Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between planning engineers and project engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a planning engineer, becoming a project engineer takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a planning engineer has an average salary of $82,521, which is higher than the $75,050 average annual salary of a project engineer.
The top three skills for a planning engineer include project management, infrastructure and transmission planning. The most important skills for a project engineer are project management, autocad, and construction management.
| Planning Engineer | Project Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $82,521 | $75,050 |
| Hourly rate | $39.67 | $36.08 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 56,792 | 176,689 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 75% | Bachelor's Degree, 77% |
| Average age | 42 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 6 |
A planning engineer is in charge of developing plans and systems to organize and schedule project procedures, ensuring efficiency and timeliness. Their responsibilities revolve around learning and understanding the extent of all operations, setting schedules and objectives, liaising with external parties such as vendors or distributors, and maintaining an active communication line with other departments. Furthermore, a planning engineer must monitor the progress of the workflow and the performance of the workforce, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations.
A Project Engineer develops the plan that the entire team or company will undertake. The project engineer develops the plans, strategies, and goals of a project and then gives it to the management for approval and allocation. The Project Engineer will also recommend material, equipment, and the type of personnel needed. This position is integral in the smooth flow of any project, so hiring someone to hold this position will decide the success of a project.
Planning engineers and project engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Planning Engineer | Project Engineer | |
| Average salary | $82,521 | $75,050 |
| Salary range | Between $61,000 And $110,000 | Between $55,000 And $100,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Richmond, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | Washington |
| Best paying company | Meta | Apple |
| Best paying industry | Energy | Energy |
There are a few differences between a planning engineer and a project engineer in terms of educational background:
| Planning Engineer | Project Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 75% | Bachelor's Degree, 77% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Mechanical Engineering |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between planning engineers' and project engineers' demographics:
| Planning Engineer | Project Engineer | |
| Average age | 42 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 83.2% Female, 16.8% | Male, 87.1% Female, 12.9% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.3% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 10.6% Asian, 15.6% White, 65.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 3.3% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 8.7% Asian, 14.5% White, 68.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 4% | 5% |