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Last year UT-Austin median engineering pay BS degree per discipline out the gate:
Aerospace - $63K
Architectural - $61K
Biomed - $69K
Chemical - $80K
Civil - $61K
EE - $77K
Mechanical - $70K
Petroleum - $82
No time to look but A&M engineering grads usually rank slightly higher than UT grads in first year pay.
Curious where these numbers are coming from. Are they being published by UTA itself? Because these numbers definitely sound inflated. It's also possibly inflated by students who graduate UTA get a job on the east or west coast. The figures I'm curious about are those whose first post-college job is in DFW.
Glassdoor.com shows that Average salary for software engineers in Dallas at $73k. That's average. Which means it includes people with 40 years of experience. The national average is $95k, mostly because a large portion of developers are on the west coast where they pay is much higher.
It also shows the average salary of an electrical engineer at $85k, again, including people with many years of experience.
However, the average for petroleum engineers is $103k which makes sense because they are the highest paid engineers.
If you widen the search to all engineers, the average is $72k.
Payscale.com reports similar numbers for careers in DFW.
Given all this, those numbers you quoted for salaries straight out of school don't make sense unless many of the graduates move to higher cost of living areas, because the values are too close to the average values which include people with decades of experience (and yes, I get mean/average and median are different)
Also, TC, salaries in IT have stagnated for 20 years, so it's not surprising the pay you received decades ago is comparable to the current pay.
Last edited by BongoBungo; 02-09-2017 at 08:16 PM..
Curious where these numbers are coming from. Are they being published by UTA itself? Because these numbers definitely sound inflated. It's also possibly inflated by students who graduate UTA get a job on the east or west coast. The figures I'm curious about are those whose first post-college job is in DFW.
Glassdoor.com shows that Average salary for software engineers in Dallas at $73k. That's average. Which means it includes people with 40 years of experience. The national average is $95k, mostly because a large portion of developers are on the west coast where they pay is much higher.
It also shows the average salary of an electrical engineer at $85k, again, including people with many years of experience.
However, the average for petroleum engineers is $103k which makes sense because they are the highest paid engineers.
If you widen the search to all engineers, the average is $72k.
Payscale.com reports similar numbers for careers in DFW.
Given all this, those numbers you quoted for salaries straight out of school don't make sense unless many of the graduates move to higher cost of living areas, because the values are too close to the average values which include people with decades of experience (and yes, I get mean/average and median are different)
Also, TC, salaries in IT have stagnated for 20 years, so it's not surprising the pay you received decades ago is comparable to the current pay.
1. Those numbers are from UT Austin not UT Arlington or UT Dallas.
2. I'll get back to it later but the pay numbers I listed make perfect sense to me. I believe you are misunderstanding how glassdoor works.
3. My wife is a CIO - I just asked her - she says IT salaries have not been flat for 20 years. Not even close.
Curious where these numbers are coming from. Are they being published by UTA itself? Because these numbers definitely sound inflated. It's also possibly inflated by students who graduate UTA get a job on the east or west coast. The figures I'm curious about are those whose first post-college job is in DFW.
Glassdoor.com shows that Average salary for software engineers in Dallas at $73k. That's average. Which means it includes people with 40 years of experience. The national average is $95k, mostly because a large portion of developers are on the west coast where they pay is much higher.
It also shows the average salary of an electrical engineer at $85k, again, including people with many years of experience.
However, the average for petroleum engineers is $103k which makes sense because they are the highest paid engineers.
If you widen the search to all engineers, the average is $72k.
Payscale.com reports similar numbers for careers in DFW.
Given all this, those numbers you quoted for salaries straight out of school don't make sense unless many of the graduates move to higher cost of living areas, because the values are too close to the average values which include people with decades of experience (and yes, I get mean/average and median are different)
Also, TC, salaries in IT have stagnated for 20 years, so it's not surprising the pay you received decades ago is comparable to the current pay.
Glas Door, Payscale, ... are as reliable as Dallas weather Talk to anyone in hr/recruiting and state that IT comp has been stagnant for 20 years. You will be the life of the party.
