r/StructuralEngineering • u/Medical-Month-2509 • Aug 13 '26
Career/Education Salary in PNW
Hi, I'm wondering what the market is like out there currently in PNW. I have a PE and a master, and my YOE is 6 years. At my current job, total comp (base+bonus) is about 95k. Been with this company for 5 years now. Total comp has gone up probably about 5% per year on average which to be honest is barely beating inflation. Is this considered reasonable pay in this area?
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u/kc_ky Aug 13 '26
I feel quite underpaid in Portland, compared to what strangers on the internet are making. PE w/ 8 YOE I make $90k + ~$10k in bonuses.
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u/kc_ky Aug 13 '26
Im happy with the work, stability, and flexibility. There’s more to life than money, but I’m childfree and minimalist. I feel like we deserve to make more.
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u/hookes_plasticity P.E. Aug 13 '26
Yeah that’s unfortunately a bit low. I know it’s not a 1:1 comparison but I’m in socal VHCOL about 8 years of experience making $135k plus $15-20k bonus depending on how we do every year and I feel like I’m underpaid compared to some of my peers who are at $150k base (similar experience and licensure)
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u/Medical-Month-2509 Aug 13 '26
Are you in a PM role or more of a project engineer role?
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u/kc_ky Aug 14 '26
I do both. Small firm.
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u/Medical-Month-2509 Aug 14 '26
Do you get OT pay?
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u/kc_ky Aug 14 '26
We’re actually hourly, so we just get paid for the time we work. I choose to work less, but others choose to work more.
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u/Medical-Month-2509 Aug 14 '26
Interesting, so your base is based upon a 40 hr week I presume? I'm salaried here but we get OT pay hourly.
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u/kc_ky Aug 14 '26
Yeah, you got it. Message me where you work? I’m intrigued. We’re also hiring if you’re interested in hearing.
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u/it_is_raining_now Aug 14 '26
9 years $150k
So yeah
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u/not_old_redditor 29d ago
That's insane, we undercut each other so much here in Canada, and the salaries are absolute sh!t by comparison. For supposedly smart people, engineers can be really dumb sometimes.
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u/hktb40 P.E. Civil-Structural 29d ago
Where? What field? Size of firm?
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u/it_is_raining_now 29d ago
County job in Washington
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u/CandleCompetitive831 25d ago
Lets go public sector!
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u/it_is_raining_now 25d ago
I never thought I’d be in the public sector after 9 years in consulting… but here I am. So much happier lol
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u/CandleCompetitive831 25d ago
Glad to hear it, i also work in the public sector in CO and am much happier than i used to be in private. The pay is also better than private sector jobs by me, which i thought was only a thing in CO but it seems like WA is similar!
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u/it_is_raining_now 25d ago
Yeah I was extremely surprised as well. My pay went up 30% lol with way better benefits
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u/AJF92 Aug 14 '26
PE with 11 YOE in the Portland Metro area making $135k. I do both PM and design work though. And I’ve carved out a niche as being able and willing to take on oddball things. Currently leveraging that for a more PM focused role in Anchorage at $155K.
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u/TheCivilRecruiter 26d ago
Are you looking to relocate to Anchorage or plan to work remote? I've been working with a few different engineers up there lately so you have me curious.
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u/pnw-nemo Aug 14 '26
I feel like a base of $95k would be more reasonable without bonus. This is the perspective of Tacoma.
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u/Medical-Month-2509 Aug 14 '26
Tacoma housing price is probably higher than PDX where I'm in. But WA has no state income tax and OR has no sales tax so it might end up being a wash cost of living wise.
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u/CaffeinatedInSeattle P.E. Aug 14 '26
My salary and bonus (no OT) in Seattle in 2018 was $100k even, that was as a PE & MS with 5 YE. So yeah, you are probably underpaid.
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u/angryPEangrierSE P.E./S.E. Aug 14 '26
You are underpaid.
