SPE Members Report Average Salary Increase of 10%

SPE members’ salaries have risen an average of 10% this year, according to a survey conducted by the Gallup Organization for SPE. Worldwide, respondents reported an average income of U.S. $108,742 (Table 1, Fig. 1). Respondents reported that they earned an additional $157,754 in bonuses, housing, and retirement funds, and 42% reported having a car or car allowance.

Fig. 1—Results by country and region.

Respondents from the U.S. and the North Sea/Africa region reported the highest average incomes: $122,570 and $115,355, respectively. South America and Caribbean members reported the lowest average incomes ($89,575) as was the case in 2004, the last time the survey was conducted. North Sea/Africa respondents reported the highest average additional income of $766,781 (including bonuses, housing, and pension plans). Respondents from South, Central, and East Europe and North Sea/Africa were by far the most likely to have pursued education beyond a bachelor’s degree: 68% and 67%, respectively. Of the different regions examined, respondents in Canada were the least likely to have additional education (30%). Respondents from the Middle East and South, Central, and East Europe were the most likely to have a car or car allowance, while fewer in Canada and the U.S. had a car or car allowance.

Citizenship also had an impact on salary (Table 2). There was a significant difference in salary between those who were citizens ($83,640) and those who were noncitizens ($118,839). In 2004, there was no significant difference between citizens’ and noncitizens’ income. In the U.S., citizens earned more than $17,000 over noncitizens. On the other hand, in South, Central, and East Europe, noncitizens reported approximately $88,158 more in salary than citizens.

Not surprisingly, average income increased with years of work experience (Fig. 2). This pattern held true for all of the geographic groups studied except South, Central, and East Europe. Members in South, Central, and East Europe did not show a similar pattern of increase at the highest experience category. U.S. and North Sea/Africa members earned more than members in other countries in almost all experience categories. In North Sea/Africa, the average salary increased steadily with years of experience. In other regions, average salaries tend to level off after 20 years of experience. Asia Pacific and South America and Caribbean countries showed significant increase in salaries after 16 years’ experience. Income levels of South America and Caribbean members fell dramatically after 21 to 25 years’ experience.

Fig. 2—Salary according to years of work experience.

Members also were asked to classify their job descriptions into one of eight categories (Fig. 3). Five of the job description categories (Engineering, Management, Research and Develop-ment, Sales and Marketing, and Earth Science and Geology) had large enough sample sizes to examine trends according to years of experience. Management had the highest average salary for 0 to 10 years of experience ($97,991). Earth Science and Geology respondents had the lowest average salary ($68,576) for the first 10 years. Managers also earned higher salaries than the other groups over all years of experience. Research and Development shows the slowest growth in salaries across all years of work experience. Engineering professionals see a flattening in salary after 20 years of experience. Salaries for Earth Science and Geology and Sales and Marketing dipped after 21 to 25 years of experience.

Fig. 3—Salary according to work experience and job description.

How the Survey Was Conducted

The SPE Salary Survey provides information to help SPE members compare compensation throughout the world. For the 2006 survey, SPE collected salary information worldwide using a statistically valid sampling of the Society’s membership.

The Gallup Organization collected confidential salary information on behalf of SPE. Gallup used an e-mail invitation to contact members in 51 countries. These results include responses from 1,565 members in the U.S. and 1,186 members from other countries.

Respondents who were semiretired, retired, or unemployed were excluded. As in the previous study, individuals reporting annual salaries of less than U.S. $24,000 or more than $250,000 also were excluded. All salary and income figures were reported in U.S. dollars. Results were broken into regions according to the Society’s regional classifications.