Occupation

Materials Engineers

Evaluate materials and develop machinery and processes to manufacture materials for use in products that must meet specialized design and performance specifications. Develop new uses for known materials. Includes those engineers working with composite materials or specializing in one type of material, such as graphite, metal and metal alloys, ceramics and glass, plastics and polymers, and naturally occurring materials. Includes metallurgists and metallurgical engineers, ceramic engineers, and welding engineers.

88 AI exposure

31 Human advantage

59 Market demand

62 AI leverage

Is Materials Engineers a safe career from AI?

Materials Engineers scores 88 out of 100 for AI exposure, which is high. A large share of this work is the kind current AI systems are measurably good at. That is not a prediction the job disappears, and the research does not support one. It means more of this role is likely to change than most.

Its human advantage score is 31, which is low. Most of this role can be done through a screen, and that is the half of the labor market AI has reached first. Market demand scores 59 out of 100, combining how many of these jobs exist with where that number is heading. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects employment growing 7.5% over ten years.

What Materials Engineers pay

The median wage is $108,310 a year. The lower quarter earns under $85,820 and the upper quarter over $138,370. About 22,770 people do this work in the United States.

Where Materials Engineers can go next

Occupations that share most of what this job already requires, ranked by how much carries over.

Biofuels/Biodiesel Technology and Product Development Managers 91% of the skills carry over $168k median

Aerospace Engineers 94% of the skills carry over $135k median

Telecommunications Engineering Specialists 81% of the skills carry over $130k median

Biofuels Production Managers 83% of the skills carry over $121k median

Thinking about moving out of Materials Engineers?

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Where this comes from

Work content and transitions from O*NET, the US Department of Labor's occupational database. Wages and employment projections from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. AI exposure from published research measuring which occupations current AI capabilities overlap with. None of it is a forecast, and none of these numbers are ours: they are public data, put next to each other.

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