Video summary

Which Engineering Degrees ACTUALLY Pay Off? | Rating Each Field

Main summary

Key takeaways

Finance

Finance-/Economics-Relevant Summary (Career “ROI” Framing)

The video argues that engineering degree outcomes should be evaluated like an investment: not just by expected salary, but by:

  • Employment likelihood
  • Job-market crowding
  • AI automation risk

It cites graduation and underemployment/failure-to-enter-workplace outcomes and assigns an “Engineering Insiders ROI scale” (1–5) to each major.

Key Numbers & Outcomes by Engineering Major (as stated)

Civil Engineering

  • Avg pay: ~$105,000/year
  • Happiness: 2.8/5 (bottom tier)
  • Unemployment / degree-not-required outcomes: ~1 in 5 civil grads (per US Census Bureau)
  • ROI score: 3.1/5
  • AI risk framing: cannot easily automate bridge inspections and earthquake safety/code liability; “AI can help design/simulation/scheduling.”

Chemical Engineering (Top winner per video)

  • Avg pay: ~$121,000/year (highest vs other majors in the video)
  • Happiness: 2.9/5
  • Unemployment / underemployed outcomes: ~19% (US Census Bureau)
  • AI risk framing: more protected by heavy regulations, safety standards, and massive liabilities (e.g., refineries/pharma can’t be redesigned/managed by chatbots).
  • AI impact: likely process optimization and data-driven plant design; possibly smaller teams, not disappearing jobs.
  • ROI score: 3.3/5 (clear lead in the video)

Mechanical Engineering

  • Avg pay: ~$112,000/year
  • Happiness: 3.0/5
  • Unemployment / underemployment: ~21% (US Census Bureau)
  • AI risk framing: automation in generative design, digital twins, AI-driven optimization, but humans still decide safety/testing/viability.
  • ROI score: 3.2/5

General Engineering

  • Avg pay: ~$108,000/year
  • Unemployment / underemployment: over 30% (highest among majors discussed)
  • Notes: ~70% of students use it as a stepping stone to graduate school or to pivot into specialization.
  • ROI score: 2.6/5 (lowest of all fields)

Software Engineering

  • Avg pay: ~$124,000/year (highest)
  • Happiness: 3.2/5 (highest)
  • Underemployment after graduation: over 22% (US Census Bureau)
  • AI risk framing: “coding is one of the easiest tasks to automate,” so the “bar for what makes you valuable is rising.”
  • ROI score: 2.9/5 (surprisingly not top due to automation risk/crowding)

Electrical Engineering

  • Avg pay: ~$117,000/year
  • Happiness: ~3.1/5
  • Unemployment / underemployment: ~21%
  • AI risk framing: similar “breadth” issue as mechanical, plus “slightly bigger AI hit” due to overlap with software; still relatively protected because many physical systems require engineers in the loop.
  • ROI score: 3.1/5 (right behind chemical in this ranking)

Cross-Cutting “Macro” and Risk Context Cited

  • Engineering job-market weakness / fewer openings (macro)

    • US Bureau of Labor Statistics: “steep drop in new job openings,” hitting entry-level white collar hardest (no exact figure given).

  • Baseline warning: many grads don’t enter engineering

    • “About one in four graduates” never make it to a full-time engineering job (framed as the key risk to the “safety” assumption).
    • Treated as an “investment return” risk: education costs may not translate into matching employment.

  • AI displacement timeline prompt

    • A question posed for the next 5 and 10 years (no forecast values provided).

Methodology / Framework Used (Step-by-Step Logic)

The video compares engineering majors using a composite of:

  • Expected annual pay
  • Self-reported happiness
  • Post-graduation outcome risk: unemployment or underemployment / working jobs that don’t require the degree
  • AI automation stability: whether work is protected by regulation/safety/liability or more easily automated (e.g., code/design/simulation)

These are then converted into an “Engineering Insiders ROI scale” score out of 5.

Additional Career “Action Plan” (Career Investment Execution)

  • In a competitive market, the “most important thing” is landing an internship
  • Use “proven application and interview methods” to map experiences to job postings and increase salary/offers

Explicit Recommendations / Cautions (Career-Investing Advice)

  • Caution against overpaying for low-ROI paths, implied as a “$100,000 trap” scenario
  • Internship first: prioritize internships to reduce the risk of not landing the first engineering job
  • Software & broad degrees: adapt quickly and/or specialize; coding is framed as more automatable and crowded
  • Chemical engineering positioning: portrayed as the best blend of salary + stability + regulation/liability protection, despite lower happiness

Disclosures / Disclaimers

  • No explicit “not financial advice” style disclaimer appears (career-focused, not investment advice).
  • Presenter notes “I’m only one opinion” regarding AI displacement expectations.

Tickers / Assets / Sectors Mentioned

  • None (no market tickers, ETFs, bonds, commodities, or crypto discussed)

Presenters / Sources Mentioned

  • Presenter: “Engineer Joe” (Engineering Insiders)
  • Sources cited for employment statistics: US Census Bureau, US Bureau of Labor Statistics

Original video