Mississippi·Architecture and Engineering Occupations·SOC 17-2141

Best Mechanical Engineer programs in Mississippi, ranked by enrollment

Perform engineering duties in planning and designing tools, engines, machines, and other mechanically functioning equipment.

4 schools in Mississippi run programs that feed this job, graduating 351 people a year. The job pays a median of $98,000 in Mississippi across about 1,570 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledEngineerStack EngineerDesign EngineerProduct EngineerProject EngineerResearch EngineerFuel Cell EngineerMechanical Engineer
Graduates / yr
351
in Mississippi
Median pay · Mississippi
$98,000
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
1,570
people employed
Schools
4
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
58%
across those schools
Median net price
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Mississippi that lead to this job

Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.

1 programs in Mississippi that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Mississippi (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Mississippi page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1351
100.0%
4$70,724$24,833

Top 4 schools in Mississippi

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 2 of the 4 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Mississippi State University
Mississippi State, MS Public · 1 feeder programs
242Mechanical Engineering$75,16167%78%
2University of Mississippi
University, MS Public · 1 feeder programs
63Mechanical Engineering$70,03872%97%
3Hinds Community College
Raymond, MS Public · 1 feeder programs
29Mechanical Engineering43%
4East Mississippi Community College
Scooba, MS Public · 1 feeder programs
17Mechanical Engineering48%

All 4 schools in Mississippi

Every school in Mississippi with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.

All schools in Mississippi that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Mississippi State UniversityMississippi StatePublic2421
University of MississippiUniversityPublic631
Hinds Community CollegeRaymondPublic291
East Mississippi Community CollegeScoobaPublic171

What mechanical engineers earn in Mississippi

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in Mississippi
$98,000
Mean annual
$100,690
Jobs in state
1,570
What the range looks like
10th pct$62,210Median$98,00090th pct$136,990
Versus the national median
-5.9%

U.S. median $104,110. Mississippi pays below the national figure.

Job concentration
0.71×

1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.

Metro areas in Mississippi

Gulfport-Biloxi, MS
$103,450median
410 jobs
Hattiesburg, MS
$76,770median
40 jobs
Jackson, MS
$81,300median
230 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+9.1%
Much faster than average
Openings per year
18,100
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
26,500
293,100 → 319,600
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree

Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.

How to get in

The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Mechanical Engineers page.

How to become a Mechanical Engineer

Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree

Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.

Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.

Top skills

Critical ThinkingReading ComprehensionActive ListeningMathematicsWritingSpeaking

The same job in other states

Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.

Related careers in Mississippi

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 3 majors mapped to Mechanical Engineers3 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 14.1101Engineering Mechanics
  • 14.1901Mechanical Engineering
  • 14.4101Electromechanical Engineering

Common questions

Answers for people weighing mechanical engineers programs in Mississippi.

What degree do you need to become a Mechanical Engineer?+

Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Mechanical Engineering, which awarded 351 degrees in Mississippi in 2024-25, 100.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a Mechanical Engineer?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Mechanical Engineering. Together they graduate about 351 people a year in Mississippi.

How much do mechanical engineers earn in Mississippi?+

The median is $98,000 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 5.9% below the U.S. median of $104,110. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.

Is demand for mechanical engineers growing?+

BLS projects a +9.1% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, much faster than average, with roughly 18,100 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in Mississippi?+

4 institutions in Mississippi reported graduates from at least one of the 1 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.

What other job titles do mechanical engineers work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Engineer, Stack Engineer, Design Engineer, Product Engineer, Project Engineer, Research Engineer among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 17-2141.

Programs in MississippiMechanical Engineering

About the data on this page

Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).

  • BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics

    May 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.

  • IPEDS Completions

    2024-25 (provisional)

    Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.

  • College Scorecard, Field of Study

    2020-21 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.

    Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA

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