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If you have your heart set on becoming a biomedical engineer but are not sure how to make it happen, then you need to look online. Unlike the “old” days when online degrees were mostly in liberal arts area or criminal justice, there are now many online degrees offered in the science areas. This is a great field to pursue because it is specialized and commands a high salary
Great Wages Paid for a Fascinating Career Path!
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average annual wage
In May 2009 for a biomedical engineer was $82,550. Salaries grew by almost 7% from 2008 to 2009 which is astonishing considering the poor economic conditions during this time period. This is one of the higher paying jobs you can seek with an annual salary being paid that is over $100,000 at the 75th percentile.
Here is even better news for you to digest. New hires in this field with less than one year’s experience are starting at annual salaries between $40,000 and $60,000. There are really not that many occupations that pay people so well who have recently graduated from college and especially with a bachelor’s degree.
After just 5 years working in the industry you can be earning between $55,000 and $83,000 annually. Making this occupation even more appealing is the fact that once you earn your online biomedical engineering degree you can work in any of a number of industries. These industries include private and government owned laboratories and health facilities, research universities, private companies and others.
There are several factors that will impact exactly how much you get paid including the industry of employment. For example, biomedical engineers working for state or local governments are earning a top average annual salary of approximately $48,000. Those working for private companies are topping out at over $100,000.
When you look at the industries with the highest levels of employment as reported by the U.S. Department of Labor, the highest average wages are in the control instruments manufacturing category at $92,000 annually. The lowest paying industry with the highest levels of employment is hospitals.
Maximizing Your Salary
If you want to maximize your salary as a biomedical engineer then you can take several things into consideration.
- Industry of employment
- Geographical location of the job (state and city)
- Company Size
- Specialty
When you are a biomedical engineering undergraduate and seeking the best job at the highest pay, you will need to take the state and city where the job is located into consideration. The top paying state is Minnesota at $46.60 an hour while the state of Connecticut is fifth on the list at $41.90 an hour.
But you also have to look at the amount of employment. Minnesota has 810 biomedical engineers employed while Connecticut only has 90. California (2,990) and Massachusetts (1,380) are the two highest employing states in terms of numbers of jobs even though they don’t pay the highest wages in the top 5 states of employment.
Another factor you need to keep in mind is that the size of the company you work for impacts pay. According to PayScale, companies employing 2,000 to 5,000 people paid biomedical engineers as much as $90,000 annually. Companies with 50 to 200 employers are paying a maximum of $64,000.
Biomedical engineering schools offer undergraduate and graduate degrees. A bachelor’s degree is usually a minimum requirement. You can increase your salary by specializing or being able to offer special skills. For example the following figures provided by PayScale indicate approximate low annual salaries by some specialties.
- Research analyst - $61,500
- Solid Works - $62,000
- Product Development - $55,000
- Project Manager - $58,000
- Technical writer - $47,000
- Materials lab engineer - $37,000
If you want to earn the highest salary then you must take the type of position into consideration.
Excellent and Great Are 2 Words That Describe This Occupation!
You can get a biomedical engineering degree online and enter an occupation with excellent employment prospects. The number of jobs is expected to grow by 72% between 2008 and 2018 according to the U.S. Department of Labor projections.
Biomedical engineering is a highly technical field. As the use of technology continues to expand there will be a greater need for biomedical specialists in both equipment and software use. The excellent pay reflects the fact that this occupation must be comfortable working with computers, electronics, engineered scientific instruments, mathematical formulas and mechanical tools.
Of course, many people choose this field just because it provides challenging work. This is an excellent field, and job opportunities could very well exceed current estimates because of the increase in health care coverage for millions of Americans. Being able to earn a degree online means you can now join the others who recognize the career potential.
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