Also called: Ship Designer, Marine Designer
Designs ships and boats so they float, stay stable, and move efficiently.
A naval architect calculates stability, hull strength, and resistance, then turns designs into drawings and 3D models. One week might be ferry design, the next a tugboat repair, the next an offshore wind vessel.
BLS median for marine engineers and naval architects: about $106k (May 2024).
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 4 years after high school. Bachelor's in naval architecture or marine engineering (Webb Institute, Michigan, Virginia Tech, maritime academies like Kings Point and Maine Maritime).
Ways in: 4-year college, Graduate school. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Naval Architecture, Marine Engineering, Ocean Engineering.
Growing faster than average (about 6% over 10 years). BLS projects 6% growth (2024-34), faster than average.
Low risk in 5 years, medium in 10. Software already does hydrostatics; AI will draft more routine design, so juniors do less grunt math, but judgment holds.
Classes: AP Physics, AP Calculus, CAD class.
Official data: O*NET occupation 17-2121.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.