Industrial Engineering Degrees (2026 stats)
TL;DR
Industrial Engineering maps to BLS occupations averaging about $64,987, with roughly 1,596,050 workers nationwide in those roles. About 4,848 bachelor's completions in IPEDS 2023; median program completion runs near 60%.
Key Statistics
Industrial Engineering: what the data shows
Common questions about industrial engineering degrees, answered from IPEDS, College Scorecard, BLS OEWS, and O*NET in this repository—not program marketing copy.
What is a industrial engineering degree?
A Industrial Engineering program is classified under NCES CIP 14.3501 in the Industrial Engineering field family (14.35).
A program that prepares individuals to apply scientific and mathematical principles to the design, improvement, and installation of integrated systems of people, material, information, and energy. Includes instruction in applied mathematics, physical sciences, the social sciences, engineering analysis, systems design, computer applications, and forecasting and evaluation methodology
IPEDS counted 4,848 completions for this CIP in the survey year in our extract.
How long does it take to get a industrial engineering degree?
Award levels reported to IPEDS for CIP 14.3501 in our file:
- 16 Associate (0.2% of IPEDS total)—about two years of full-time study
- 4,848 Bachelor's (63.0% of IPEDS total)—typically four years
- 2,811 Master's (36.5% of IPEDS total)—one to two years beyond a bachelor's
- 17 Doctorate (0.2% of IPEDS total)—varies by program
Time to completion depends on enrollment intensity and transfer credits; figures above describe credential type, not calendar time for every student.
What do you learn in industrial engineering?
O*NET skill ratings for occupations mapped to this major emphasize Reading Comprehension, Active Listening, Speaking, Writing, Critical Thinking, Service Orientation, and related competencies. See the Skills section for the full list in our extract.
What degree do you need?
For Teachers, Postsecondary (top mapped occupation), O*NET incumbent surveys in our career profile report these education credentials most often: Some college (29%), High School or Equivalent (27%), Bachelors Degree (22%). Bachelor's awards account for a majority of IPEDS completions for CIP 14.3501, but occupation data show multiple pathways.
O*NET education distributions describe incumbent workers, not minimum legal or employer requirements.
What jobs can you get with a industrial engineering degree?
Our degree→occupation mapping links Industrial Engineering to the BLS roles below. Employment is U.S. OEWS; median wage is national May 2024 where published in our extract.
| Occupation | U.S. employment | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| Teachers, Postsecondary | 1,500,000 | — |
| Secondary School Teachers | 1,072,540 | $64,580 |
See Careers & Jobs for mean wages and industry context.
Is a industrial engineering degree worth it?
College Scorecard national medians for the Industrial Engineering bachelor's program family: median debt $36,354, median earnings $98,442 four years after enrollment. Debt-to-earnings proxy: 0.49.
About 2.3% of graduates in this field family were not working and not enrolled one year after completion in Scorecard's national program medians.
Among schools reporting in our Scorecard extract, median published in-state tuition is $6,045 and median net price is $21,328.
We do not score "worth" on opinion—compare debt, earnings, wages for mapped occupations, and completion data above against your cost and career target.
Institutions
Information about the types of higher education institutions that grant degrees in Industrial Engineering and the types of students that study this field.
Tuition Costs for Common Institutions
$6,045 Median In-State Public
$12,850 Median Out of State Private
Tuition costs for Industrial Engineering majors are, on average, $6,045 for in-state public colleges, and $12,850 for out of state private colleges.
Tuition costs comparison for Industrial Engineering programs.
Degrees Awarded Over Time
4,848 Total Degrees Awarded in 2023
This chart shows the number of degrees awarded in Industrial Engineering from 2015 to 2023.
Historical trend of degrees awarded in Industrial Engineering.
Top 5 Schools by Enrollment
| # | School | State | Enrollment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Faith International University | WA | 196 |
| 2 | Ecclesia College | AR | 132 |
Schools with the largest enrollment offering Industrial Engineering programs.
