Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
Job outlook for maintenance engineers in the United States
Maintenance engineer job growth summary. After extensive research, interviews, and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
The projected maintenance engineer job growth rate is 5% from 2018-2028.
About 76,300 new jobs for maintenance engineers are projected over the next decade.
Maintenance engineer salaries have increased 11% for maintenance engineers in the last 5 years.
There are over 612,594 maintenance engineers currently employed in the United States.
There are 97,957 active maintenance engineer job openings in the US.
The average maintenance engineer salary is $47,133.
Are maintenance engineer jobs in demand?
Maintenance engineer job and salary trends over time
Maintenance engineer jobs over time
Maintenance engineer job growth rate over time
| Year | # of jobs | % of population |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 612,594 | 0.18% |
| 2020 | 587,035 | 0.17% |
| 2019 | 613,567 | 0.18% |
| 2018 | 598,541 | 0.18% |
| 2017 | 584,259 | 0.18% |
Average maintenance engineer salary over time
Maintenance engineer salary by year
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | $47,133 | $22.66 | +4.5% |
| 2025 | $45,091 | $21.68 | +2.0% |
| 2024 | $44,191 | $21.25 | +1.7% |
| 2023 | $43,464 | $20.90 | +2.0% |
| 2022 | $42,622 | $20.49 | +0.8% |
Maintenance engineer jobs by state
Most common states for maintenance engineers
| Rank | State | Population | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | District of Columbia | 693,972 | 239 | 34% |
| 2 | Iowa | 3,145,711 | 648 | 21% |
| 3 | Colorado | 5,607,154 | 1,047 | 19% |
| 4 | Delaware | 961,939 | 183 | 19% |
| 5 | Virginia | 8,470,020 | 1,422 | 17% |
| 6 | Nebraska | 1,920,076 | 323 | 17% |
| 7 | South Carolina | 5,024,369 | 780 | 16% |
| 8 | New Hampshire | 1,342,795 | 212 | 16% |
| 9 | Alaska | 739,795 | 117 | 16% |
| 10 | Georgia | 10,429,379 | 1,589 | 15% |
| 11 | Washington | 7,405,743 | 1,085 | 15% |
| 12 | Indiana | 6,666,818 | 997 | 15% |
| 13 | Wisconsin | 5,795,483 | 890 | 15% |
| 14 | Minnesota | 5,576,606 | 847 | 15% |
| 15 | Utah | 3,101,833 | 453 | 15% |
| 16 | Vermont | 623,657 | 95 | 15% |
| 17 | North Carolina | 10,273,419 | 1,452 | 14% |
| 18 | Arizona | 7,016,270 | 987 | 14% |
| 19 | Ohio | 11,658,609 | 1,492 | 13% |
| 20 | Massachusetts | 6,859,819 | 894 | 13% |
Most common cities for maintenance engineers
| Rank | City | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl | Avg. salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Atlanta | 13 | 3% | $45,026 |
| 2 | Denver | 14 | 2% | $36,779 |
| 3 | Minneapolis | 8 | 2% | $48,728 |
| 4 | Richmond | 5 | 2% | $55,819 |
| 5 | Birmingham | 4 | 2% | $44,313 |
| 6 | Buffalo | 4 | 2% | $59,509 |
| 7 | Salt Lake City | 4 | 2% | $35,482 |
| 8 | Baltimore | 7 | 1% | $52,719 |
| 9 | Las Vegas | 5 | 1% | $41,562 |
| 10 | Miami | 5 | 1% | $43,033 |
| 11 | Boston | 4 | 1% | $57,711 |
| 12 | Detroit | 4 | 1% | $51,892 |
| 13 | New Orleans | 4 | 1% | $40,731 |
| 14 | Los Angeles | 7 | 0% | $56,863 |
| 15 | San Diego | 7 | 0% | $56,154 |
| 16 | Phoenix | 6 | 0% | $37,362 |
| 17 | Chicago | 5 | 0% | $57,071 |
| 18 | Houston | 5 | 0% | $50,482 |
| 19 | Charlotte | 4 | 0% | $53,592 |
Maintenance Engineer job outlook: Expert opinions
Our panel of maintenance engineer experts
University of California - Davis
The Manufacturing Institute
University of Louisville
What Maintenance Engineer skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Philipp Zerbe: There are several opportunities a student can consider. Improve your background knowledge by taking online classes, reading relevant literature, and attending online seminars that are hosted by universities and scientific societies and are often open to the public. Expand your skillset. For example, in biology and other STEM fields, expertise in programming is an increasingly desired skill. In addition, take advantage of management, entrepreneurship and/or leadership training available either at your university or through reputed online courses. These skills not only are valuable for anyone seeking a leadership role in their career, but also show a forward-looking and self-motivated attitude. Lastly, look for internships (in person or remote), for example, at your university, industry or non-profit organizations. These opportunities are an excellent opportunity to grow professionally and explore possible career avenues
What general advice would you give to a Maintenance Engineer?
Philipp Zerbe: While most career sectors have been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, job opportunities in botany, plant biology and biology in general have been affected comparatively less. Therefore, do not be discouraged; explore the many career possibilities in plant biology and find something that truly speaks to your personality and your career dreams and pursue opportunities in this direction. At the same time be flexible and open-minded toward new opportunities. Botany/Plant Biology is a diverse and international field with many different career possibilities. Be open to exploring different fields and to relocate nationally or internationally for internships or job opportunities.
Will there be an enduring impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Maintenance Engineers?
Gardner Carrick: Despite the disruptions of 2020, the job market is still strong for men and women who have the skills to keep the machines of modern manufacturing running. We expect companies to continue to invest in automation coming out of the pandemic, which will drive even stronger growth for machinery and automation engineers and technicians.
Cindy Harnett Ph.D.
Assoc Professor, Electrical & Computer EngUniversity of Louisville
J.B. Speed School of Engineering
Will there be an enduring impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Maintenance Engineers?
Cindy Harnett Ph.D.: I had an EE student who was an essential worker because he worked part-time at the power company. The power systems field is going to stay in demand. He had multiple jobs to choose from at graduation.
We also do a lot of device simulations and draw up circuit layouts in software. That's great for remote work, something students are likely to be thinking about now.
For students who are more hardware-oriented, prospects for remote work are still pretty good, thanks to miniaturization and low cost of setting up a workbench. My embedded systems students were able to carry on with remote coursework by taking small circuit boards home.
In 2020 when we can't go into the office, EEs can still be productive working from home.
We do seek grad students to work in research labs and we'll pay their tuition, salary, and health insurance.
Going to grad school means doing cutting-edge research and writing papers. It's exciting but it also means looking for a job in a few years.
It's too soon for me to spot a 2020 trend yet, but in recent years they've largely gone with their co-op employers right out of the master's degree program.