Salary Survey 2016

2016 Salary Survey

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The results of Safety+Health’s 2016 Salary Survey are in.

S+H heard from 1,300 occupational safety and health professionals, who shared information on topics such as education, experience and raises.

The typical respondent is male, in his 50s, has the job title of manager and a four-year-college degree, and earns between $100,000 and $125,999. This is fairly consistent with the 2015 survey, in which 77.6 percent of respondents were male, 54.3 percent were older than 50 and 31.7 percent earned at least $100,000 per year.

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New this year: more data regarding salary by gender. Nearly 78 percent of respondents were male, a figure consistent with our previous survey findings.

About the respondents

  • Of the 1,300 respondents, 17.1 percent reported they earn between $100,000 and $125,999.
  • Manager (38.1 percent) was the most common job title.
  • 20.8 percent of respondents have worked in the safety and health field for more than 25 years.
  • Most respondents (44.3 percent) have a four-year college degree, and 27 percent have attended some college. In comparison, 23.5 percent have an advanced degree, and 5.3 percent are high school graduates.
  • Nearly 40 percent of respondents have worked for their current employer for less than five years, and 65.2 percent have done so for 10 years or less.
  • As far as safety or health designations, 61.0 percent have none. Most who have a designation are Certified Safety Professionals (24.2 percent).
  • Texas (8.6 percent), California (6.8 percent), and Pennsylvania and Wisconsin (5 percent each) were the most represented states.

Industry

Respondents work mainly in manufacturing (34.8 percent), construction (17.1 percent) and public administration/government (9.9 percent). Close behind were services and education (9.3 percent) and utilities (8.5 percent) to round out the top five.

Compensation

Most survey respondents (17.1 percent) said they earn between $100,000 and $125,999. The next most common pay range was $70,000 to $79,999 (13.9 percent), followed by $80,000 to $89,999 (13.5 percent).

Nearly one-quarter of respondents said they did not receive or expect to receive a raise this year; however, 23.4 percent earned or expected to earn a 3 percent raise. Only 5.7 percent said they received or expected to receive a raise higher than 5 percent, and slightly more than half (55.7 percent) reported they earned a bonus or expected to receive one this year.

For less than one-third of respondents (28.6 percent), at least part of their salary or compensation was determined by their employer’s safety performance.

2016 Salary Survey

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About the respondents

2016 Salary Survey

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Compensation



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Region

To take a closer look at the survey results, respondents were grouped into seven regions.

The region with the highest percentage of high salaries was the Pacific and Mountain region, which includes California, Colorado and Washington. In that region, 41.1 percent of respondents make at least $100,000 per year.

The Mid-Atlantic region – which includes New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania – was close behind. More than one-third of its respondents (39.1 percent) earn six figures. The New England region came in third with 31.2 percent of its respondents making at least $100,000.

The region with the lowest percentage of high earners was the South Atlantic, which includes the Carolinas, Florida and West Virginia. Of respondents from that region, 26.6 percent make six figures.


2016 Salary Survey

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Infographic: The results in one image

 

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