Top 5 Most Affordable Tuition
| # | School | State | Tuition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Faith International University | WA | $8,850 |
| 2 | Ecclesia College | AR | $16,850 |
Schools with the lowest tuition costs for Industrial Engineering programs.
Top 5 Lowest Net Price
| # | School | State | Net Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Faith International University | WA | $18,361 |
| 2 | Ecclesia College | AR | $24,294 |
Schools with the lowest average net price for Industrial Engineering programs.
Graduation Rates
60.32% Median Graduation Rate (150% of normal time)
60.09% Average Graduation Rate
302 Institutions Reporting
47.07% - 73.72% Interquartile Range
Graduation/completion rates for Industrial Engineering programs across institutions.
Where students complete this major (IPEDS)
Bachelor's-level completions (IPEDS Completions, award level 5) summed by institution state. State is taken from IPEDS Directory (HD2023) for each reporting institution.
Geographic concentration
The largest number of reported bachelor's completions for Industrial Engineering is in TX (499 completions). That state represents about 10.3% of U.S. bachelor's completions reported for this CIP in the IPEDS file we use.
Among states, the highest concentration relative to all bachelor's degrees awarded in-state is PR (0.56% of that state's bachelor's completions).
Top states by count of bachelor's completions for this CIP (IPEDS).
| State | Bachelor's completions (this CIP) | % of U.S. total (this CIP) | % of state's all bachelor's |
|---|---|---|---|
| TX | 499 | 10.3% | 0.17% |
| GA | 343 | 7.1% | 0.30% |
| PA | 318 | 6.6% | 0.19% |
| IN | 274 | 5.7% | 0.27% |
| CA | 257 | 5.3% | 0.06% |
| FL | 245 | 5.0% | 0.11% |
| VA | 223 | 4.6% | 0.18% |
| IL | 219 | 4.5% | 0.16% |
| MI | 209 | 4.3% | 0.18% |
| SC | 167 | 3.4% | 0.30% |
| PR | 165 | 3.4% | 0.56% |
| WI | 164 | 3.4% | 0.22% |
| NY | 152 | 3.1% | 0.06% |
| AL | 146 | 3.0% | 0.22% |
| OH | 143 | 3.0% | 0.10% |
| MA | 141 | 2.9% | 0.11% |
| NC | 135 | 2.8% | 0.11% |
| IA | 123 | 2.5% | 0.26% |
Degree Levels (IPEDS)
Completions reported to IPEDS for CIP 14.3501 in the survey year used in our extract (7,692 total across levels below).
- 16 Associate (0.2% of IPEDS total)
- 4,848 Bachelor's (63.0% of IPEDS total)
- 2,811 Master's (36.5% of IPEDS total)
- 17 Doctorate (0.2% of IPEDS total)
Source: IPEDS Completions (c2024_a), summed by award level for this CIP.
Careers & Jobs
Occupations linked to this major in our degree→career mapping, with wages and employment from processed BLS career profiles in this repo.
Across these BLS occupations, employment-weighted mean pay is about $64,987. Figures are national OEWS estimates for the occupation—not earnings of Industrial Engineering graduates alone.
Related occupations (BLS OEWS)
| Occupation | Mean annual wage | U.S. employment |
|---|---|---|
| Teachers, Postsecondary | $36,511 | 1,500,000 |
| Secondary School Teachers | $104,813 | 1,072,540 |
Open each occupation for full career profile charts and industry breakdowns on EDsmart Data.
Program outcomes (College Scorecard)
National medians across bachelor's programs in the Industrial Engineering CIP family (16 programs reporting debt). Not specific to every Industrial Engineering graduate.
- $36,354 median federal loan debt among completers
- $98,442 median earnings four years after enrollment (national program median)
- 0.49 debt-to-earnings ratio (Scorecard proxy)
- 2.3% of graduates not working and not enrolled one year out (program cohort)
Source: College Scorecard program-level outcomes aggregated by 4-digit CIP family.
Employment
Wages and industry mix below use BLS OEWS data for occupations linked to this major in our mapping—not a graduate earnings survey.
