Best degree programs for Mining and Geological Engineers, Including Mining Safety Engineers, ranked by enrollment
3 college programs and 31 schools train Mining and Geological Engineers, Including Mining Safety Engineers. Compare graduates per year, cost and pay, $106,220 median wage, 6,080 U.S. jobs. Federal data.
3 college programs at 31 schools train mining and geological engineers, including mining safety engineers, graduating 583 people a year (IPEDS completions). The largest is Geological/Geophysical Engineering. The job pays a median of $106,220 (BLS OEWS May 2025).
About mining and geological engineers, including mining safety engineers
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.
Fields of study that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level, the tier our program pages are built on. Numbers are graduates per year.
3 degree programs that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are College Scorecard figures for people who finished the program, reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. That is a different measurement from the occupation-wide wages further down this page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Geological/Geophysical Engineeringmain feeder CIP 14.3901 | 302 | 51.8% | 19 | $64,080 | $23,410 |
| 2 | Mining and Mineral Engineeringmain feeder CIP 14.2101 | 262 | 44.9% | 15 | $85,897 | $24,952 |
| 3 | CIP 14.0802 | 19 | 3.3% | 7 | $69,574 | $24,625 |
Top 31 schools by graduates into this job
Counting every feeder program a school offers, not just its largest one.
What mining and geological engineers, including mining safety engineers earn
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
Top-paying states
Top-paying metro areas
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Where the jobs are, state by state
Pick a state for in-state pay, the schools there, and the programs they run.
| State | Median pay | Jobs | Concentration | Schools | Graduates / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Missourilimited | — | 40 | 0.33× | 2 | 191 |
| Coloradolimited | $96,820 | 670 | 5.98× | 1 | 122 |
| Virginialimited | $104,960 | 150 | 0.92× | 1 | 29 |
| Arizonalimited | $102,130 | 690 | 5.42× | 1 | 26 |
| Michiganlimited | $97,310 | 140 | 0.82× | 1 | 22 |
| Montanalimited | $105,410 | 110 | 5.31× | 1 | 19 |
| Kentuckylimited | $103,300 | 230 | 2.91× | 1 | 18 |
| Pennsylvanialimited | $87,020 | — | — | 2 | 16 |
| New Mexicolimited | — | 270 | 7.97× | 1 | 12 |
| New Yorklimited | $82,200 | 50 | 0.12× | 2 | 12 |
| West Virginialimited | $97,960 | 440 | 16.20× | 1 | 12 |
| Nevadalimited | $107,500 | 470 | 7.74× | 1 | 11 |
| Utahlimited | $125,520 | 230 | 3.38× | 1 | 9 |
| Alaskalimited | $124,630 | 300 | 23.22× | 2 | 8 |
| Texaslimited | $100,580 | 160 | 0.30× | 1 | 7 |
| Californialimited | $158,130 | 520 | 0.73× | 2 | 6 |
| Minnesotalimited | $91,610 | 70 | 0.63× | 1 | 6 |
| Wisconsinlimited | $95,950 | 40 | 0.35× | 1 | 4 |
| Alabamalimited | $102,530 | 90 | 1.04× | 1 | 2 |
| Idaholimited | $123,680 | 110 | 3.35× | 1 | 1 |
Skills and tools
From O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupational database. Importance is a 1 to 5 scale.
What they do day to day
- 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.
Skills
- Speaking4.0
- Reading Comprehension4.0
- Critical Thinking4.0
- Writing4.0
- Active Listening3.9
- Monitoring3.8
- Mathematics3.8
- Science3.5
Knowledge areas
- Engineering and Technology4.5
- Mathematics4.4
- English Language3.6
- Design3.6
- Production and Processing3.6
- Administration and Management3.4
Abilities
- Information Ordering4.0
- Oral Comprehension4.0
- Inductive Reasoning4.0
- Deductive Reasoning4.0
- Category Flexibility4.0
- Oral Expression4.0
Core activities
- Working with Computers4.8
- Making Decisions and Solving Problems4.7
- Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates4.5
- Getting Information4.4
- Processing Information4.3
- Analyzing Data or Information4.3
Tools and technology
hotmarks an O*NET hot technologyHow to get in
How to become a Mining
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.
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 3 majors mapped to Mining and Geological Engineers, Including Mining Safety Engineers3 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 14.0802Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
- 14.2101Mining and Mineral Engineering
- 14.3901Geological/Geophysical Engineering
Related careers
Jobs O*NET identifies as close to this one, with their own pay and outlook.
Common questions
What degree do you need to become a Mining?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Geological/Geophysical Engineering, which awarded 302 degrees in 2024-25, 51.8% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Mining?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 3 programs to this occupation. The largest are Geological/Geophysical Engineering, Mining and Mineral Engineering, Civil Engineering. Together they graduate about 583 people a year.
How much do mining and geological engineers, including mining safety engineers earn?+
The median is $106,220 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). The middle range runs from $67,490 at the 10th percentile to $169,990 at the 90th. 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 mining and geological engineers, including mining safety engineers growing?+
BLS projects a +0.7% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, little or no change, with roughly 400 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career?+
31 institutions reported graduates from at least one of the 3 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 mining and geological engineers, including mining safety engineers work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Mine Engineer, Mining Engineer, Project Engineer, Mining Consultant among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 17-2151.
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 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected 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 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, 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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