A hydraulic engineer is an individual who specializes in the maintenance and repair of dams, bridges, and canals and may work with machines and equipment that utilize hydraulic power. These professionals may also work with water and sewage services and help design projects that are related to the movement and control of water and other liquids. Hydraulic engineers must have a strong understanding of water systems and are responsible for designing dams, drainage systems, and levees for governments and communities.
Hydraulic engineers assist in water resources and flood control planning and must be sure to adhere to environmental regulations and standards. They also create deep foundation and flood control structure designs and communicate with clients and governing bodies to address their concerns about stormwater, sewage, and soil erosion. These professionals work in an office environment but will frequently travel to worksites to supervise construction, maintenance, and repairs.
Most hydraulic engineers have a degree in engineering or a related field, and most career opportunities are available in government and private companies. These professionals can make up to $81,000 annually in the US, and the job field is expected to grow 5% by 2028.
How to Become a Hydraulic Engineer
What is a Hydraulic Engineer
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a Hydraulic Engineer. For example, did you know that they make an average of $41.01 an hour? That's $85,291 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 4% and produce 12,800 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Hydraulic Engineer Do
There are certain skills that many Hydraulic Engineers have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed Creativity, Listening skills and Math skills.
How To Become a Hydraulic Engineer
If you're interested in becoming a Hydraulic Engineer, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 66.8% of Hydraulic Engineers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 20.5% of Hydraulic Engineers have master's degrees. Even though most Hydraulic Engineers have a college degree, it's impossible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a Hydraulic Engineer. When we researched the most common majors for a Hydraulic Engineer, we found that they most commonly earn Bachelor's Degree degrees or Master's Degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on Hydraulic Engineer resumes include Associate Degree degrees or Doctoral Degree degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a Hydraulic Engineer. In fact, many Hydraulic Engineer jobs require experience in a role such as Project Engineer. Meanwhile, many Hydraulic Engineers also have previous career experience in roles such as Design Engineer or Engineer.
What is the right job for my career path?
Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the right jobs to get there.
And if you’re looking for a job, here are the five top employers hiring now:
Hydraulic Engineer Career Paths
In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of Project Engineer you might progress to a role such as Engineering Manager eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title Senior Engineering Manager.
Hydraulic Engineer Jobs You Might Like
What is the right job for my career path?
Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the rights job to get there.
Average Salary for a Hydraulic Engineer
Calculate your salary
Use Zippia's Salary Calculator to see how your pay matches up.
Choose From 10+ Customizable Hydraulic Engineer Resume templates
Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Hydraulic Engineer templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Hydraulic Engineer resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
Find the best Hydraulic Engineer job for you
Hydraulic Engineer Jobs You Might Like
- High Paying Hydraulic Engineer Jobs - $120K and Up
- Entry Level Hydraulic Engineer Jobs
- Part Time Hydraulic Engineer Jobs
- Actively Hiring
- No Degree Hydraulic Engineer Jobs
Top Colleges for Hydraulic Engineers
1. Georgia Institute of Technology
Atlanta, GA • Private
2. Cornell University
Ithaca, NY • Private
3. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
4. Columbia University in the City of New York
New York, NY • Private
5. Stanford University
Stanford, CA • Private
6. Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD • Private
7. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Champaign, IL • Private
8. Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA • Private
9. University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX • Private
10. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA • Private
Find the best Hydraulic Engineer job for you
Hydraulic Engineer Jobs You Might Like
- High Paying Hydraulic Engineer Jobs - $120K and Up
- Entry Level Hydraulic Engineer Jobs
- Part Time Hydraulic Engineer Jobs
- Actively Hiring
- No Degree Hydraulic Engineer Jobs
Online Courses For Hydraulic Engineer That You May Like
Groundwater is the water beneath the ground surface. It is a vast freshwater reservoir often overlooked because invisible, yet 1000 times greater than all lakes and rivers. The Earth is blue for its oceans, but green for the freshwater under our feet. Half of the world’s population rely on groundwater for drinking and almost half of the irrigated land now depends on groundwater, a ten-fold increase in the past 50 years. In order to use the water from the ground, we first have to extract it!...
Aerospace and Aeronautical Engineering: Master the Systems of Airplanes - Hydraulics, Avionics, Electric, Propulsion...
Students in this class will learn how to access and process commonly used geospatial and temporal data such as the digital elevation model (DEM), land use, soil, streamflow and precipitation using geographic information systems (GIS). After processing, students will learn how to use these data to create hydrologic and hydraulic models such as HEC-HMS, HEC-RAS and SWAT. Students will learn how to interpret model results and present information to convey the role of climate and human factors on...
Top Skills For a Hydraulic Engineer
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 14.0% of Hydraulic Engineers listed Civil Engineering on their resume, but soft skills such as Creativity and Listening skills are important as well.
Best States For a Hydraulic Engineer
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a Hydraulic Engineer. The best states for people in this position are Alaska, California, Massachusetts, and Washington. Hydraulic Engineers make the most in Alaska with an average salary of $126,762. Whereas in California and Massachusetts, they would average $110,413 and $109,296, respectively. While Hydraulic Engineers would only make an average of $108,693 in Washington, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. Washington
$108,693
Avg. Salary
2. Alaska
$126,762
Avg. Salary
3. Massachusetts
$109,296
Avg. Salary
How Do Hydraulic Engineer Rate Their Jobs?
Hydraulic Engineer Videos
