Official pay data
Updated 15 October 2026
Salary guide
Official annual estimates for the whole country, mapped to the closest published occupation.
United Kingdom · gross annual earnings estimate
25th percentile
£39,125
Median
£51,110
75th percentile
£62,237
This ASHE benchmark covers full-time employee jobs, not self-employed income or part-time jobs. ASHE gross earnings include basic pay, overtime, incentive pay such as bonuses and commissions, shift premiums, and other cash pay. They are before deductions, exclude payments in kind, and are not take-home pay or the whole benefits package. Compare the benchmark with an offer on the same working-hours and annual-pay basis.
This is a country-level occupation benchmark, not a local offer estimate. Pay can differ by location, employer, duties, and working pattern.
Source: ONS, 2025-04-30. Mapped to Mechanical engineers; the occupation is broader than the page role. Figures are estimates, not advertised salaries.
The Mechanical Engineer benchmark is a useful national reference for full-time employee roles that design, build or install machinery and mechanical systems. It fits work involving mechanical analysis and technical improvement, but it does not describe every assignment or employer-specific brief. Use the benchmark to frame an offer, then check the actual duties, hours and pay terms.
Benchmark fit
Mechanical Engineer maps closely to the Mechanical engineers occupation because both cover the design, construction and installation of machinery used in engineering, power, transport and manufacturing. The comparison is broad: it does not mean every role performs every listed task, or that the benchmark is a local offer estimate.
Nearby titles: Mechanical engineers.
The benchmark does not establish the duties, seniority, employer or location of an individual vacancy. Pay can differ with those factors and with working pattern.
Role scope
Mechanical Engineers turn mechanical principles into machinery and systems, combining design work with analysis and practical implementation.
Design, build and install machinery used in power, engineering, transport and manufacturing. · Analyse mechanical-device problems and create designs or technical improvements. · Apply mechanics, thermodynamics and materials science when designing or improving products and systems.
Mechanical designs, machinery installations and technical improvements to products or systems.
Offices, plants, factories, workshops and building sites.
Read the range
A role focused on designing and installing machinery has a different day-to-day emphasis from one focused on analysing device problems and improving designs. Both can sit within the Mechanical Engineer occupation; the comparison describes responsibility scope, not a separate pay band.
One quarter of employees earn below this figure.
Half of employees earn below this figure and half above it; it is not the arithmetic midpoint of the displayed range.
One quarter of employees earn above this figure.
Beyond salary
Compare the offer on the same annual-pay and working-hours basis as the benchmark. Separate guaranteed cash from conditional payments, and review benefits as their own terms rather than treating them as salary.
This gives you a like-for-like base for comparing the offer with the benchmark.
These payments may be included in gross earnings, but they are not guaranteed by the benchmark itself.
The benchmark excludes payments in kind and is not the whole benefits package, so assess these items separately.
Offer review
Questions
Source
Source: ONS, 2025-04-30. The figures cover Mechanical engineers (2122) and full time employee jobs. Updated 15 October 2026. This broad occupation benchmark may not match every Mechanical Engineer vacancy.
Put the benchmark to work
Use the salary range as context. Tailor your CV around the experience that supports your target level.
