Post job

Biomedical engineer vs civil engineer

The differences between biomedical engineers and civil engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a biomedical engineer, becoming a civil engineer takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a biomedical engineer has an average salary of $79,436, which is higher than the $70,950 average annual salary of a civil engineer.

The top three skills for a biomedical engineer include patients, medical devices and biomedical equipment. The most important skills for a civil engineer are civil 3d, engineering design, and cost estimates.

Biomedical engineer vs civil engineer overview

Biomedical EngineerCivil Engineer
Yearly salary$79,436$70,950
Hourly rate$38.19$34.11
Growth rate10%7%
Number of jobs33,66226,803
Job satisfaction55
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 65%Bachelor's Degree, 77%
Average age3841
Years of experience26

What does a biomedical engineer do?

As a biomedical engineer, it's their main job responsibility to innovate advances that can improve human health care in all aspects. They analyze and create solutions to certain problems with biology and medicine to improve the effectiveness and quality of patient care. They also do complex tasks that include installing, repairing, maintaining, or providing technical support for biomedical equipment. Moreover, checking safety evaluation, efficiency, and effectiveness of biomedical equipment is also part of their job responsibilities.

What does a civil engineer do?

A civil engineer designs and supervises the construction of large-scale public works projects such as buildings, roads, tunnels, highways, airports, bridges, dams, and other substantial infrastructure. Most civil engineers work in the private industry, but some work for a government organization. Their output is almost everywhere. Many of them specialize in a specific project or practice a target profession such as in transportation, structural engineering, or geotechnical engineering. They oftentimes work at project sites, as they monitor the ongoing construction.

Biomedical engineer vs civil engineer salary

Biomedical engineers and civil engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Biomedical EngineerCivil Engineer
Average salary$79,436$70,950
Salary rangeBetween $57,000 And $108,000Between $51,000 And $97,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateCaliforniaCalifornia
Best paying companyCornerstone ResearchThe Citadel
Best paying industryTechnologyConstruction

Differences between biomedical engineer and civil engineer education

There are a few differences between a biomedical engineer and a civil engineer in terms of educational background:

Biomedical EngineerCivil Engineer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 65%Bachelor's Degree, 77%
Most common majorBiomedical EngineeringCivil Engineering
Most common collegeMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyUniversity of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Biomedical engineer vs civil engineer demographics

Here are the differences between biomedical engineers' and civil engineers' demographics:

Biomedical EngineerCivil Engineer
Average age3841
Gender ratioMale, 75.0% Female, 25.0%Male, 83.6% Female, 16.4%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 5.6% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 10.3% Asian, 20.1% White, 58.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%Black or African American, 3.8% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 11.2% Asian, 15.6% White, 64.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage13%5%

Differences between biomedical engineer and civil engineer duties and responsibilities

Biomedical engineer example responsibilities.

  • Lead writing of new grant submissions to agencies such as the NIH, NIA, and VA.
  • Implement modifications to place equipment for 12-lead ECG investigation that lead to changes in accept monitoring standards.
  • Manage routine small projects without assistance and support larger projects for improvements to the quality system as approved by management.
  • Manage Terraform and refactore from monolithic to application specific components.
  • Present test results of various medical instruments in hospital in team meetings using PowerPoint.
  • Experience in OSHA, AAMI and HIPA standards.
  • Show more

Civil engineer example responsibilities.

  • Manage production of full sets of contract documents (grading, drainage, water, sewer, paving and SWPPP).
  • Manage project programming requirements and manage HVAC design activities.
  • Project manage the overall reorganizing and restructuring of the telecommunication department.
  • Design engineer and project manager for HVAC, plumbing, and fire protection systems.
  • Support and troubleshoot Hewlett Packard printers, servers, switches, thin clients, and Cisco phone systems.
  • Handle and continuously update project documentation as as-built records and construction record reports.
  • Show more

Biomedical engineer vs civil engineer skills

Common biomedical engineer skills
  • Patients, 11%
  • Medical Devices, 8%
  • Biomedical Equipment, 7%
  • Patient Care, 6%
  • FDA, 6%
  • Electrical Safety, 5%
Common civil engineer skills
  • Civil 3D, 11%
  • Engineering Design, 7%
  • Cost Estimates, 7%
  • Project Management, 6%
  • Construction Projects, 4%
  • Engineering Projects, 4%

Browse architecture and engineering jobs