Curious where these numbers are coming from. Are they being published by UTA itself? Because these numbers definitely sound inflated. It's also possibly inflated by students who graduate UTA get a job on the east or west coast. The figures I'm curious about are those whose first post-college job is in DFW.
Glassdoor.com shows that Average salary for software engineers in Dallas at $73k. That's average. Which means it includes people with 40 years of experience. The national average is $95k, mostly because a large portion of developers are on the west coast where they pay is much higher.
It also shows the average salary of an electrical engineer at $85k, again, including people with many years of experience.
However, the average for petroleum engineers is $103k which makes sense because they are the highest paid engineers.
If you widen the search to all engineers, the average is $72k.
Payscale.com reports similar numbers for careers in DFW.
Given all this, those numbers you quoted for salaries straight out of school don't make sense unless many of the graduates move to higher cost of living areas, because the values are too close to the average values which include people with decades of experience (and yes, I get mean/average and median are different)
Also, TC, salaries in IT have stagnated for 20 years, so it's not surprising the pay you received decades ago is comparable to the current pay.
There's a huge difference from national averages and 4 year BS degrees from top or even middle tier schools. As someone who works in EE/SW starting salaries are low compared to what we offer our new grads. The quality of student, academics and degree factor a huge amount in starting offers. That's why a good engineering school like TAMU or UT starting salaries are often already close to the national average.
1. Those numbers are from UT Austin not UT Arlington or UT Dallas.
2. I'll get back to it later but the pay numbers I listed make perfect sense to me. I believe you are misunderstanding how glassdoor works.
3. My wife is a CIO - I just asked her - she says IT salaries have not been flat for 20 years. Not even close.
They seem right to me. My husband graduated in 2008 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering from UNT (so not UT or A&M) and he got $67k starting salary from a company in Denton. He was an older graduate at 27 (changed majors and worked full-time so it took a while to graduate) and he had been interning at the company for a year, but I don't think that influenced the offer all that much.
There's a huge difference from national averages and 4 year BS degrees from top or even middle tier schools. As someone who works in EE/SW starting salaries are low compared to what we offer our new grads. The quality of student, academics and degree factor a huge amount in starting offers. That's why a good engineering school like TAMU or UT starting salaries are often already close to the national average.
Here's an article that seems to sort of reconcile what I'm seeing and what others here are reporting:
Wages did largely stagnate from 2000-2010, and have continued to do so since, except for students graduating from good schools. Most of the grads I work with don't come from top schools. And it's true that grads from top schools (such as UT) seem to be making close to the national average.
But if you consider students graduating from most universities, the pay is not nearly as high as what's being trumpeted in this thread.
I will say that a nephew of a friend of mine just graduated with a CS degree from UNT and received a $45k starting salary in Plano, despite having intern experience. This is simply anecdotal, but it's the the most recent. I also know some people without college degrees who took a few classes and started at about that wage level. So again, there are probably many factors at play.
Wages did largely stagnate from 2000-2010, and have continued to do so since, except for students graduating from good schools. Most of the grads I work with don't come from top schools. And it's true that grads from top schools (such as UT) seem to be making close to the national average.
But if you consider students graduating from most universities, the pay is not nearly as high as what's being trumpeted in this thread.
I will say that a nephew of a friend of mine just graduated with a CS degree from UNT and received a $45k starting salary in Plano, despite having intern experience. This is simply anecdotal, but it's the the most recent. I also know some people without college degrees who took a few classes and started at about that wage level. So again, there are probably many factors at play.
Software engineering, the only field of study mentioned in the Forbes piece, is most definitely not all of IT nor all of engineering.
The biggest struggle I am having at the moment with these home prices is if I should consider getting into my "trade-up" home sooner rather than later (would be looking in the $500-600K range if we went out shopping today). I have the funds to support a full 20% down on the $600K with my perceived equity and would still have a year in emergency fund.
I bought my home approx. 3 years ago for sub $200K. I live in one of the relatively affordable neighborhoods that zones to West Plano schools.
Fast forward to today, several homes in our neighborhood with similar upgrades are selling well into the low $300s themselves. What I could afford in my trade-up range seems to quickly dwindle, giving me the similar feeling I had when I purchased our current home.
