Compared with the local labor market
Assistant Mechanical Engineer pay vs. the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ area
Across all employers in the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ area, the median wage for Mechanical Engineers — about 6,960 people — is $109,990. Department of Sanitation pays a median base salary of $80,015 for this role, 27% below that figure — about the 11th percentile of local pay for the occupation.
Where Department of Sanitation sits in the local pay range
$79,520
$92,180
$109,990
$137,060
$165,010
Department of Sanitation median · $80,015
The bar is the range of annual wages for Mechanical Engineers across every employer in the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ area, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Department of Sanitation’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.
And across the country
Nationwide, the median wage for Mechanical Engineers — about 296,810 people — is $104,110. Department of Sanitation’s median base salary is 23% below that national figure, about the 19th percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.
$73,990
$84,130
$104,110
$132,590
$164,340
Department of Sanitation median · $80,015
Local and national wages differ for reasons beyond how well a job pays — cost of living, the mix of employers, and local demand for the occupation all move the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ range relative to the national one.
Median total compensation for this role at Department of Sanitation is $86,493, which includes overtime and employer-paid benefits. The benchmark above excludes both, so total compensation is deliberately not compared against it.
Benchmark: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025). BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) covers all employers in the area — private, non-profit, and government alike — so this is a comparison against the whole local labor market for the occupation, not against private-sector pay. OEWS wages are straight-time pay and exclude overtime, shift differentials, and employer-paid benefits, so the government figure shown here is base pay on the same basis. Total compensation is not comparable to it. Job titles are matched to the closest standard occupation, so the comparison is between similar work rather than an identical job classification.