Erie, PA (population: 103,895) has two mechanical engineering schools within its city limits. Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Erie-Behrend College, the highest ranked school in the city with a mechanical engineering program, has a total student population of 4,400. It is the 1418th highest ranked school in the USA and the 120th highest in the state of Pennsylvania (#1 is University of Pennsylvania). To learn more about mechanical engineering programs in Erie, ratemyprofessors.com has reviews of mechanical engineering professors at Pennsylvania State University such as John Beaumont, Tom Briseldon, Youngjoon Byun, Chris Coulston, Ludek Crha, and Bob Edwards.
Mechanical Engineering students from Erie schools who go on to become mechanical engineers, mechanical design engineers, mechanical drafters, mechanical designers, etc. have a good chance at finding employment. For example, there are 232,660 people working as mechanical engineers alone in the US, and their average annual salary is $80,580. Also, Mechanical engineering technicians make on average $50,700 per year and there are about 43,580 of them employed in the US today. In fact, in the Erie area alone, there are 40 employed mechanical engineering technicians earning an average salary of $42,370. Mechanical engineers in this area earn $79,410/yr and there are 340 employed.
Erie lies in Erie county, which is one of the 32 counties in Pennsylvania. Overall, the Erie area has 126,150 total employed workers according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, with a 3.9% unemployment rate, $17.41/hr average worker wage, and a $36,220 average annual salary. Thus, about 2.734 out of every 1000 jobs in Erie are held by mechanical engineers, and 0.316/1000 are held by mechanical engineering technicians.
Of the 2 mechanical engineering schools in Erie, none have a student population over 10k. After taking into account tuition, living expenses, and financial aid, Gannon University comes out as the most expensive ($21,655/yr) for mechanical engineering students, with Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Erie-Behrend College as the lowest, reported at only $18,857/yr.
| Name | State | Population | # of Schools | Avg School Rank | Total Programs | Distance from Erie |
| Meadville | PA | - | 3 | 46.4275 | 58 | 33.9 miles |
| Angola | NY | - | 2 | 28.2192 | 69 | 64.7 miles |
| Mentor | OH | 52,000 | 2 | 33.5238 | 9 | 70.7 miles |
| New Wilmington | PA | - | 1 | 66.0236 | 69 | 70.8 miles |
| Hamburg | NY | - | 1 | 21.4078 | 25 | 76.1 miles |
| Youngstown | OH | 71,023 | 5 | 24.5415 | 214 | 76.9 miles |
| Buffalo | NY | 267,037 | 11 | 27.9716 | 603 | 81.8 miles |
| Highland Heights | OH | - | 2 | 31.299 | 116 | 82.0 miles |
| Niagara Falls | NY | 50,692 | 1 | 24.6139 | 10 | 85.9 miles |
| Cleveland Heights | OH | 44,848 | 1 | 34.6777 | 3 | 87.1 miles |
| Warrensville Heights | OH | - | 1 | 16.9884 | 13 | 88.0 miles |
| Cleveland | OH | 424,526 | 26 | 24.3561 | 858 | 93.5 miles |
| Parma | OH | 76,338 | 1 | 26.2004 | 15 | 99.3 miles |
| Cuyahoga Falls | OH | 51,250 | 1 | 27.2194 | 16 | 99.4 miles |