The median annual wage of marine engineers and naval architects was $79,920 in May 2010. The median wage is the wage at which half of the workers in an occupation earned more than that amount and half earned less. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $43,200, and the top 10 percent earned more than $144,350.
Median annual wages in the industries employing the largest numbers of marine engineers and naval architects in May 2010 were the following:
| Federal government, excluding postal service | $100,750 |
| Deep sea, coastal, and great lakes water transportation | 88,930 |
| Architectural, engineering, and related services | 77,670 |
| Other professional, scientific, and technical services | 68,460 |
| Ship and boat building | 65,860 |
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2012-13 Edition