Salary guide, May 2025

Senior Process Engineer pay, United States

Manufacturing Headhunters uses the published BLS OEWS figures below. They describe the mapped occupation and area, not an individual offer.

This is what we do all day: recruit manufacturing professionals.

The median annual wage for Industrial Engineers in the United States was $102,440 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS, May 2025). The middle half of workers earned between $83,600 and $129,250.

Broader occupation · SOC 17-2112 Industrial Engineers

BLS measures this broader occupation across industries. It does not publish a separate wage for this manufacturing title.

Industrial Engineers in U.S.: median $102,440; published 25th to 75th percentile $83,600 to $129,250.

Annual wage percentiles, U.S.
10th	25th	Median	75th	90th
$74,370	$83,600	$102,440	$129,250	$159,860

Industrial Engineers in U.S.: median $49.25; published 25th to 75th percentile $40.19 to $62.14.

Hourly wage percentiles, U.S.
10th	25th	Median	75th	90th
$35.76	$40.19	$49.25	$62.14	$76.85

BLS estimated 365,740 workers employed in this occupation in the United States.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. SOC 17-2112 Industrial Engineers, U.S.. Official occupation data · Official area tables. Released 2026-05-15.

How does pay compare in the target metros?

Senior Process Engineer pay in target metros (May 2025)
Metro	Median	25th to 75th	Employment	Location quotient
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	$103,740	$81,810 to $129,150	3,360	0.51
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL	$100,670	$78,520 to $123,830	2,090	0.61
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL	$104,920	$85,800 to $127,450	2,040	0.61
Raleigh-Cary, NC	$104,030	$83,240 to $130,220	1,710	0.98
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$105,840	$93,100 to $130,260	8,540	0.38
Northern New Jersey within New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$105,840	$93,100 to $130,260	8,540	0.38
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	$105,640	$93,020 to $132,830	10,680	1.12
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$101,760	$82,260 to $126,580	12,750	1.2

Rank every metro for Senior Process Engineer

What should you know about pay by manufacturing industry, United States?

Same BLS occupation, national estimates for each manufacturing industry (NAICS) BLS publishes, May 2025. Industry names are BLS labels. Nested NAICS rows overlap; they are not independent samples and must not be added together. Identical source rows repeated at different publication levels appear once.

Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing (NAICS 324000)$127,140
Chemical Manufacturing (NAICS 325000)$105,450
Beverage and Tobacco Product Manufacturing (NAICS 312000)$105,380
Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing (NAICS 334000)$105,370
Food Manufacturing (NAICS 311000)$102,830
Transportation Equipment Manufacturing (NAICS 336000)$102,390
Miscellaneous Manufacturing (NAICS 339000)$101,920
Paper Manufacturing (NAICS 322000)$101,150
Machinery Manufacturing (NAICS 333000)$99,070
Primary Metal Manufacturing (NAICS 331000)$99,030
Nonmetallic Mineral Product Manufacturing (NAICS 327000)$98,870
Electrical Equipment, Appliance, and Component Manufacturing (NAICS 335000)$97,790
Plastics and Rubber Products Manufacturing (NAICS 326000)$96,770
Textile Mills (NAICS 313000)$94,390
Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing (NAICS 332000)$93,170

Bars compare up to 15 non-overlapping 3-digit manufacturing subsectors with exact annual medians. More detailed scopes remain in the table, identified by code and publication level.

