From Aug. 15, 2011-Sept. 15, 2011, Radio magazine solicited responses to an online survey by posting a link at RadioMagOnline.com and noting the link in various email newsletters. Here are the results.

Staff engineer median salaries year-by-year

By the numbers

Average years in current position: 12

Average years in the broadcast engineering field: 27

Respondents belong to a variety of organizations:
54% SBE
5% AES
4% IEEE
4% NARTE
16% ARRL
6% Other

Percent who did not receive a raise in the past 12 months 54.4%
Median salary increase was 3%; average was 5.11%

Percent age 55 and older: 55%

57% are not certified at all
35% are SBE certified
5% are NARTE certified
5% are Microsoft certified

Contract engineers

14% of survey respondent were contract engineers.

On average they charge an hourly rate of $61/hour.

They typically bill 20 hours/week.

41% of them charge a higher rate for emergency calls. Those who charge more for emergencies bill on average $95/hour.