Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between aircraft engineers and stress engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both an aircraft engineer and a stress engineer. Additionally, a stress engineer has an average salary of $107,036, which is higher than the $72,867 average annual salary of an aircraft engineer.
The top three skills for an aircraft engineer include DOD, aircraft systems and CAD. The most important skills for a stress engineer are finite element analysis, structural analysis, and autocad.
| Aircraft Engineer | Stress Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $72,867 | $107,036 |
| Hourly rate | $35.03 | $51.46 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 5,718 | 36,117 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 61% | Bachelor's Degree, 75% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
An aircraft engineer oversees the design and assembly of an aircraft. Broadly, they are responsible for developing aircraft designs, testing and fine-tuning them, and ensuring safe practices during the assembly process. Specifically, this involves providing design drafts, meeting with executives to get feedback, and working in an engineering team to improve designs. They must consider aerodynamic principles, air safety, passenger comfort, and customer. This position requires an advanced degree and strong experience in the aviation field.
A stress engineer specializes in conducting analysis and assessments on structures and components, mainly using stress to test its structural integrity. They may work in various industries such as automotive, aerospace, manufacturing, and even medical. Although their duties may vary upon the industry, they are typically in charge of performing extensive research and analysis, coordinating with architects and engineers, designing and building prototypes, and maintaining records of all procedures. Furthermore, a stress engineer must produce detailed progress and findings reports in adherence to project deadlines and company policies.
Aircraft engineers and stress engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Aircraft Engineer | Stress Engineer | |
| Average salary | $72,867 | $107,036 |
| Salary range | Between $53,000 And $99,000 | Between $73,000 And $156,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Seattle, WA |
| Highest paying state | California | Washington |
| Best paying company | Joby Aviation | CTS |
| Best paying industry | Transportation | Professional |
There are a few differences between an aircraft engineer and a stress engineer in terms of educational background:
| Aircraft Engineer | Stress Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 61% | Bachelor's Degree, 75% |
| Most common major | Aerospace Engineering | Mechanical Engineering |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Georgia Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between aircraft engineers' and stress engineers' demographics:
| Aircraft Engineer | Stress Engineer | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 91.1% Female, 8.9% | Male, 89.7% Female, 10.3% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.2% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 11.4% Asian, 10.8% White, 68.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% | Black or African American, 3.8% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 8.9% Asian, 19.8% White, 63.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 8% | 8% |