Senior Process Engineer (SOC 17-2112) by manufacturing industry, national, May 2025
NAICS / scope	Industry	Employment	25th	Median	75th
31-33 · sector	Manufacturing	248,860	$82,290	$101,160	$126,660
336000 · 3-digit	Transportation Equipment Manufacturing	55,900	$85,080	$102,390	$127,250
334000 · 3-digit	Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing	41,320	$86,770	$105,370	$133,290
333000 · 3-digit	Machinery Manufacturing	28,010	$81,650	$99,070	$121,540
336400 · 4-digit	Aerospace Product and Parts Manufacturing	25,680	$98,350	$107,170	$131,930
325000 · 3-digit	Chemical Manufacturing	23,290	$93,530	$105,450	$130,730
332000 · 3-digit	Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing	22,640	$77,900	$93,170	$104,250
334400 · 4-digit	Semiconductor and Other Electronic Component Manufacturing	20,060	$88,940	$108,110	$140,790
339000 · 3-digit	Miscellaneous Manufacturing	18,550	$82,840	$101,920	$128,760
3330A1 · 4-digit	Machinery Manufacturing (3331, 3332, 3334, and 3339 only)	18,200	$81,880	$98,830	$120,590
336300 · 4-digit	Motor Vehicle Parts Manufacturing	17,250	$79,550	$96,890	$106,770
334500 · 4-digit	Navigational, Measuring, Electromedical, and Control Instruments Manufacturing	16,880	$91,760	$104,840	$130,890
339100 · 4-digit	Medical Equipment and Supplies Manufacturing	15,540	$85,110	$102,810	$129,190
326000 · 3-digit	Plastics and Rubber Products Manufacturing	14,900	$79,420	$96,770	$107,790
335000 · 3-digit	Electrical Equipment, Appliance, and Component Manufacturing	12,400	$78,950	$97,790	$110,760
326100 · 4-digit	Plastics Product Manufacturing	11,950	$79,330	$96,620	$106,940
325400 · 4-digit	Pharmaceutical and Medicine Manufacturing	11,710	$92,180	$104,110	$129,470
3320A1 · 4-digit	Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing (3321, 3322, 3325, 3326, and 3329 only)	11,340	$78,320	$94,370	$104,900
3250A1 · 4-digit	Chemical Manufacturing (3251, 3252, 3253, and 3259 only)	9,150	$97,950	$118,700	$136,120
336100 · 4-digit	Motor Vehicle Manufacturing	8,140	$95,070	$106,340	$128,140
331000 · 3-digit	Primary Metal Manufacturing	6,910	$79,730	$99,030	$117,390
311000 · 3-digit	Food Manufacturing	6,260	$84,130	$102,830	$126,540
322000 · 3-digit	Paper Manufacturing	5,560	$85,060	$101,150	$129,380
335900 · 4-digit	Other Electrical Equipment and Component Manufacturing	5,400	$79,760	$98,920	$119,880
3320A2 · 4-digit	Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing (3323 and 3324 only)	5,360	$76,350	$90,070	$104,100
332700 · 4-digit	Machine Shops; Turned Product; and Screw, Nut, and Bolt Manufacturing	4,990	$77,510	$92,670	$103,570
335300 · 4-digit	Electrical Equipment Manufacturing	4,970	$78,360	$98,200	$108,050
333600 · 4-digit	Engine, Turbine, and Power Transmission Equipment Manufacturing	4,570	$95,870	$103,340	$128,710
337000 · 3-digit	Furniture and Related Product Manufacturing	3,390	$65,840	$79,040	$99,530
3370A1 · 4-digit	Furniture and Related Product Manufacturing (3371 and 3372 only)	3,310	$65,800	$78,990	$99,530
322200 · 4-digit	Converted Paper Product Manufacturing	3,220	$79,890	$97,680	$124,910
333500 · 4-digit	Metalworking Machinery Manufacturing	3,140	$77,720	$90,920	$105,490
332710 · 5-digit	Machine Shops	3,070	$76,660	$89,610	$102,790
339900 · 4-digit	Other Miscellaneous Manufacturing	3,010	$77,480	$93,810	$106,220
326200 · 4-digit	Rubber Product Manufacturing	2,950	$79,660	$98,320	$116,500
327000 · 3-digit	Nonmetallic Mineral Product Manufacturing	2,940	$82,140	$98,870	$119,810
331500 · 4-digit	Foundries	2,440	$78,970	$96,820	$106,910
3250A2 · 4-digit	Chemical Manufacturing (3255 and 3256 only)	2,430	$81,020	$98,130	$116,950
322100 · 4-digit	Pulp, Paper, and Paperboard Mills	2,340	$93,660	$108,170	$133,940
334100 · 4-digit	Computer and Peripheral Equipment Manufacturing	2,170	$64,520	$99,540	$137,030
333300 · 4-digit	Commercial and Service Industry Machinery Manufacturing	2,100	$78,710	$96,750	$110,110
324000 · 3-digit	Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing	2,020	$106,610	$127,140	$152,940
