineer
Highest-paying jobs
Principal Nuclear Materials Engineer
Electro-Optics Materials and Device Engineer
Materials Research and Development Engineer
Electronics Parts, Materials, and Processes Engineer
Quantum Superconducting Materials Engineer
Principal TPS Materials Engineer
Staff Materials Engineer (Level 5)
Senior Data Engineer, Bioinformatics, Cheminformatics, Materials
Principal Propulsion Engineer - Materials and Processes
Senior Materials Engineer, Diagnostics
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| PA Parsons | $120,375 | 34 |
Wilson & Company
|
$107,000 | 23 |
| SE SEH | $120,000 | 17 |
LaBella Associates
|
$102,500 | 13 |
HNTB
|
$65,728 | 13 |
AtkinsRéalis
|
$89,500 | 12 |
BKF
|
$119,750 | 10 |
Atwell, LLC
|
$102,500 | 10 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
|
Blue Origin
|
$119,041 | 19 |
|
Northrop Grumman
|
$129,500 | 11 |
|
Helion
|
$200,000 | 7 |
Relativity Space
|
$155,000 | 7 |
Mitsubishi Chemical Group
|
$98,800 | 7 |
SpaceX
|
$115,000 | 6 |
|
Penn State University
|
$170,079 | 4 |
Anduril Industries
|
$170,000 | 3 |
Civil Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| Austin | $145,850 | 6 |
| Los Angeles | $142,500 | 7 |
| Seattle | $119,977 | 4 |
| New York | $119,200 | 27 |
| San Francisco | $117,000 | 5 |
| Denver | $107,500 | 17 |
| Chicago | $98,000 | 11 |
| Boston | $87,450 | 11 |
Materials Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| Denver | $160,199 | 7 |
| San Francisco | $140,000 | 5 |
| Los Angeles | $132,500 | 9 |
| Seattle | $119,041 | 19 |
Civil Engineer vs Materials Engineer: which pays more?
The median for Civil Engineer is $107,250 per year (typically $87,463–$131,097), versus $129,675 for Materials Engineer ($112,750–$165,000). That puts Materials Engineer about 21% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Civil Engineer and Materials Engineer are compared on equal terms regardless of the currency each role was originally posted in. Only roles that publish a salary range feed the medians; numbers refresh every few hours as new roles post and older ones close, so this comparison reflects the market right now rather than a fixed survey. Use it as a directional benchmark when weighing one path against the other.