Yearly Income for Common Jobs
$40,621 Average Wage in Workforce
The average salary for Industrial Engineering majors is $40,621.
Average annual salaries of the most common occupations for Industrial Engineering majors.
Occupations by Share
1,596,050 2023 Workforce
The number of Industrial Engineering graduates in the workforce has been growing.
Various jobs filled by those with a major in Industrial Engineering by share of the total number of graduates.
Diversity
Demographic information for those who earn a degree in Industrial Engineering in the United States.
Workforce Age
N/A Average Age in 2023
This chart shows distribution of ages for employees with a degree in Industrial Engineering.
Age distribution for Industrial Engineering degree holders in the workforce.
Gender Distribution
Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).
4,848 Total Degrees Awarded
3,184 Male (65.68%)
1,664 Female (34.32%)
Gender distribution of Industrial Engineering degree recipients.
Race and Ethnicity Distribution
Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).
2,443 White (50.39%)
768 Hispanic or Latino (15.84%)
582 Asian (12.00%)
229 Black or African American (4.72%)
162 Two or More Races (3.34%)
Racial and ethnic distribution of Industrial Engineering degree recipients.
Degrees Awarded
The most common degree types awarded to students graduating in Industrial Engineering are Bachelors Degree, Masters Degree, and Associates Degree.
Distribution of degree types awarded in Industrial Engineering.
Skills
Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for those working in the Industrial Engineering field from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Required Skills
Industrial Engineering majors need many skills, but most especially Critical Thinking, Active Listening, and Reading Comprehension.
Rating of how necessary various skills are for Industrial Engineering majors.
Skills Bar Chart
This bar chart shows the same information as the radar chart, displaying the importance of each skill.
Skill importance ratings for Industrial Engineering majors.
About
A program that prepares individuals to apply scientific and mathematical principles to the design, improvement, and installation of integrated systems of people, material, information, and energy. Includes instruction in applied mathematics, physical sciences, the social sciences, engineering analysis, systems design, computer applications, and forecasting and evaluation methodology
In 2023, 4,848 degrees were awarded across all undergraduate and graduate programs in Industrial Engineering.
CIP Code
14.3501 - Industrial Engineering
What the data shows
At the program-family level, College Scorecard reports median debt of $36,354 for bachelor's completers and median earnings near $98,442, a debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.49. Those figures describe national program cohorts in this CIP family—not every individual Industrial Engineering graduate.
Men earned 31.3% of 8,533 Industrial Engineering completions in the IPEDS file used here.
Mapped BLS occupations show employment-weighted mean pay of about $64,987. The largest mapped role by headcount is Teachers, Postsecondary (1,500,000 U.S. jobs in OEWS).
Published tuition medians in College Scorecard land at $6,045 in-state at public colleges and $12,850 at private institutions for programs in this field.
Data Sources
This page uses data from the following sources:
- College Scorecard - U.S. Department of Education
- Institutional characteristics, costs, completion rates, and earnings data
- Data years: 2015-2024
- Source: collegescorecard.ed.gov
- Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)
- Employment and wage data by occupation
- Latest data: May 2024
- Source: bls.gov/oes
- O*NET Online - U.S. Department of Labor
- Occupational skills, knowledge, abilities, and work activities
- Database version: 28.0 (August 2023)
- Source: onetcenter.org
- IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System) - National Center for Education Statistics
- Institutional data, completions, enrollment, and financial aid
- Data years: 2015-2024
- Source: nces.ed.gov/ipeds
- Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS)
- Demographic and workforce data
- Latest data: 2023 ACS 5-Year Estimates
- Source: census.gov/acs
Data Processing: All data has been processed, cleaned, and aggregated for presentation. Where specific data points are unavailable, estimates are based on available data and clearly marked.
Last Updated: Data reflects the most recent available information as of January 2025.
Methodology
Data for this profile is sourced from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard dataset, IPEDS completion data, and Bureau of Labor Statistics employment data.
All financial figures are adjusted for inflation and represent the most recent available data. Employment and wage data are from the most recent Census Bureau ACS PUMS estimates.