Engineer salaries hold steady. (News & Notes).

Despite economic conditions, engineers are still faring well in the workforce, according to a salary survey conducted by the National Society of Professional Engineers.

According to NSPE's "2003 Income and Salary Survey," the total annual median income for engineers was down percent

A broad-based education seems to be the ticket to a higher salary Survey respondents with an M.B.A. or combined degrees were found to have higher median incomes than respondents with an M.S. in engineering. In addition, respondents with B.S. degrees in areas outside of engineering posted higher earnings than those with strictly an engineering degree.

Survey respondents working in petroleum engineering reported the highest median income, at $110,000. Materials engineers came in second, at $107,000 median income, followed by biomechanical/biomedical engineers, at $104,000. Geotechnical, agricultural, safety, and civil engineers came in at the lower end of the median income spectrum, with median earnings between $68,750 and $75,775.

Only 126 of the 6,271 respondents reported losing their jobs because of downsizing in 2002.