# Bioengineers and Biomedical Engineers

US SOC code 17-2031. Markdown version of https://futurehistory.earth/timeline/17-2031

Also called: Biomedical engineer, Bioengineer, Medical device engineer, R&D engineer medical devices, Clinical engineer.

## In brief

In May 2025, [BLS](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip) counted **23,480** US bioengineers and biomedical engineers, with median pay of **$109,370** a year. Of the BLS counts since 2021, the May 2025 count is the highest. The earliest figure here is [an estimate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clinical_engineering) of **2,000** from 1970, not measured the same way as today's count. The last full technology era for bioengineers and biomedical engineers: Multi-material additive manufacturing, 2015 to 2023.

## What the sources say

### Official outlook

BLS projects employment to grow 7.6% from 2025 to 2035. Source: [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=17-2031&ioType=o).

### AI exposure studies

- **53.8%** of this job's tasks are exposed to large language models. Not a forecast of job losses. [Eloundou and others, 2023](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv)

Data as of BLS OEWS May 2025; BLS Employment Projections 2025-35. BLS publishes these counts as yearly survey snapshots and cautions against reading them as a precise trend.

## Bioengineers and Biomedical Engineers employment and pay by year

- On record since: 1948
- Latest US employment: 23,480 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [4]
- Latest US median pay: $109,370 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [6]
- Outlook: +7.6% by 2035. Source: BLS Employment Projections 2025-35 [20]

### All 26 years of cited US data

| Year | US employment | Annual pay (median unless marked) | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1970 | 2,000 (estimate) | n/a | Est., Clinical engineering - Wikipedia [1] |
| 1980 | 4,000 (estimate) | n/a | Est., Whitaker Foundation and biomedical… [2] |
| 2000 | 6,600 | $57,480 | BLS OEWS 2000 [3] |
| 2003 | 6,980 | $63,660 | BLS OEWS May 2003 [4] |
| 2004 | 8,650 | $67,690 | BLS OEWS May 2004 [4] |
| 2005 | 11,660 | $71,840 | BLS OEWS May 2005 [4] |
| 2006 | 14,030 | $73,930 | BLS OEWS May 2006 [4] |
| 2007 | 15,400 | $75,440 | BLS OEWS May 2007 [4] |
| 2008 | 15,220 | $77,400 | BLS OEWS May 2008 [4] |
| 2009 | 14,760 | $78,860 | BLS OEWS May 2009 [4] |
| 2010 | 15,280 | $81,540 | BLS OEWS May 2010 (employment) [4]; BLS OEWS 2010 (pay) [7] |
| 2011 | 16,590 | $84,670 | BLS OEWS May 2011 [4] |
| 2012 | 18,810 | $86,960 | BLS OEWS May 2012 [4] |
| 2013 | 19,890 | $88,670 | BLS OEWS May 2013 [4] |
| 2014 | 20,080 | $86,950 | BLS OEWS May 2014 [4] |
| 2015 | 20,890 | $86,220 | BLS OEWS May 2015 [4] |
| 2016 | 20,590 | $85,620 | BLS OEWS May 2016 [4] |
| 2017 | 20,100 | $88,040 | BLS OEWS May 2017 [4] |
| 2018 | 18,970 | $88,550 | BLS OEWS May 2018 [4] |
| 2019 | 19,780 | $91,410 | BLS OEWS May 2019 [4] |
| 2020 | 18,660 | $92,620 | BLS OEWS May 2020 [4] |
| 2021 | 17,190 | $97,410 | BLS OEWS May 2021 [4] |
| 2022 | 19,210 | $99,550 | BLS OEWS May 2022 [4] |
| 2023 | 19,320 | $100,730 | BLS OEWS May 2023 [4] |
| 2024 | 21,860 | $106,950 | BLS OEWS May 2024 (employment) [4]; BLS OEWS May 2024 (pay) [7] |
| 2025 | 23,480 | $109,370 | BLS OEWS May 2025 [4] |

## Sources (87)

### Employment series

1. [Clinical engineering - Wikipedia: early workforce estimates 5,000-8,000 needed; 300-400 employed in hospitals in early 1970s](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clinical_engineering), Wikipedia / clinical engineering history
2. [Whitaker Foundation and biomedical engineering 30-year partnership (PubMed: PMID 16676132): 7 accredited programs by late 1970s; 75+ departments by 2006](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16676132/), Annals of Biomedical Engineering / Whitaker Foundation
3. [BLS OES 2000 national estimates (flat file)](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oes00nat.zip), Bureau of Labor Statistics
4. BLS OEWS, national cross-industry estimates (flat file), Bureau of Labor Statistics. Editions: [2003](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm03nat.zip), [2004](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm04nat.zip), [2005](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm05nat.zip), [2006](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm06nat.zip), [2007](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm07nat.zip), [2008](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm08nat.zip), [2009](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm09nat.zip), [2010](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm10nat.zip), [2011](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm11nat.zip), [2012](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm12nat.zip), [2013](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm13nat.zip), [2014](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm14nat.zip), [2015](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm15nat.zip), [2016](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm16nat.zip), [2017](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm17nat.zip), [2018](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm18nat.zip), [2019](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm19nat.zip), [2020](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm20nat.zip), [2021](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21nat.zip), [2022](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm22nat.zip), [2023](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm23nat.zip), [2024](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24nat.zip), [2025](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip)

