Mining and Geological Engineers, Including Mining Safety Engineers
SOC 17-2151BLS OEWS May 2025H-1B LCAs, last 12 months
Conduct subsurface surveys to identify the characteristics of potential land or mining development sites. May specify the ground support systems, processes, and equipment for safe, economical, and environmentally sound extraction or underground construction activities. May inspect areas for unsafe geological conditions, equipment, and working conditions. May design, implement, and coordinate mine safety programs. Excludes “Petroleum Engineers” (17-2171).
National median · BLS
$106,220
▲ +5.15%YoY
H-1B sponsor median
$105,200
▼ -2.36%YoY · 145 LCAs
Average salary · BLS
$115,410
Mean annual wage
U.S. employment
6,080
Jobs (BLS)
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Enter your pay and a location to see where you stand against BLS and H-1B pay, your estimated take-home pay, and your purchasing power.
Pay range for Mining and Geological Engineers, Including Mining Safety Engineers
Annual base pay at each percentile. BLS covers all U.S. workers in this occupation; H-1B covers 145 certified Labor Condition Applications filed by sponsoring employers in the last 12 months.
Percentile
All U.S. workers (BLS)
H-1B sponsored
10th — entry pay
$67,490
$77,275
25th
$85,280
$88,000
Median (50th)
$106,220
$105,200
75th
$136,590
$133,494
90th — top pay
$169,990
$171,549
H-1B sponsors pay a median of $105,200 for Mining and Geological Engineers, Including Mining Safety Engineers —
1% below
the BLS national median of $106,220.
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Based on
hrs/week ×
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= 2,080 hrs
Projections 2025–2035
Job outlook for Mining and Geological Engineers, Including Mining Safety Engineers
BLS projects employment of mining and geological engineers, including mining safety engineers to grow 3.8% from 2025 to 2035, about the same as the 3.5% average for all occupations.
About 300 openings are projected each year, on average, from new jobs and from replacing workers who retire or move to other occupations.
Jobs 2025 → 2035
6,200 → 6,400
+200 jobs
Projected change
+3.8%
All occupations: +3.5%
Openings per year
300
Average, 2025–2035
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree
No related experience required
Self-employed
1.6% of workers (2025)
Preparation needed (O*NET Job Zone 4)
Considerable Preparation Needed. Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
Employers assign every H-1B filing a Department of Labor prevailing-wage level, from Level I (entry) to Level IV (fully competent). Pay rises steeply with level.
H-1B median$105,200
Change vs prior year-2.36%
After inflation (CPI-U)-5.32%
Wage level
LCAs
Share
P25
Median
P75
Level I
51
35.2%
$77,275
$87,000
$88,800
Level II
30
20.7%
$95,000
$104,400
$117,032
Level III
16
11%
$106,274
$118,000
$131,402
Level IV
47
32.4%
$133,110
$145,940
$185,200
H-1B job titles
Salaries by job title in Mining and Geological Engineers, Including Mining Safety Engineers
The 1 most-filed job titles inside SOC 17-2151, from 145 H-1B filings. Seniority words and level numbers are grouped (“Senior Data Engineer II” counts as Data Engineer). Tap a title for its full range, wage levels and the exact titles employers used.
Job title
LCAs
Share
P25
Median
P75
YoY
▶Mine Engineer
19
13.1%
$88,200
$104,000
$113,734
+14.41%
Mine Engineer · full pay range (19 LCAs)
P10$88,000
P25$88,200
Median$104,000
P75$113,734
P90$133,130
Median by H-1B wage level
Level I$88,2007 LCAs
Level II$106,0009 LCAs
Exact titles filed (5+ LCAs)
Mine Engineer II8 LCAs · median $105,600
Mine Engineer I6 LCAs · median $88,200
Titles are cleaned from the employer's own LCA text (codes and typos removed, nothing invented). Rows need 10+ filings in this SOC.
Top H-1B sponsors for Mining and Geological Engineers, Including Mining Safety Engineers
Employers with the most certified LCAs for this occupation nationwide. Browse all sponsors →
Employer
Certified LCAs
Median
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Mining and Geological Engineers, Including Mining Safety Engineers salaries by state
BLS state medians, plus the same figure adjusted for local prices (BEA Regional Price Parities). Tap a state for its full range and H-1B pay.
State
Median
Jobs
Cost-adjusted
Profile
Mining and Geological Engineers, Including Mining Safety Engineers salaries by metro area
Search by city, ZIP code or metro name. Tap a metro for its full range.
Metro area
Median
Jobs
Cost-adjusted
Profile
Skills & tools
Skills needed for Mining and Geological Engineers, Including Mining Safety Engineers
How important each skill and knowledge area is for this job, rated by O*NET on a 1–5 scale from surveys of workers and occupational analysts.
Highlighted = in demand: frequently listed in employer job postings for this occupation (O*NET).
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
About the job
What mining and geological engineers, including mining safety engineers do
Prepare technical reports for use by mining, engineering, and management personnel.
Inspect mining areas for unsafe structures, equipment, and working conditions.
Select or develop mineral location, extraction, and production methods, based on factors such as safety, cost, and deposit characteristics.
Select locations and plan underground or surface mining operations, specifying processes, labor usage, and equipment that will result in safe, economical, and environmentally sound extraction of minerals and ores.
Prepare schedules, reports, and estimates of the costs involved in developing and operating mines.
Monitor mine production rates to assess operational effectiveness.
Supervise, train, and evaluate technicians, technologists, survey personnel, engineers, scientists or other mine personnel.
Examine maps, deposits, drilling locations, or mines to determine the location, size, accessibility, contents, value, and potential profitability of mineral, oil, and gas deposits.
Coal Mine InspectorEngineerExploration EngineerField EngineerGeological EngineerGeophysical EngineerGeotechnical EngineerGeotechnical Project EngineerMetal Mine InspectorMine AnalystMine Development EngineerMine Environmental EngineerMine ExpertMine Exploration EngineerMine Production EngineerMine Safety EngineerMineral EngineerMining and Oil Well Equipment Research EngineerMining and Tunneling Project EngineerMining Project EngineerNonmetal Mine InspectorOre Dressing EngineerSafety AnalystSafety InspectorSafety MonitorSeismic EngineerSite Safety RepresentativeTailings EngineerUnderground Mining Engineer
Source: O*NET 31.0 (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0). These are general job titles, not H-1B filings; for titles employers actually filed, see “Job titles” above.
Similar jobs and how they pay
Occupations O*NET lists as closely related to Mining and Geological Engineers, Including Mining Safety Engineers, with BLS national medians compared with this occupation's $106,220.
