Employment

• The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) combines architectural and engineering managers in its salary figures for this occupation. Of the estimated 174,270 of these professionals working in the United States in 2010, about 5,930 were employed in Massachusetts, and around 3,480 in the greater Boston area, which includes Cambridge and Quincy. The Boston area ranked 10th in the country for the highest employment level of engineering directors. The greater Los Angeles area ranked first, with about 6,370.
  
  

Averages

• The average salary for engineering directors in the greater Boston area as of May 2010 was $143,690 per year, equaling $69.08 per hour, according to the BLS. The Boston area ranked eighth in the country for average engineering director salaries, with the greater San Jose area of California in top place at $166,650. At an average salary of $141,340 per year, Massachusetts ranked fourth in the country by state, behind California, Texas and top-ranked Alaska, where the engineering director average salary was $150,060 per year. Nationwide, the average salary for engineering directors was $125,900 per year.
  
  

Salary Range

• The BLS provides salary range data for engineering directors in a wider Boston metro area, which includes parts of New Hampshire. The middle 50 percent of engineering directors in this region were earning $111,140 to $166,040 per year in 2010. The middle 50 percent range for engineering directors statewide in Massachusetts was a bit lower, at $108,340 to $164,060 per year.
  
  

Comparisons

• Engineering directors in three other areas of Massachusetts earned average salaries higher than $140,000 per year in 2010. Engineering directors in the Lowell-Billerica-Chelmsford area had an average annual salary of $142,340, in Framingham $140,570 and in New Bedford $140,530. Nationwide, the greater Lowell area had the fourth-largest concentration of engineering directors by metropolitan area, and Framingham ranked eighth.