| Civil engineers | 278,400 |
| Mechanical engineers | 238,700 |
| Industrial engineers | 214,800 |
| Electrical engineers | 157,800 |
| Electronics engineers, except computer | 143,700 |
| Computer hardware engineers | 74,700 |
| Aerospace engineers | 71,600 |
| Environmental engineers | 54,300 |
| Chemical engineers | 31,700 |
| Health and safety engineers, except mining safety engineers and inspectors | 25,700 |
| Materials engineers | 24,400 |
| Petroleum engineers | 21,900 |
| Nuclear engineers | 16,900 |
| Biomedical engineers | 16,000 |
| Marine engineers and naval architects | 8,500 |
| Mining and geological engineers, including mining safety engineers | 7,100 |
| Agricultural engineers | 2,700 |
| Engineers, all other | 183,200 |
About 36 percent of engineering jobs were found in manufacturing industries, and another 30 percent were in the professional, scientific, and technical services industries, primarily in architectural, engineering, and related services. Many engineers also worked in the construction, telecommunications, and wholesale trade industries.
Federal, State, and local governments employed about 12 percent of engineers in 2008. About 6 percent were in the Federal Government, mainly in the U.S. Departments of Defense, Transportation, Agriculture, Interior, and Energy, and in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Many engineers in State and local government agencies worked in highway and public works departments. In 2008, about 3 percent of engineers were self-employed, many as consultants.
Engineers are employed in every State, in small and large cities and in rural areas. Some branches of engineering are concentrated in particular industries and geographic areas; for example, petroleum engineering jobs tend to be located in States with sizable petroleum deposits, such as Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Alaska, and California. Other branches, such as civil engineering, are widely dispersed, and engineers in these fields often move from place to place to work on different projects
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-11 Edition