324100 · 4-digit	Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing	2,020	$106,610	$127,140	$152,940
332720 · 5-digit	Turned Product and Screw, Nut, and Bolt Manufacturing	1,920	$79,080	$95,820	$105,900
334200 · 4-digit	Communications Equipment Manufacturing	1,820	$83,310	$102,600	$129,960
336600 · 4-digit	Ship and Boat Building	1,550	$80,730	$100,410	$131,930
311900 · 4-digit	Other Food Manufacturing	1,540	$85,170	$103,250	$125,920
335200 · 4-digit	Household Appliance Manufacturing	1,520	$79,310	$95,010	$106,660
336200 · 4-digit	Motor Vehicle Body and Trailer Manufacturing	1,390	$79,340	$93,460	$102,770
321000 · 3-digit	Wood Product Manufacturing	1,320	$74,810	$91,780	$108,710
331400 · 4-digit	Nonferrous Metal (except Aluminum) Production and Processing	1,300	$83,780	$103,280	$126,590
331100 · 4-digit	Iron and Steel Mills and Ferroalloy Manufacturing	1,290	$64,770	$94,540	$110,070
336900 · 4-digit	Other Transportation Equipment Manufacturing	1,170	$79,710	$98,790	$105,140
313000 · 3-digit	Textile Mills	1,070	$78,750	$94,390	$108,780
312000 · 3-digit	Beverage and Tobacco Product Manufacturing	1,040	$93,820	$105,380	$128,570
331200 · 4-digit	Steel Product Manufacturing from Purchased Steel	990	$81,230	$99,970	$117,710
332800 · 4-digit	Coating, Engraving, Heat Treating, and Allied Activities	950	$74,450	$91,110	$103,750
312100 · 4-digit	Beverage Manufacturing	930	$94,260	$104,530	$127,430
321900 · 4-digit	Other Wood Product Manufacturing	930	$72,470	$89,520	$107,990
311500 · 4-digit	Dairy Product Manufacturing	890	$92,480	$105,450	$128,810
331300 · 4-digit	Alumina and Aluminum Production and Processing	890	$81,650	$101,620	$125,780
311200 · 4-digit	Grain and Oilseed Milling	830	$83,690	$104,160	$126,870
311400 · 4-digit	Fruit and Vegetable Preserving and Specialty Food Manufacturing	740	$83,680	$99,410	$123,200
311800 · 4-digit	Bakeries and Tortilla Manufacturing	740	$79,030	$101,350	$123,200
336500 · 4-digit	Railroad Rolling Stock Manufacturing	720	$80,490	$91,170	$107,250
311600 · 4-digit	Animal Slaughtering and Processing	680	$84,550	$105,680	$135,780
323000 · 3-digit	Printing and Related Support Activities	650	$78,270	$93,070	$107,250
323100 · 4-digit	Printing and Related Support Activities	650	$78,270	$93,070	$107,250
313200 · 4-digit	Fabric Mills	590	$79,800	$96,140	$112,340
314000 · 3-digit	Textile Product Mills	530	$74,680	$88,730	$108,800
311300 · 4-digit	Sugar and Confectionery Product Manufacturing	520	$84,270	$100,470	$126,400
335100 · 4-digit	Electric Lighting Equipment Manufacturing	510	$78,590	$95,100	$104,450
311100 · 4-digit	Animal Food Manufacturing	300	$85,210	$101,610	$130,660
313300 · 4-digit	Textile and Fabric Finishing and Fabric Coating Mills	280	$78,190	$93,450	$108,520
314900 · 4-digit	Other Textile Product Mills	280	$72,910	$85,020	$107,200
321200 · 4-digit	Veneer, Plywood, and Engineered Wood Product Manufacturing	280	$75,610	$87,540	$107,040
314100 · 4-digit	Textile Furnishings Mills	260	$75,760	$99,140	$117,580
334300 · 4-digit	Audio and Video Equipment Manufacturing	250	$86,000	$104,380	$131,170
313100 · 4-digit	Fiber, Yarn, and Thread Mills	200	$75,250	$88,600	$106,660
312200 · 4-digit	Tobacco Manufacturing	120	$93,080	$108,090	$134,500
321100 · 4-digit	Sawmills and Wood Preservation	110	$88,030	$108,250	$131,680
339910 · 5-digit	Jewelry and Silverware Manufacturing	100	$94,450	$97,130	$132,360
337900 · 4-digit	Other Furniture Related Product Manufacturing	90	$81,270	$96,700	$108,730
316000 · 3-digit	Leather and Allied Product Manufacturing	80	$75,850	$91,930	$115,090
316900 · 4-digit	Other Leather and Allied Product Manufacturing	60	$75,700	$106,170	$123,850
315200 · 4-digit	Cut and Sew Apparel Manufacturing	50	$66,520	$88,620	$127,880
311700 · 4-digit	Seafood Product Preparation and Packaging	40	$82,470	$101,090	$110,440
334600 · 4-digit	Manufacturing and Reproducing Magnetic and Optical Media	Not published by BLS	$48,570	$59,630	$84,280

