Coaster Engineering Salary

According to a website I just went on it said that a roller coaster engineer only makes up to $70,000. While I would love to design roller coasters I am suddenly hesitant whether or not I want to spend the rest of my life to have a potential of a salary of $70,00. I am just wondering if this is an accurate number. Is this number similar to what most of you have heard. It is really strange because this is what I've wanted to do since the third grade, but now that I've heard the salary is so small, I don't know.

Engineers (Mechanical and Civil) are two of the lowest (if not the lowest) paid professions for the contribution to society they make. If not for CivEs, there would be no roads, buildings, etc., yet "good money" in CivE is a little more than most starting doctors.

But don't count on being a Roller Coaster Engineer. You gotta realize there are about 10 to 15 actual RC engineers out there - and 80% are in Denmark and Switzerland. So, I'd say, good dream, but don't put all your eggs in one basket.

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Impulse-ive said:

But don't count on being a Roller Coaster Engineer. You gotta realize there are about 10 to 15 actual RC engineers out there - and 80% are in Denmark and Switzerland. So, I'd say, good dream, but don't put all your eggs in one basket.

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Ding ding ding ding....we have a winner. :) ANd on top of that only one or two set out to be one...the rest got the job by chance. Every month here on Cbuzz there's one or two kids who start a thread asking what they need to do to be a coaster designer. That's more people in one year than there are coaster designer.

Of course...look who's talking..I'm in a profession where there are only a dozen or two of us worldwide doing it for a full-time living :)

Confucious say "Money isn't everything (although it makes coaster trips a lot easier and more frequent) if you're happy doing what you love."
I could make a $70,000 salary stretch a loooonnnnggggggg way.

Excellent point. Some of the "richest" people I know are the most unhappy, miserable people I know. ANd the opposite is true as well

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Impulse-ive said:
Engineers (Mechanical and Civil) are two of the lowest (if not the lowest) paid professions for the contribution to society they make. If not for CivEs, there would be no roads, buildings, etc., yet "good money" in CivE is a little more than most starting doctors.

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That's because the marketplace determines salary, and there is a relatively high number of both ME's and CE's graduating from college every year (As far as engineering majors go, ME is easiest to complete, with CE and Chemical Engineering tied for a close second). Not to mention the Indians and Pakistanis who have top notch abilities and will come here and work for peanuts.

BTW, CEs don't design buildings, that would be architects :) and THEY make $$. CEs lay out roads, water/sewer lines and things of that nature. *** Edited 3/23/2004 12:18:04 AM UTC by igron*** *** Edited 3/23/2004 12:21:19 AM UTC by igron***

Well, you never know....sometimes civil engineering students with no talent can become mega-stars with a record contract! ;) (Yes, I know....I watched that show!)

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TTDragster14 said:
...I am suddenly hesitant whether or not I want to spend the rest of my life to have a potential of a salary of $70,00(0)...but now that I've heard the salary is so small, I don't know.

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I'm just curious to see what you were expecting.

You don't get into this biz for the cash.. I can vouch for that...

It's the love...

Please note-I was NOT intending to demean MEs or CEs. When I say they are the "easiest" engineering majors to complete, I mean:

Core cousework for ME, Chem and CE undergraduates is almost ALL technical (math etc.). Other types of engineering majors (such as Environmental Engineers-Which I am) are required to take a lot of law courses and other non-technical things.

Why this makes ME, CE and Chem easier than others- people who are drawn to the engineering field are technically oriented (true Analytic minds). Since coursework is technically oriented, a competent Analytic can whiz right through. Non-technical coursework (such as studying legal precedents, writing/reviewing Environmental Imapact Statements and arguing points of view you don't agree with-basically anything that can't be calculated to a certainty) is pure torture for an Analytic person. Similarly, a person with a flair for words (composition and poetry or other liberal arts) could possibly have their heads explode in an advance quantum mechanics class.

PS- I don't know ANY engineers who make over 100k as engineers. Some people with engineering degrees make more, but only if they are managers etc. Of couse my experience is limited to the mid-west, New York and California are a whole other world...I don't know what the going rate for enginners might be. *** Edited 3/23/2004 12:37:57 AM UTC by igron*** *** Edited 3/23/2004 12:48:46 AM UTC by igron***

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Red Garter Rob said:
You don't get into this biz for the cash.. I can vouch for that...

It's the love...

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I couldn't agree more. In addition to that, I don't know about the rest of you guys, but $70K is a nice hunk of change!

It really depends your location as igron said. I work in the Bay area and I am probably one of the few engineers in my department who make less than 100K (I'm still considered entry level)

Anyway, I am almost sure that sophomore year of any good engineering program will weed out people who choose engineering solely for the money. You have to have the passion in order to suceed, which means many nights staying up trying to finish an Aerodynamics project, or trying to finish your DiffEQ homework.

*** Edited 3/23/2004 12:52:43 AM UTC by Antuan***

Just to let you know....

Average starting salary for a mechanical engineer with a masters degree is $57,000....not a bad starting rate if you ask me...

I'm a 4th year ME/Aerospace engineering major, and ME is definately not easier then environmental or civil engineering .... and you can ask any CE or EE at my school and they'll agree... but as someone else said...it's all about enjoying your work...that's why you do it...not the money

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Antuan said:

sophomore year of any good engineering program will weed out people who choose engineering solely for the money.*** Edited 3/23/2004 12:52:43 AM UTC by Antuan***

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Yep, along with those folks who thought being an engineer would be "cool" and had given it no further thought. Seriously...they were there.

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roosel said:

Average starting salary for a mechanical engineer with a masters degree is $57,000....not a bad starting rate if you ask me...

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That might better be stated as "average starting salary for a mechanical engineer with a masters degree who can find a job." Average starting salary for a BSEng is not much more than 20-25k. But, again, it depends on where you choose to seek employment. Good luck to you.

Oh.. I realize that it is about loving your job. To answer someone's question I have no idea what I expected and yes I realize that 70,000 is actually pretty good money, but for that to be listed as the maximum salary for a coaster engineer took me off guard. I don't know maybe its the fact that all my friends are planning on being entrepenuers, doctors, lawyers, and phychiatrists. I definitely do plan on being an engineer of some sort regardless, and I know that likelihood of me actually winding up being a coaster engineer is slim to none, but that salary just kind of surprised me. *** Edited 3/23/2004 1:09:39 AM UTC by TTDragster14***

Ahhh to be relatively young again :). I remember ignoring fields of study that didn't have the potential to pay three figures... Nowadays I would take $40k a year in a second! Job security is more valuable to me than making that much money anyway. Good luck searching for a job that fits your minimum $100,000/year lifestyle!

$70k is almost twice the average American salary. Furthermore, there's no such thing as making enough money.

And you know what? I'd settle for a third of what I make now if it meant I loved every minute of it. If you think you're going to be a coaster engineer, I suggest a back up plan. I've met most of the coaster engineers in the world. That doesn't mean than I'm popular, it just means that there aren't very many of them.

Im not into rollercoaster design, Thrill ride design is where it's at!

lol

I think designing and overseeing manufacturing of a thrill ride would be the funiest thing on the planet! right now im looking into a career into Mechanical Engineering, and I also plan to dab into control systems En., Structural En. and Architechial En.

I wouldn't do it for the money, as long it was enough to live comfortably.

Also..... if amusement ride design doesn't work out, with my degree in ME i still have LOTS and LOTS of other options that would be almost as fun!

Remember, money is the root of all evil.
That's why churches ask for it. (RIMSHOT)