Stationary Engineer Salary, Skills & Requirements (2026)
Advertised pay, starting pay, skills and experience from 1,016 US job postings by 426 employers. Data as of October 2026.
What US employers post for stationary engineers: advertised pay, the skills and experience they ask for, and the job titles they use, from 1,016 open job postings (October 2026).
- The median advertised pay for stationary engineers in US job postings is $80,000 a year (296 postings from 140 employers, October 2026).
- The middle half of those postings offer $65,000 to $100,000.
- The skills that most set stationary engineer postings apart are hvac, plumbing, electrical.
- Postings that state a minimum ask for a median of 3 years of experience.
Stationary Engineer job postings in the US, October 2026
- $80,000
- Median advertised pay (296 postings)
- $65,000–$100,000
- Middle 50% of postings
- 1,016
- US job postings from 426 employers
- 3 years
- Median experience asked
How much does a stationary engineer make?
The median advertised pay is $80,000 a year, from 296 US job postings by 140 employers that state pay. One in ten postings offers $118,000 or more.
Advertised pay in 296 US stationary engineer job postings: median $80,000 a year, middle half $65,000 to $100,000.
- Median: $80,000
- 25th percentile: $65,000
- 75th percentile: $100,000
The figures as a table
| Annual pay | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| $30K–$40K | 1.8% |
| $40K–$50K | 4.7% |
| $50K–$60K | 10.2% |
| $60K–$70K | 13.5% |
| $70K–$80K | 19.0% |
| $80K–$90K | 14.6% |
| $90K–$100K | 11.3% |
| $100K–$110K | 8.8% |
| $110K–$120K | 6.6% |
| $120K–$130K | 2.9% |
| $130K–$140K | 2.5% |
| $140K–$150K | 1.8% |
| $150K–$160K | 1.1% |
| $160K–$170K | 0.4% |
Midpoint of each posting's pay range, hourly pay × 2,080 hours; at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026.
| Median | Middle 50% | Postings | |
|---|---|---|---|
| All pay postings, annualised | $80,000 | $65K–$100K | 296 |
For comparison, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the national median annual wage of Stationary Engineers and Boiler Operators (51-8021) at $79,000 (May 2025). Postings advertise pay; the BLS measures what people earn, across all employers and levels.
What is the starting salary for a stationary engineer?
Figure withheld: fewer than 250 US postings list pay. How we decide.
Skills employers ask for in stationary engineer job postings
| Skill | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| Hvac | 30% |
| Communication | 26% |
| Electrical | 19% |
| Plumbing | 18% |
| Customer service | 14% |
| Excel | 13% |
| Organizational skills | 12% |
| Problem-solving | 12% |
| Word | 11% |
| Troubleshooting | 10% |
Skills named in the posting text; at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026. Methodology.
Skills that set stationary engineers apart
- Hvac42.4× as often as in all postings · 30%
- Plumbing27.8× as often as in all postings · 18%
- Electrical21.3× as often as in all postings · 19%
- Energy management systems379× as often as in all postings · 6%
- Building automation systems137.1× as often as in all postings · 7%
- Water treatment222× as often as in all postings · 6%
- Plumbing systems81.1× as often as in all postings · 6%
- Hvac systems28.9× as often as in all postings · 6%
- Cmms43.8× as often as in all postings · 5%
- Troubleshooting5.3× as often as in all postings · 10%
- Mechanical11.1× as often as in all postings · 6%
Skills named in at least 5% of these postings and at least 3 times as often as in job postings overall.
Have a stationary engineer job posting in front of you? See which of its skills your resume is missing.
What does a stationary engineer do?
Employers post these jobs as Building Engineer, Boiler Operator, Operating Engineer, Building Maintenance Engineer, Chief Building Engineer and other titles. The largest specializations are Building Engineer (42%), Shift Engineer (under 1%).
The closest official occupation is Stationary Engineers and Boiler Operators (51-8021.00). Its most important tasks:
- Operate or tend stationary engines, boilers, and auxiliary equipment, such as pumps, compressors, or air-conditioning equipment, to supply and maintain steam or heat for buildings, marine vessels, or pneumatic tools.
