Career Explorer Engineering and architecture
Grows with AI
Marine engineers and naval architects
Design, develop, and evaluate the operation of marine vessels, ship machinery, and related equipment, such as power supply and propulsion systems.
In the middle of the pack: more resilient than 51% of the 831 careers we score. AI exposure is high (the Bureau of Labor Statistics rates it high), and US jobs are projected to change by +6.7% by 2035, faster than average. The work leans on creative vision and ethical judgement.
AI can help with many of the tasks, and demand is still growing. Being fluent with AI is the edge here.
- Median pay (2025)
- $112,230
- Job growth to 2035
- +6.7%
- Openings a year
- 500
- People doing it (2025)
- 8,400
- Usual route in
- Bachelor's degree
Where people already use AI for this work
- Evaluate the characteristics, usefulness, or performance of products or technologies
- Present research or technical information
- Read documents or materials to inform work processes
From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).
Work AI rarely helps with
- Monitor operations to ensure compliance with regulations or standards
- Schedule operational activities
- Direct construction or extraction activities
What the work looks like
- Perform monitoring activities to ensure that ships comply with international regulations and standards for life-saving equipment and pollution preventatives.
- Design complete hull and superstructure according to specifications and test data, in conformity with standards of safety, efficiency, and economy.
- Conduct analyses of ships, such as stability, structural, weight, and vibration analyses.
- Study design proposals and specifications to establish basic characteristics of craft, such as size, weight, speed, propulsion, displacement, and draft.
- Maintain contact with, and formulate reports for, contractors and clients to ensure completion of work at minimum cost.
From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.
What the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects
- More of these jobs, as ships and ports in the U.S. continue to come under pressure to meet international standards on the reduction in air pollution from ships, driving demand for marine engineers and naval architects to design and operate ships and port facilities that meet stricter emissions requirements.
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- Agricultural engineersGrows with AI, Index 66, +6.9%
- MicrobiologistsGrows with AI, Index 55, +6.2%
- Electrical engineersGrows with AI, Index 59, +9.9%
- Materials engineersGrows with AI, Index 61, +7.5%
Also known as: Marine Engineer, Marine Surveyor, Naval Architect, Naval Architect Specialist, Marine Architect, Marine Design Engineer, Marine Engineering Consultant, Marine Structural Designer.
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Sources: US Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections 2025 to 2035; O*NET 31.0; Microsoft Research (2025); Anthropic Economic Index (2026); Eloundou and colleagues (Science, 2024); Felten, Raj and Seamans (2023). How we score. Updated 12 October 2026.