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The differences between transportation engineers and structures engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a structures engineer has an average salary of $73,391, which is higher than the $68,945 average annual salary of a transportation engineer.
The top three skills for a transportation engineer include autocad, cost estimates and project management. The most important skills for a structures engineer are structural analysis, revit, and RISA.
| Transportation Engineer | Structures Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $68,945 | $73,391 |
| Hourly rate | $33.15 | $35.28 |
| Growth rate | 7% | 7% |
| Number of jobs | 20,388 | 20,778 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 69% | Bachelor's Degree, 71% |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Years of experience | - | 6 |
Transportation engineers are also known as civil engineers who are responsible for planning, designing, and operating roadway construction and maintenance and modifications of existing streets, highways, or freeways to improve traffic flow for the safety and efficiency of transportation systems. Such a job requires knowledge and skills in transportation and traffic management systems technology and applications to be able to plan, design, develop, and maintain traffic systems and processes including traffic lights more efficiently and effectively.
A structures engineer works in designing, planning, and overseeing the development of the latest buildings and bridges or modifications and extensions to an existing property or other structures. They are mainly concerned with the safety and capability of the structure to withstand the elements to which they will be exposed--also improving the existing building structural integrity. Part of the task is inspecting properties regarding the conditions/foundation and checking work undertaken by contractors. The job is very similarly related to a civil engineer.
Transportation engineers and structures engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Transportation Engineer | Structures Engineer | |
| Average salary | $68,945 | $73,391 |
| Salary range | Between $51,000 And $91,000 | Between $54,000 And $98,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Apple | |
| Best paying industry | Government | Manufacturing |
There are a few differences between a transportation engineer and a structures engineer in terms of educational background:
| Transportation Engineer | Structures Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 69% | Bachelor's Degree, 71% |
| Most common major | Civil Engineering | Civil Engineering |
| Most common college | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Carnegie Mellon University |
Here are the differences between transportation engineers' and structures engineers' demographics:
| Transportation Engineer | Structures Engineer | |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 80.6% Female, 19.4% | Male, 84.9% Female, 15.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.8% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 11.2% Asian, 15.7% White, 64.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% | Black or African American, 3.5% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 10.3% Asian, 17.3% White, 64.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 5% |