Simply put, the West Coast job market sizzled in late '95 and early '96. It's still robust, but the almost-frantic atmosphere of fourth quarter '95/first quarter '96 has simmered to a more-respectable and typical cloak-and-dagger recruitment environment. Companies resorted to signing bonuses, down payments on houses and, most important, higher salaries to lure the brightest and best to The Valley That Stock Options Created.

But they didn't go crazy with the salaries. Last year northern Californians-who make up the largest percentage of our readers, and of our salary survey sample-earned an average of $74,200. The $3,300 increase in '96 salaries matches the mean increase for our entire sample.

Southern Californians saw smaller raises, to $68,100, only $200 more than last year, while the Pacific region as a whole, from Washington State and all of California, averaged $71,700.

The sharpest boost is reserved for the Mountain States, stretching from Arizona/New Mexico to Idaho and Montana, and centering on the telecom-rich Colorado Springs and Boulder regions of Colorado. This year's respondents earned an average of $67,800, a hefty $6,000 more than last year's group.

In fact, the Mountain States overtook New England as the second-highest paid region in the United States for engineers this year. Our New England EE survey participants salaries came in at $64,600, a mere $600 more.

Other regions South Atlantic (Maryland, D.C., south to Florida): $62,800.
• Mid Atlantic (New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey): $62,600.
  
• West South Central (Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas): $64,700.
  
• West North Central (the Plains states): $53,900.
  
• East North Central (Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio): $60,400.
  
• East South Central (Kentucky south to Alabama, Mississippi): $61,600.
  

For the highest wages, it's no longer the two Coasts; go west of the Mississippi.

If we took Californi a out of the equation, national EE salaries would look considerably lower. The median salary (the point at which half the sample resides) is a paler $63,540.

Not every EE is sharing the wealth. The good news is that "region" is a controllable variable, if sometimes one you'd be reluctant to pursue.

Salaries for the most part followed responsibility. Higher-ranked jobs produced higher salaries.

Here are some of the salaries by job titles:

• Senior engineers: $66,800
  
• Design engineers: $51,700
  
• Technical directors: $89,300
  
• Principal engineers: $73,900
  
• Project engineers: $59,800
  

• Software engineers: $59,400
  
• Systems enginee rs: $57,400
  

• Member of the technical staff: $70,800
  
• Consultant: $78,200
  
• Vice president of engineering: $79,500
  
• Department head: $82,600
  
• Chief engineer: $73,900
  
• Section heads: $81,800
  

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