2007 $ALARY $URVEY

We asked the questions. Here are our findings. How do you stack up?

After a three-year absence, our annual Salary Survey is back to help you determine how your income stacks up in relation to other maintenance and reliability professionals in today’s industrial arena.

Please note that our 2007 Salary Survey goes well beyond anecdotal information to reflect concrete data regarding the actual state of this industry’s employment marketplace. The data we used to compile this survey was obtained from a random sample of Maintenance Technology and Lubrication Management & Technology readers who completed an anonymous on-line survey. We believe the survey findings reported here to be both accurate and representative of what’s happening in the maintenance and reliability community.

A basic profile
When Maintenance Technology conducted its first salary survey in 1998, average respondent income was $58,748, (including overtime and bonus, which all averages in our findings reflect). Nine years later, the average expected income for 2007 is $86,251—a 32% increase. This also reflects a 3% increase from the average salary of $83,678 that this year’s respondents report having received in 2006.

Furthermore, expected income for 2007 is ranging from $26,000 to $250,000, in comparison to a range of $12,000 to $160,000 in 1998 and $26,000 to $235,000 in 2006.

 

For those paid on an hourly basis—23.68% of our survey respondents—the average pay rate is $28.30 per hour, equating to an average expected 2007 income of $69,238.

As shown in Fig. 1, the highest percentage of our respondents report an expected 2007 income in the $70,000 to $79,999 range. This also is where the median income, $78,000, is found.

Changes with age
Age of our survey respondents ranged from 26 to 71 years old, with an average of 50.2 years. Half of them are between 45 and 56 years of age. In addition, a large number of respondents are seasoned veterans, having spent an average of 22.2 years working in their fields.

Based on age, the average income increased from $63,333.33 for respondents in their 20s to a high of $88,674 for those in their 50s. For those in their 60s and above, the average reported income dropped by slightly more than $4000. More results are shown in Fig. 2.

The learning curve
Of the survey respondents, 30.2% indicate a trade school diploma as their highest level of educational achievement; 25.9% have a two-year community college degree; 34.5% have a four-year college or university degree; and 9.6% have a masters or doctorate graduate university degree. So how do these educational levels relate to salary compensation?

Typically, the higher the level of education respondents have achieved, the higher their average level of income is. Trade school graduates report an average 2007 income of $74,355; two-year community college graduates report $77,439; four-year college or university graduates report $97,375; those with advanced degrees report $107,301. Each level of education includes a wide range of salaries, as depicted in Fig. 3.

Outside of a formal education, 19% of respondents also hold one or more professional licenses or certifications, which include P.E., CMRP, CPMM and CPE. The average income for Professional Engineers (P.E.) is $113,316; the average income for those designated solely as Certified Maintenance and Reliability Professionals (CMRP) is $85,340; the average income for those designated solely as AFE Certified Plant Maintenance Managers (CPMM) is $77,000. (Note: Too small a number of AFE Certified Plant Engineers (CPE) or those with combinations of certification provided their expected 2007 income to report an accurate average.)

Income by facility size
Survey respondents were asked to indicate the number of workers at their location of employment. The results were as follows: 12% are employed at facilities of one to 49 employees; 9% at facilities of 50 to 99 employees; 20% at facilities of 100 to 249 employees; 18% at facilities of 250 to 499 employees; 13% at facilities of 500 to 999 employees; and 28% at facilities with 1000 or more employees.

Related to salary, respondents working at facilities of 50 to 99 employees report the lowest average income at $68,998. Respondents working at facilities with 1000 or more employees record the highest average salary at $96,748. Fig. 4 displays the results from the remaining facility sizes.

Industry type
We also asked survey respondents to specify the industry sector of their company/facility. The results, combined into five general categories derived from the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), include processing, manufacturing, utilities, service and nonindustrial industries.

Based on responses, 40.1% of respondents work in processing industries; 22.1% in manufacturing; 14.6% in utilities; 6.8% in services; and 16.3% in non-industrial. Those in processing report the highest average salary at $94,346. The lowest average salary based on industry, $71,673, is reported by those working in the non-industrial sector. Fig. 5 displays full results.

 

Who’s doing what
Our survey asked respondents to indicate their level of work involvement. Results show that 13% chose corporate or multiplant; 15% plant or facility manager; 21% reliability or maintenance manager; 6% reliability engineer; 6% reliability technician; 7% maintenance engineer; 9% maintenance technician; 13% supervisor; 10% “other.”

As might have been expected, the average expected income for 2007 was the highest for those involved with corporate or multiplant levels, at $104,746, as is seen in Fig. 6. This is the same result we have found in the seven previous years of our survey. Those involved at the level of maintenance technician indicate the lowest average income at $62,100.