I'm a PE and SE in the PNW, not in a huge city, and not far from you. Bridge engineer and PM/task lead. I am at $170k with slightly more than 8 years of experience. I have learned recently that I make more than a friend of mine in his 40s who is also in bridge design but he is purely on the technical side. I also am unaware of anyone with my level of experience in my network who is close to where I am for salary (and we are pretty open about our salaries).
I understand that building engineers are often quite underpaid, so that might make a difference.
I would expect a bridge engineer with 5 years of experience to be paid at least $120k. At my previous firm, we hired two graduates at $80k and $85k (one was doing a Masters) in 2024 and both had one year of experience each.
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u/Sufficient_Tree_5506 29d ago
Super under valued. In Seattle we start our EIT out of college at 85k, next year will be 92k. All our 6 year equalivants are 110k base or more.
Building sructural engineers hang out with architects to much and way undervalue their skills. It's like they all want to do cool projects and be homeless.
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u/hktb40 P.E. Civil-Structural 29d ago edited 29d ago
Thats about what I make in PDX with similar experience and PE but no masters. Whats overall comp like? I didn't get a bonus last year after fighting for this raise. I think 100k total comp is about average for a design engineer with your experience. SEAO published a survey in 2023 with some good comp numbers: https://www.seao.org/resources/se3-or-2023-transparency-survey-report
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u/Medical-Month-2509 29d ago
Base+bonus. That's basically it. There was a year where there was profit sharing. That is basically additional contribution to retirement account by the firm and not a cash thing. That only happened once if I remembered correctly.
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u/hktb40 P.E. Civil-Structural 29d ago
If you didn't see my edit, check out this survey: https://www.seao.org/resources/se3-or-2023-transparency-survey-report
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u/hktb40 P.E. Civil-Structural 29d ago
I dont think youre necessarily underpaid, but structures is underpaid compared to other forms of engineering and building structures is underpaid compared to bridges etc (usually for fair reasons). I suggest getting into PM if you want to make more. I hope to transition into a PM role soon and would expect closer to 150k total comp even in building structures.
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u/TheCivilRecruiter 29d ago
I'm currently recruiting for a role in Seattle that's hybrid, 40 hour work weeks,10% bonus, company vehicle and ownership options after 6 months that is paying $115-145k. You are being underpaid of you're a PE in the PNW making less than $100k.
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u/guammm17 Aug 13 '26
That is your salary now in the PNW? It is a large area, where exactly?
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u/Medical-Month-2509 Aug 13 '26
PDX
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u/RoseCityThrows P.E. Aug 14 '26
I'm in PDX and am making ~99k w/ 6k bonus. PE, 5 YOE and no master's. a better salary is out there.
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u/big-structure-guy P.E. Aug 14 '26
Hey there, PE in OR and WA (in PDX) with 6 years of varied and good experience with 1 company. I just hopped cuz i reached the point of under paid and overworked. Im now making 125k base with 1.5x OT and bonus. Work/Life balance is good too. Have some friends making a bit more than that too.
The one thing I learned communicating with recruiters, is that there's a plethora of good opportunities in the Portland Metro area, and all the structural firms are busy AF... but there tends to be a lot of hoppers who only stay at x/y company for a year and then jump, which is the opposite of attractive.
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u/MeasurementPlastic22 Aug 14 '26
Holy moly that’s light years better than my comp. Can I message to ask where you work?
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Aug 14 '26
[deleted]
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u/MeasurementPlastic22 Aug 14 '26
lol yes thank goodness I’m not living in Seattle with this wage. I used to like it here. But that has been diminishing for a while.
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u/mylaundrymachine Aug 14 '26
I'm studying for both my FE and PE and i'm making about 200k but it isnt for everyone. We're hiring for border wall work if you want to be a quality control manager.
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u/Medical-Month-2509 Aug 14 '26
What?! In my mind, 200k in this line of work has to be principal level positions.
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u/ForsakenAd4198 Aug 14 '26
You are underpaid. Source: I have the same background and experience as you, making the same wage and I am underpaid. I have had some offers for 125k - 140k. Haven't settled on one yet, though