- Activate valves to maintain required amounts of water in boilers, to adjust supplies of combustion air, and to control the flow of fuel into burners.
- Monitor boiler water, chemical, and fuel levels, and make adjustments to maintain required levels.
- Analyze problems and take appropriate action to ensure continuous and reliable operation of equipment and systems.
- Observe and interpret readings on gauges, meters, and charts registering various aspects of boiler operation to ensure that boilers are operating properly.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (CC BY 4.0).
How much experience do you need to be a stationary engineer?
Among 487 postings that state a minimum, the median is 3 years. Under 1% say 0 years and 12% ask for 1 year or less.
Minimum experience asked in 487 US stationary engineer job postings: median 3 years, and 12% ask for 1 year or less.
The figures as a table
| Minimum experience asked | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| 0 yr | under 1% |
| 1 yr | 12% |
| 2 yrs | 22% |
| 3-4 yrs | 33% |
| 5-7 yrs | 31% |
| 8-9 yrs | under 1% |
| 10+ yrs | 2% |
Postings that state a minimum (required or preferred); at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026.
We do not show a degree figure: in our checks, degree requirements in posting text were found too rarely to publish one. Why.
Other names for a stationary engineer: job titles employers use
| Job title | Employers using it |
|---|---|
| Building Engineer | 108 (25.4%) |
| Stationary Engineer | 105 (24.6%) |
| Boiler Operator | 81 (19.0%) |
| Operating Engineer | 22 (5.2%) |
| Building Maintenance Engineer | 18 (4.2%) |
| Chief Building Engineer | 14 (3.3%) |
| Lead Building Engineer | 12 (2.8%) |
| Assistant Chief Engineer | 12 (2.8%) |
| Building Engineer II | 10 (2.4%) |
| Critical Facilities Engineer | 8 (1.9%) |
| Boiler Plant Operator | 7 (1.6%) |
| Commercial Building Engineer | 7 (1.6%) |
| Stationary Engineer I | 7 (1.6%) |
| Building Engineer I | 6 (1.4%) |
| Maintenance Engineer | 6 (1.4%) |
| Chief Engineer | 6 (1.4%) |
| Building Operating Engineer | 5 (1.2%) |
| Utilities Supervisor | 5 (1.2%) |
| Facilities Engineer II | 5 (1.2%) |
| Mobile Building Engineer | 4 (0.9%) |
Titles read in our audit and used by at least 3 employers.
Stationary Engineer compared with similar careers
| Career | Median pay | Median experience | Postings | Shares N of top 25 skills |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stationary Engineer | $80K | 3 years | 1,016 | – |
| Facilities Manager | $90K | 3 years | 3,360 | 18 |
| Maintenance Technician | $27.50/hr | 2 years | 38,950 | 17 |
| HVAC Technician | $33.50/hr | 3 years | 11,503 | 14 |
| Energy Engineer | – | 3 years | 716 | 13 |
Similar careers
| Career | Shares N of the top 25 skills | Median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Facilities Manager | 18 | $90K |
| Maintenance Technician | 17 | $27.50/hr |
| HVAC Technician | 14 | $33.50/hr |
| Energy Engineer | 13 | – |
| Plumber | 11 | $32.21/hr |
| Field Service Technician | 17 | $30.30/hr |
Applying for stationary engineer jobs?
- Stationary engineer resume examples: one-page examples for these roles
- Match your resume to a job: paste a posting and see the skills your resume is missing
- Check your resume: see how an applicant tracking system reads it
- Find stationary engineer jobs: search open postings
Frequently asked questions
How much does a stationary engineer make?
Source and method
Open US job postings collected from employers' applicant tracking systems, de-duplicated, counted only when their job title was read in our audit. Shares count at most 20 postings per employer, and franchise locations of one brand count as one employer. Pay uses hourly and annual figures only; a figure is shown when leaving out the largest employer moves it by 10% or less. Every figure states its number of postings. Methodology and measured accuracy.
Accuracy check: we read 20 randomly chosen postings counted on this page in full; 18 of them were this career or a closely related one (October 2026).
Download the figures on this page (CSV): every number above with its count of postings. Aggregate figures are licensed CC BY 4.0; cite the page when you reuse them.