Which state pays industrial engineering bachelor's graduates the most?

New York, where the median program pays its graduates $72,764 in their first year, the highest of 3 state rankings. Illinois is next, at $72,602.

Which industrial engineering bachelor's program pays the most?

SUNY Maritime College in New York reports the highest first-year pay of the 83 programs ranked here, $91,470. Its median federal debt is $24,989.

How much debt do industrial engineering bachelor's graduates have?

The median program leaves its graduates with $24,750 in federal debt. Across programs, the median debt is 33% of first-year pay.

Highest-Paying Industrial Engineering (Bachelor's) Programs in the US

83 programs report first-year pay
3 state rankings
Bachelor's in Industrial Engineering

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median industrial engineering bachelor's program in the US pays its graduates $74,709 in their first year and $94,097 five years after. New York has the highest state median ($72,764), and Texas the lowest ($67,407). The median program leaves its graduates with $24,750 in federal debt.

Median first-year pay$74,709Across 83 programs

Median pay after 5 years$94,097Across 64 programs

Median federal debt$24,750Across 79 programs

Debt-to-earnings33%Across 77 programs

All 83 programs, ranked by graduate pay

Each program is ranked by the median pay of its graduates one year after they finished, from College Scorecard. This measures what graduates earn, not how good the teaching is. Pay also depends on where graduates live and work. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	School	Year 1 pay	After cost of living	Year 5 pay	Debt	Debt to pay
1	SUNY Maritime CollegeThroggs Neck, NY · public	$91,470	$84,756	$123,352	$24,989	27%
2	Northwestern UniversityEvanston, IL · private nonprofit	$89,811	$89,849	$137,306	$17,912	20%
3	Georgia TechAtlanta, GA · public	$87,826	$91,207	$118,425	$21,750	25%
4	USCLos Angeles, CA · private nonprofit	$87,807	$79,305	$137,590	$18,250	21%
5	Cal Poly SLOSan Luis Obispo, CA · public	$87,226	$78,781	$121,125	$19,691	23%
6	University of MichiganAnn Arbor, MI · public	$86,476	Not adjusted	$109,239	$20,306	23%
7	Kettering UniversityFlint, MI · private nonprofit	$85,105	Not adjusted	$94,052	Not reported	Not reported
8	NC A&TGreensboro, NC · public	$83,427	Not adjusted	$91,914	$31,000	37%
9	Virginia TechBlacksburg, VA · public	$82,437	$81,537	$103,958	$22,870	28%
10	PurdueWest Lafayette, IN · public	$81,379	Not adjusted	$100,438	$19,427	24%
11	Lehigh UniversityBethlehem, PA · private nonprofit	$81,142	Not adjusted	$121,172	$23,834	29%
12	NC StateRaleigh, NC · public	$81,055	$85,931	$96,510	$22,309	28%
13	Ohio StateColumbus, OH · public	$80,876	Not adjusted	$105,342	$21,875	27%
14	University of San DiegoSan Diego, CA · private nonprofit	$80,644	Not adjusted	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
15	UW-MadisonMadison, WI · public	$80,435	Not adjusted	$110,022	$23,577	29%
16	University of MissouriColumbia, MO · public	$79,894	$87,973	$96,907	$26,512	33%
17	Penn StateUniversity Park, PA · public	$78,975	Not adjusted	$103,650	$25,000	32%
18	RutgersNew Brunswick, NJ · public	$78,501	$72,148	$93,012	$26,925	34%
19	Oregon StateCorvallis, OR · public	$78,425	$75,875	$92,997	$25,437	32%
20	UIUCChampaign, IL · public	$78,313	$78,346	$98,221	$22,330	29%
21	WPIWorcester, MA · private nonprofit	$77,994	Not adjusted	Not reported	$26,254	34%
22	ASUTempe, AZ · public	$77,850	$77,326	$95,124	$19,375	25%
23	Wayne StateDetroit, MI · public	$77,815	$80,874	Not reported	$24,340	31%
24	University of Minnesota-DuluthDuluth, MN · public	$77,781	$78,869	Not reported	$24,185	31%
25	Kansas StateManhattan, KS · public	$77,724	$86,295	Not reported	$25,000	32%
26	UConnStorrs, CT · public	$77,692	$74,985	Not reported	$24,889	32%
27	Indiana Institute of TechnologyFort Wayne, IN · private nonprofit	$77,456	$82,992	$88,090	$32,750	42%
28	Oakland UniversityRochester Hills, MI · public	$77,169	$80,203	Not reported	$29,750	39%
29	Northeastern UniversityBoston, MA · private nonprofit	$77,066	Not adjusted	$110,414	$25,000	32%
30	UW-PlattevillePlatteville, WI · public	$76,952	$81,781	$81,870	$27,694	36%
31	University of PittsburghPittsburgh, PA · public	$76,707	$78,616	$102,365	$25,250	33%
32	University of Alabama in HuntsvilleHuntsville, AL · public	$76,690	$86,340	Not reported	$31,000	40%