### Wage series

5. [BLS OES 2000 national estimates (flat file)](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oes00nat.zip), Bureau of Labor Statistics
6. BLS OEWS, national cross-industry estimates (flat file), Bureau of Labor Statistics. Editions: [2003](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm03nat.zip), [2004](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm04nat.zip), [2005](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm05nat.zip), [2006](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm06nat.zip), [2007](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm07nat.zip), [2008](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm08nat.zip), [2009](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm09nat.zip), [2011](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm11nat.zip), [2012](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm12nat.zip), [2013](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm13nat.zip), [2014](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm14nat.zip), [2015](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm15nat.zip), [2016](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm16nat.zip), [2017](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm17nat.zip), [2018](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm18nat.zip), [2019](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm19nat.zip), [2020](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm20nat.zip), [2021](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21nat.zip), [2022](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm22nat.zip), [2023](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm23nat.zip), [2025](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip)
7. [BLS OOH -- biomedical engineers: median annual wage $81,540 in 2010](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/architecture-and-engineering/biomedical-engineers.htm), Bureau of Labor Statistics

### Tool eras

8. [Engineering and Technology History Wiki -- Milestones: First External Cardiac Pacemaker 1950; pacemaker development timeline](https://ethw.org/Pacemakers), Engineering and Technology History Wiki (ETHW)
9. [AIMBE History -- 1952: first artificial heart valve; 1953: first heart-lung-machine-assisted surgery; 1958: external cardiac pacemaker clinical success](https://navigate.aimbe.org/why-bioengineering/history/), American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering
10. [Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) -- History: incorporated February 1, 1968; 171 founding members; 89 charter members](https://www.bmes.org/about/history), Biomedical Engineering Society
11. [Whitaker Foundation and biomedical engineering 30-year partnership (Annals of Biomedical Engineering, 2006): $700M+ investment, 75+ departments, 1,500 faculty trained](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16676132/), Annals of Biomedical Engineering
12. [Britannica -- Biomedical engineering: late 20th century CT, MRI, ultrasound and biomaterials expanded the field significantly](https://www.britannica.com/technology/biomedical-engineering), Encyclopaedia Britannica
13. [FDA CDRH -- 510(k) Premarket Notification guidance and PMA pathway: Medical Device Amendments 1976 origins of current pathway](https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/premarket-submissions-selecting-and-preparing-correct-submission/premarket-notification-510k), FDA Center for Devices and Radiological Health
14. [BLS OOH -- Bioengineers and Biomedical Engineers: employment 7,200 (2000) to 15,700 (2010), projected 62% growth 2010-2020](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/architecture-and-engineering/biomedical-engineers.htm), Bureau of Labor Statistics
15. [nTop -- implicit modeling for orthopedic implant lattice structures and complex biomedical geometries; nTop 3.0 GPU-accelerated (2024)](https://www.ntop.com/), nTop
16. [Greenlight Guru -- AI-powered QMS for medical device design controls and 510(k)/PMA submissions (2025)](https://www.greenlight.guru/), Greenlight Guru
17. [Synopsys -- Ansys 2026 R1: restructured SimAI portfolio; 10-100x physics prediction speedup (March 2026)](https://news.synopsys.com/2026-03-11-Synopsys-Launches-Ansys-2026-R1-to-Re-Engineer-Engineering-with-Joint-Solutions-and-AI-Powered-Products), Synopsys / Ansys
18. [FDA CDRH: Artificial Intelligence-Enabled Medical Devices (hub for the AI/ML SaMD Action Plan, PCCP guidance and GMLP principles)](https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/digital-health-center-excellence/artificial-intelligence-enabled-medical-devices), FDA Center for Devices and Radiological Health
19. [NVIDIA Clara -- medical imaging AI platform; segmentation, measurement, and clinical AI model development; 50+ health system deployments (NVIDIA GTC 2025)](https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/industries/healthcare-life-sciences/), NVIDIA

### Forecasts and exposure studies

20. [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35, National Employment Matrix: 17-2031 Bioengineers and biomedical engineers (2025: 23.8 thousand; 2035: 25.7 thousand; +7.6%)](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=17-2031&ioType=o), Bureau of Labor Statistics
21. [Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin & Rock (2023), "GPTs are GPTs", occupation-level exposure data occ\_level.csv (O\*NET-SOC 17-2031.00, human-rated β 0.538)](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv), OpenAI