What should you know about manufacturing pay mix?

For Senior Process Engineer, clarify the base pay before discussing call-outs, travel or extra shifts. OEWS measures straight-time gross wages, not pure base salary or total compensation. It includes base rate, guaranteed pay, commissions and production bonuses. It excludes overtime, shift differentials, nonproduction bonuses and benefits.

An attendance bonus is not a production bonus; confirm its purpose and treatment rather than adding every bonus to the BLS figure. Skills-based pay steps affect the base rate when they are part of straight-time pay; BLS does not publish a separate rate for each plant's skill grade. Ask whether a tool allowance is expense reimbursement or wage pay. OEWS does not publish a separate tool-allowance component. Keep these items separate in the offer so the published wage is not mistaken for the whole package.

Pay mix here means how published medians for this one BLS occupation differ across manufacturing industries and against the all-industry median. It does not split pay into base, incentive or overtime. BLS wages are straight-time gross pay and exclude overtime, shift differentials and nonproduction bonuses.

What should you know about two BLS releases?

Senior Process Engineer in the United States, annual wages, May 2024 and May 2025
Release period	25th	Median	75th
May 2024	$81,910	$101,140	$127,480
May 2025	$83,600	$102,440	$129,250

These are two separate BLS estimates from different survey panels. The workers and employers behind them differ, so the gap is not like-for-like pay for the same workers and is not a growth rate. We show no percentage change.

Recruiter's read. Qualitative, not BLS data.

What should you know about an interview based on the work?

Build the interview around process windows and root causes that routine troubleshooting misses. A practical discussion of an investigation separating equipment variation from material behavior can test judgment without using confidential drawings or customer information. Those limits help establish technical authority over process decisions rather than shift supervision; they are part of competence, not a weakness to talk around.

What should you know about questions?

Wages for the OEWS survey are straight-time, gross pay, exclusive of premium pay. Base rate; cost-of-living allowances; guaranteed pay; hazardous-duty pay; incentive pay, including commissions and production bonuses; and tips are included. Excluded are overtime pay, severance pay, shift differentials, nonproduction bonuses, employer cost for supplementary benefits, and tuition reimbursements.

What is the median pay for a Senior Process Engineer?

The median annual wage for Industrial Engineers in the United States was $102,440 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS, May 2025). The middle half of workers earned between $83,600 and $129,250. This is the broader occupation BLS publishes, not a figure for this exact title.

What does the 10th percentile mean here?

10% of workers in this occupation and area earned less than $74,370. 90% earned less than $159,860.

Does this include overtime or bonuses?

Is this the pay for a Senior Process Engineer at a plant?

BLS measures this broader occupation across industries. It does not publish a separate wage for this manufacturing title. These are occupation estimates across all industries, not an offer for a particular manufacturing title.

How many people work in this occupation?

BLS estimated 365,740 workers employed in this occupation in the United States.

What should you know about related?

Underlying BLS figures for this role (JSON)

Reading this wage estimate

What does this data mean for your opening?

Manufacturing Headhunters analyzes the senior process engineer role within the broader classification of Industrial Engineers. For Senior Process Engineer in the United States, releases are separate survey estimates. The May 2025 median is $102,440; the May 2024 median is $101,140. Their arithmetic difference is $1,300.

They are not the same workers' raises and do not establish a pay trend or its cause. The middle band width for this cohort is $45,650, extending from $83,600 at the P25 to $129,250 at the P75. These figures apply to the entire Industrial Engineer occupation and are not segmented by process-specific experience.

Sector-specific benchmarks indicate higher potential earnings. Professionals in Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing see a median of $127,140, and those in Chemical Manufacturing report $118,700. These figures serve as a national baseline and do not reflect local variances. For Senior Process Engineer in the United States, OEWS measures straight-time gross wages, not pure base salary or total compensation. Commissions and production bonuses are included; overtime, shift differentials, nonproduction bonuses and benefits are excluded.

The Detroit-Warren-Dearborn area reports a median of $104,110, while Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington reflects $104,730. Detroit boasts a location quotient of 3.87 compared to 3.04 in Minneapolis. These values confirm these areas as major industrial hubs, yet they remain mapped to the broader industrial engineering title. The proximity to these averages is a starting point for assessing market alignment.

Effective screening for senior process roles moves beyond simple background checks. We conduct technical investigations to evaluate a candidate’s capacity for separating equipment-related variation from base material behavior. A successful senior process engineer demonstrates deep technical authority over the process itself, differentiating them from supervisors who are primarily focused on shift output or general personnel management.

Which pay questions should you settle before hiring?

Why is there no separate BLS category for process engineering?

The BLS classifies this role under Industrial Engineers based on broad professional duties. There is no specific, independently published wage data for process engineering as a discrete title.

What is the limitation of the $129,250 P75 figure?

This figure is an industry-wide representation for all Industrial Engineers. It does not account for the higher compensation typically found in specialized chemical or petroleum-based manufacturing.

How do you define technical authority for this role?

Technical authority in this context is the ability to diagnose complex, multi-factor process problems independently. It is distinct from managing the people who run the lines.