My gut is telling me to wait another 3 or so years before trading up. But I just don't know if I will regret that decision, but I also would like to "live it up" a little bit before taking on a large mortgage since we have an abnormal discretionary income at the moment.
And I am not sure how I feel about being 28 years old and taking on a near $400K mortgage, although me and my husband are likely the absolute minority in our age group with this type of situation. The biggest thing for me right now is I would have to pull back just a little bit on our retirement savings to make it work comfortably (we put $40K/year into tax-advantage accounts at the moment). 2-3 years from now, who knows what $600K will actually get us, but I would suppose our budget would slightly rise with the additional equity.
Has anyone else been feeling like this in this market?
PS- For what it's worth, for these folks above me in the thread going back and forth about tech/engineering salaries for new grads. I was making into the six-figures 3 years after I graduated here in DFW in tech. Granted I am on the revenue generating side of the business, but tech salaries and incomes given the right opportunity are definitely there. Even on the individual contributor level at my company, we are paying well $60K + bonus and above for entry-level developers. After proving their worth for a year or so, they are making well into the $70s & 80s.
Last edited by stargirl007; 02-13-2017 at 07:29 AM..
And I am not sure how I feel about being 28 years old and taking on a near $400K mortgage, although me and my husband are likely the absolute minority in our age group with this type of situation. The biggest thing for me right now is I would have to pull back just a little bit on our retirement savings to make it work comfortably (we put $40K/year into tax-advantage accounts at the moment). 2-3 years from now, who knows what $600K will actually get us, but I would suppose our budget would slightly rise with the additional equity.
I would not want to upscale my house and lower my retirement savings ever. Those dollars are worth so much more with compounding interest over tune at play...
So my question is what makes you feel like you need to move up to a more expensive home. Does that desire (need?) outweigh your retirement savings and current lifestyle which I can understand not wanting to give up?
I totally get if you need more space due to having kids (more kids?) or want to be in the best school district for them. If it is to be closer to work/church/school/social activities/etc and have lower commute time - I think there is a value in that.
and i am not sure how i feel about being 28 years old and taking on a near $400k mortgage, although me and my husband are likely the absolute minority in our age group with this type of situation. The biggest thing for me right now is i would have to pull back just a little bit on our retirement savings to make it work comfortably (we put $40k/year into tax-advantage accounts at the moment). 2-3 years from now, who knows what $600k will actually get us, but i would suppose our budget would slightly rise with the additional equity.
Has anyone else been feeling like this in this market?
Ps- for what it's worth, for these folks above me in the thread going back and forth about tech/engineering salaries for new grads. I was making into the six-figures 3 years after i graduated here in dfw in tech. Granted i am on the revenue generating side of the business, but tech salaries and incomes given the right opportunity are definitely there. Even on the individual contributor level at my company, we are paying well $60k + bonus and above for entry-level developers. After proving their worth for a year or so, they are making well into the $70s & 80s.
I was somewhat in that position three years ago. We started building our "forever home" three years ago when I was 30. Our forever home was around 450K when we signed the contract. The reason we made the decision was because we saw growth continuing for the next few years and interest rates were still very low. We definitely cut back on how much we were putting away for retirement, but looking at the numbers we figured that we would still be good for the future. Both me and my wife still contribute to 401k, we have pension funds setup and we contribute towards retirement outside of those venues.
The other tough issue we had to deal with, until my oldest child turned 5, was that we had to pay for daycare for two kids. The kids was also a big reason we moved into a larger house.
Fast forward three years, we are still very happy with our decision. Our home has appreciated about 100k in three years and we are still locked into a very low interest rate for the duration of the loan. If we would have waited, we would not have purchased the house that we did. I agree that the increase in taxes is a little disheartening, but we do budget for taxes on a monthly basis. That being said, we really do not spend much money aside from our mortgage and childcare.
PS - My wife and I are both mechanical engineers working for a large company. In our industry, starting salaries are around 70k for college grads.
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Talk to anyone in hr/recruiting and state that IT comp has been stagnant for 20 years. You will be the life of the party.