33	Florida StateTallahassee, FL · public	$76,426	Not adjusted	Not reported	$20,000	26%
34	UT ArlingtonArlington, TX · public	$76,390	$78,706	$97,042	$22,503	29%
35	University of HoustonHouston, TX · public	$76,147	$78,456	$100,544	$21,500	28%
36	University of ArkansasFayetteville, AR · public	$75,968	Not adjusted	$108,211	$26,500	35%
37	University of IowaIowa City, IA · public	$75,699	Not adjusted	$94,141	$22,540	30%
38	WVUMorgantown, WV · public	$75,606	Not adjusted	$95,095	$25,207	33%
39	University of WashingtonSeattle, WA · public	$75,473	$70,527	$109,185	$18,027	24%
40	Cal Poly PomonaPomona, CA · public	$75,110	$67,838	$95,032	$25,000	33%
41	RPITroy, NY · private nonprofit	$74,787	Not adjusted	$117,724	$22,750	30%
42	Clemson UniversityClemson, SC · public	$74,709	$79,690	$96,384	$26,750	36%
43	Western Michigan UniversityKalamazoo, MI · public	$74,670	Not adjusted	$82,100	Not reported	Not reported
44	Texas A&MCollege Station, TX · public	$74,529	$76,789	$103,679	$19,708	26%
45	Iowa StateAmes, IA · public	$74,310	Not adjusted	$88,344	$23,750	32%
46	University of LouisvilleLouisville, KY · public	$74,163	$82,258	Not reported	$23,000	31%
47	Morgan StateBaltimore, MD · public	$74,047	$70,548	Not reported	$30,500	41%
48	University of TennesseeKnoxville, TN · public	$73,822	$80,355	$84,642	$24,125	33%
49	University of MinnesotaMinneapolis, MN · public	$73,777	$74,809	$93,671	$22,802	31%
50	Southern Illinois University EdwardsvilleEdwardsville, IL · public	$73,092	Not adjusted	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
51	RITRochester, NY · private nonprofit	$72,764	$67,423	$105,893	$30,750	42%
52	University of ArizonaTucson, AZ · public	$72,440	$71,953	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
53	University of Oklahoma-Norman CampusNorman, OK · public	$72,397	Not adjusted	$103,183	$26,125	36%
54	Northern Illinois UniversityDekalb, IL · public	$72,112	Not adjusted	$88,954	$23,750	33%
55	Texas TechLubbock, TX · public	$71,545	$73,714	$104,083	$29,000	41%
56	NJITNewark, NJ · public	$71,329	$65,557	$91,936	$25,000	35%
57	Milwaukee School of EngineeringMilwaukee, WI · private nonprofit	$71,112	$75,575	$90,239	$27,000	38%
58	University of MiamiCoral Gables, FL · private nonprofit	$71,089	Not adjusted	$85,735	$15,110	21%
59	Auburn UniversityAuburn, AL · public	$71,063	Not adjusted	$96,383	$23,250	33%
60	Binghamton UniversityVestal, NY · public	$70,943	$65,736	$91,448	$21,500	30%
61	Mississippi StateMississippi State, MS · public	$70,703	$81,312	$89,777	$27,000	38%
62	UMass AmherstAmherst, MA · public	$70,554	$66,713	Not reported	$27,000	38%
63	South Dakota School of Mines and TechnologyRapid City, SD · public	$70,216	Not adjusted	$78,152	$26,000	37%
64	Ohio UniversityAthens, OH · public	$70,199	$75,667	$86,815	$27,000	38%
65	UCFOrlando, FL · public	$70,194	$67,877	$83,520	$26,273	37%
66	USFTampa, FL · public	$69,672	$67,372	$89,514	$24,633	35%
67	Oklahoma StateStillwater, OK · public	$69,486	Not adjusted	Not reported	$26,000	37%
68	Youngstown StateYoungstown, OH · public	$69,202	$74,592	Not reported	$25,000	36%
69	North Dakota StateFargo, ND · public	$68,873	Not adjusted	$85,379	$26,000	38%
70	UW-MilwaukeeMilwaukee, WI · public	$68,673	$72,983	$86,436	$22,536	33%
71	Bradley UniversityPeoria, IL · private nonprofit	$68,166	Not adjusted	$86,997	$25,788	38%
72	Louisiana Tech UniversityRuston, LA · public	$65,739	Not adjusted	Not reported	$31,000	47%
73	LSUBaton Rouge, LA · public	$65,285	$74,013	Not reported	$21,500	33%
74	Montana StateBozeman, MT · public	$64,082	Not adjusted	Not reported	$26,000	41%
75	University at BuffaloBuffalo, NY · public	$63,476	$58,817	$93,933	$24,750	39%
76	East Texas A&M UniversityCommerce, TX · public	$63,269	$65,187	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
77	Lamar UniversityBeaumont, TX · public	$62,053	$63,935	Not reported	$28,351	46%
78	Texas StateSan Marcos, TX · public	$61,718	$63,589	$88,735	$28,750	47%
79	University of South Carolina AikenAiken, SC · public	$60,091	Not adjusted	Not reported	$22,828	38%
80	UICChicago, IL · public	$57,281	$57,305	$88,853	$22,247	39%
81	Kent StateKent, OH · public	$56,274	$60,657	$76,477	$29,000	52%
82	UTEPEl Paso, TX · public	$45,467	$46,846	$80,955	$15,552	34%
83	UPR MayaguezMayaguez, PR · public	$45,322	Not adjusted	$73,537	$9,500	21%

