In addition to EE Times' 1,453 U.S. salary responses, they surveyed 457 European engineers. Their salaries in U.S. dollars are considerably lower than those of the U.S. group, at a mean of $64,200. Part of the reason for the lower wages may lie in the fact that 19 percent of the European sample work at industrial controls and equipment companies, which on the whole don't pay as much as, in example, computer companies.

Half of the European sample came from the United Kingdom, a quarter from Germany and 14 percent from France. The rest are based elsewhere, including a couple of dozen U.S. employees based at European sites. On the whole, at 55 percent, the Europeans believe their salaries are comparable to those of other professions. More than a third, however, said their wages lag behind.