### Historical notes

22. [Engineering and Technology History Wiki -- Milestones: First External Cardiac Pacemaker, 1950 and pacemaker history page](https://ethw.org/Milestones:First_External_Cardiac_Pacemaker,_1950), Engineering and Technology History Wiki (ETHW)
23. [AIMBE Navigate History -- 1953: John Gibbon performs first successful human heart surgery assisted by heart-lung machine](https://navigate.aimbe.org/why-bioengineering/history/), American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering
24. [BMES History -- incorporated February 1, 1968; 171 founding members; first meeting April 17, 1968, Ritz-Carlton, Atlantic City](https://www.bmes.org/about/history), Biomedical Engineering Society
25. [FDA CDRH -- 510(k) Premarket Notification: Medical Device Amendments 1976 origin of regulatory pathway](https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/premarket-submissions-selecting-and-preparing-correct-submission/premarket-notification-510k), FDA Center for Devices and Radiological Health
26. [Philanthropy Roundtable -- "Biomedical Engineering Willed Into Existence": Whitaker Foundation 30-year history and $700M+ investment](https://www.philanthropyroundtable.org/almanac/biomedical-engineering-willed-into-existence/), Philanthropy Roundtable
27. [BLS OOH -- Bioengineers and Biomedical Engineers: 2018 SOC revision expanded title; 22,200 employed 2024](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/architecture-and-engineering/biomedical-engineers.htm), Bureau of Labor Statistics

### Predecessors & successors

28. [Clinical engineering Wikipedia -- term coined 1969; engineers first entered clinical scene 1960s for electrical safety concerns](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clinical_engineering), Wikipedia
29. [Britannica -- Biomedical engineering: mechanical engineers designing prostheses, implants, and rehabilitation equipment in 1960s](https://www.britannica.com/technology/biomedical-engineering), Encyclopaedia Britannica
30. [BMES History -- founding membership included both engineers and biomedical scientists; equal-status society charter 1968](https://www.bmes.org/about/history), Biomedical Engineering Society
31. [FDA CDRH -- 510(k) and PMA pathway guidance: expanding regulatory documentation requirements create specialized engineering career path](https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/premarket-submissions-selecting-and-preparing-correct-submission/premarket-notification-510k), FDA Center for Devices and Radiological Health

### Present-day analysis

- [O\*NET 30.3 — Bioengineers and Biomedical Engineers (17-2031.00): tasks, technology skills, employment](https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/17-2031.00), accessed 2026-05-23
- [BLS OOH — Bioengineers and Biomedical Engineers: +6% growth 2024–2034; ~24,800 employed; median annual wage $99,550 (May 2024)](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/architecture-and-engineering/biomedical-engineers.htm), accessed 2026-05-23
- [Eloundou et al. 2024 — GPTs are GPTs (Science): occupational LLM exposure framework](https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130), accessed 2026-05-23
- [FDA CDRH: Artificial Intelligence-Enabled Medical Devices (hub for the AI/ML SaMD Action Plan, PCCP guidance and GMLP principles)](https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/digital-health-center-excellence/artificial-intelligence-enabled-medical-devices), accessed 2026-10-07
- [Nature Biomedical Engineering — AI in Medical Device Design and Regulation special issue (2025): imaging AI, drug-device combinations, in vitro diagnostics](https://www.nature.com/natbiomedeng/?error=cookies_not_supported&code=9372b1cc-20c3-41e5-bd9f-a52322eab438), accessed 2026-05-23
- [Greenlight Guru — AI-powered QMS for medical device design controls and 510(k)/PMA submissions (2025 product release)](https://www.greenlight.guru/), accessed 2026-05-23
- [NVIDIA Clara — medical imaging AI platform and Parabricks genomics pipeline acceleration; deployments at 50+ health systems (NVIDIA GTC 2025)](https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/industries/healthcare-life-sciences/), accessed 2026-05-23
- [nTop — implicit modeling for orthopedic implant lattice structures and complex biomedical geometries (nTop 3.0, 2024)](https://www.ntop.com/), accessed 2026-05-23
- [Tempus AI — genomics + clinical trial cohort identification and oncology diagnostics platform (Tempus, 2025)](https://www.tempus.com/), accessed 2026-05-23
- [Synopsys — Ansys 2026 R1: GeomAI and restructured SimAI portfolio (March 2026)](https://news.synopsys.com/2026-03-11-Synopsys-Launches-Ansys-2026-R1-to-Re-Engineer-Engineering-with-Joint-Solutions-and-AI-Powered-Products), accessed 2026-05-23
- [MD+DI — AI tools reshaping medical device design verification and regulatory submissions (2025–2026 industry overview)](https://www.mddionline.com/digital-health/artificial-intelligence), accessed 2026-06-21
- [IEEE EMBS — AI applications in biomedical engineering: simulation, imaging, genomics, and wearable devices (2025 EMBC proceedings)](https://embc.embs.org/2025/), accessed 2026-05-23
- [European Commission MEDDEV 2.7/1 Revision 4 — Clinical Evaluation guidelines for medical devices: systematic literature review and CER methodology requirements](https://ec.europa.eu/docsroom/documents/17522/attachments/1/translations/en/renditions/native), accessed 2026-05-23
- [Elicit — AI research assistant for systematic literature review; abstract screening and data extraction; 2M+ biomedical papers indexed (Elicit 2025)](https://elicit.com/), accessed 2026-05-23

How to read these figures: https://futurehistory.earth/methodology. Every figure links to its own source; gaps stay gaps.