Pay after cost of living divides first-year pay by the Bureau of Economic Analysis price level of the school's state, where the US average is 100. It is shown for 52 programs where at least half of the graduates who work are working in the school's state. The other 31, whose graduates mostly work in other states or whose state has no price level, are listed last when you sort by it.

6 programs report pay but not debt, so they are ranked only by pay.

College Scorecard withholds pay for programs with too few graduates, to protect their privacy, so those programs can't be ranked.

Industrial Engineering (Bachelor's) programs by state

Each row is the median across the state's industrial engineering bachelor's programs. State names link to the full ranking of that state's programs.

#	State	Programs	Year 1 pay	Debt
1	New York	5	$72,764	$24,750
2	Illinois	6	$72,602	$22,330
3	Texas	8	$67,407	$22,503

Programs in 34 more states and territories report pay, but too few to rank. A state ranking needs at least five programs that report both pay and debt.

Quick picks nationwide

Lowest median debt

UTEP, TX$15,552
Northwestern University, IL$17,912
Texas A&M, TX$19,708
University of Houston, TX$21,500
Binghamton University, NY$21,500
UIC, IL$22,247
UIUC, IL$22,330
UT Arlington, TX$22,503
RPI, NY$22,750
Northern Illinois University, IL$23,750

Lowest debt for the pay

Only the 17 programs with their own page here are included. "Debt for the pay" is median debt divided by first-year pay.

Careers this field leads to

These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to industrial engineering, largest first. Pay is the median across the US and all experience levels.

Industrial Engineers

$102,440

Median pay in the US. 365,740 people work in this job in the US. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 12% from 2025 to 2035, with about 23,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $74,370Top 10%: $159,860

Industrial Production Managers

$126,060

Median pay in the US. 246,250 people work in this job in the US. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 3% from 2025 to 2035, with about 17,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $78,000Top 10%: $205,520

Architectural and Engineering Managers

$171,270

Median pay in the US. 220,260 people work in this job in the US. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 14,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $120,810Top 10%: $262,760

Common questions

The median industrial engineering bachelor's program in the US pays its graduates $74,709 in their first year and $94,097 five years after.

About this data

Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
Medians are across programs, not students: each program counts once, however many graduates it has.
National medians include every program in the 50 states, DC, and US territories, including schools that have since closed. Schools with several campuses that report one combined figure are counted once.
Programs are ranked by College Scorecard median pay one year after graduation. Pay after cost of living uses the price level of the school's state.
Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025. Price levels are the Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parities for 2024.

Sources

U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk
Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024