The Scoop on Salaries

While salaries among engineers and security managers have continued to grow—slightly outpacing inflation last year—recent industry salary surveys show that compensation continues to vary quite a bit based upon professional certification, industry and geographic region.

For example, an average security manager with a Certified Protection Professional (CPP) designation earned 21% more than a non-certified security professional in 2001. Further, security personnel employed by a publicly held company took home 27% more than their counterparts working for privately-owned companies, according to the Association of Industrial Security International's (ASIS) 2001 Employment Survey.

Salaries for security professionals also vary significantly based upon the company's size and industry. Consequently, security managers working for companies with more than 10,000 employees earned an average of $85,852 per year, whereas those employed by companies with less than 1,000 people earned $58,590, reports ASIS.

Meanwhile, the utilities and energy industry clocked in as the highest paying sector with the average security manager earning $87,320, with educational facilities, museums and libraries ranking the lowest, paying in the vicinity of $52,000. Security designers working for A/E firms came in toward the higher end, commanding an average salary of $76,800.

According to the National Society of Professional Engineers' 2001 Income & Salary Survey, the median income of engineers also came in close to that range at $79,000—a 4.6% increase from the 2000 survey.

NSPE research also found the Northeast, the Southwest and the West to be the highest paid regions for engineers, with San Francisco and western New Jersey as the highest paid metropolitan areas.

For more information, visit ASIS' web site, www.asisonline.org, and NSPE's site, www.nspe.org.