If you are deciding between majoring in civil engineering or mechanical engineering, you might want to know more about what each major has to offer. This post will show you the key facts about each major and help you to decide which would be a better degree for you.
At a glance:
| | Mechanical Engineering | Civil Engineering |
| Payscale reported average pay | $80,251 | $70,508 |
| Job prospects | Good | Good |
| Types of jobs you can qualify for | Mechanical engineer Manufacturing engineer Design engineer Project engineer Aerospace engineer | Civil engineer Project engineer Structural engineer Transportation engineer Geotechnical engineer Water resources engineer Construction engineer |
| Difficulty of the major | Hard | Hard |
| Key things to note | A hard major. Lots of possible job paths. Average predicted job growth. Good reported job satisfaction. | A relatively secure field once you are able to land a job. Employable with just a bachelor’s degree. High-stress work environment in the early years. High job satisfaction and fulfillment. Low predicted job growth over the next decade. The work environment can be more physically active than most jobs since you’ll need to go to the construction locations occasionally. However, there is also a lot of meetings and design work using computer software. |
Source for civil engineering degree salary and jobs
There are a number of things to consider when choosing between the two degrees. Below, are details about each major, their differences and reasons to choose one or the other.
Details about a mechanical engineering degree
Below are some details about a degree in mechanical engineering.
Pay
According to Payscale, the average pay of a mechanical engineer is $80,251. This is higher than the average pay of most degrees including most engineering degrees including civil engineering which is $70,508. However, it is lower than the average reported pay for computer engineering ($87,000), electrical engineering ($92,000), and computer science($85,000).
Job prospects
The predicted growth rate for mechanical engineering jobs is 4%, in total, over the next decade and the number of mechanical engineering jobs is said to be 320,000 (source). This, by itself, would give the mechanical engineering major moderately good job prospects.
However, mechanical engineering can also qualify you for jobs in related fields including industrial engineering which has a 10% predicted growth rate. This means that mechanical engineering can have good job prospects, provided that you choose to take classes relevant to areas that are growing and which already have a large number of jobs, at least above 300,000.
Jobs you can qualify for with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering can include:
- Mechanical engineer
- Manufacturing engineer
- Design engineer
- Project engineer
- Aerospace engineer
Difficulty
Mechanical engineering is a difficult major. It will include a lot of math classes, a lot of physics classes and the mechanical engineering classes, themselves, can be difficult which also include a lot of physics and mathematics. Overall, you can expect mechanical engineering to be equivalently difficult to civil engineering or slightly harder.
Classes
Below are some classes you can expect to take in mechanical engineering:
- Calculus
- Differential equations
- Physics
- Statics
- Dynamics
- Fluid dynamics
- Thermodynamics
- Vibrations
- Design
Things to consider
Mechanical engineering is a major that will involve a lot of study time. If you are choosing the major purely for the job opportunities, there are better alternatives that do not require as much study time such as computer science.
However, mechanical engineering can be a pathway into very interesting careers that are very satisfying. Before choosing mechanical engineering as a major, it would help a lot to research the different jobs you could get and to see if they are things that you would truly enjoy doing.
Details about a degree in civil engineering
Below are some details about the civil engineering major.
Pay
According to Payscale, the average pay for a person with a degree in civil engineering is $70,508. This is higher than the average pay for most majors. However, it is a lot lower than alternative engineering majors such as computer engineering ($87,000) and electrical engineering ($92,000).
Jobs
On one hand, civil engineering could be seen as a safe major because there will always be buildings, dams, highways, stadiums, etc that need to be built. As a result, once you are able to get a job in civil engineering, it is typically seen as a relatively secure job to have.
However, it can be tricky to find a job at the entry-level and the price of the job security is that the pay is slightly lower than alternative majors such as computer engineering, electrical engineering, and computer science. Also, because you will be building structures that many people will be using and that cost millions of dollars, it can be a very stressful job, especially in the early years. Although, it is also typically a very interesting field to work in, and completing a project successfully can be very fulfilling.
Jobs that you can get with a civil engineering degree include:
- Civil engineer
- Project engineer
- Structural engineer
- Transportation engineer
- Geotechnical engineer
- Water resources engineer
- Construction engineer
Civil engineering has a number of sub-fields and you will need to specialize in one of them before getting a job.
The subfields include:
Construction engineering. This involves managing the project as it is underway and building the temporary structures that are used while constructing the actual structure.
Geotechnical engineering. This involves ensuring that the foundations of the structure are well built.
Structural engineering. This involves designing the structure and ensuring that it will be able to support itself.
Transportation engineering. This involves building and maintaining streets, highways, airports, docks, and harbors.
Water resource engineering. This involves managing water resources by designing new equipment and facilities.
Difficulty
Civil engineering is a difficult degree that will involve a lot of mathematics including calculus, linear algebra, and differential equations. It will also involve some physics and the engineering classes themselves can be difficult. There will also be a lot of lab classes that will involve a lot of projects.
Classes
Classes that you can expect to take in a civil engineering degree can include:
Calculus
Linear algebra
Differential equations
Physics
Mechanics
Introduction to programming
Introduction to civil engineering
Civil engineering materials
Fluid mechanics
Mechanics of structures
Statics
Structural engineering
Water resources engineering
Geotechnical engineering
Transportation engineering
Construction engineering
You can also expect to take more specialized classes related to the specialization that you choose.
Things to consider
Before choosing civil engineering and the university that you want to go to, it would help to research the type of civil engineering you are most interested in. This is so that you know what to specialize in and so that you know what university to choose because some universities will only offer certain specializations.
Before choosing civil engineering and the university that you want to go to, it would help to research the type of civil engineering you are most interested in. This is so that you know what to specialize in and so that you know what university to choose because some universities will only offer certain specializations.
Conclusion
Overall, both civil engineering and mechanical engineering are majors that have good job prospects and satisfaction. They both have similar job growth and a similar number of total jobs so it should be similarly difficult to find a job in each field. They will also both require a similar amount of study time. According to the BLS, they also have similar pay (mechanical engineering, civil engineering). So, it would help to consider which you have the strongest interest in when deciding between them. It would also help to consider altenative majors such as computer engineering and electrical engineering.
