United States · Licensing examWhat are the PE exam pass rates on year-round exams?
| PE exam | First-time pass | Repeat pass | First-time takers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Environmental | 73% | 54% | 415 |
| Civil: Water Resources and Environmental | 71% | 49% | 2,620 |
| Mechanical: HVAC and Refrigeration | 71% | 40% | 799 |
| Mechanical: Thermal and Fluid Systems | 70% | 46% | 578 |
| Civil: Geotechnical | 63% | 44% | 434 |
| Civil: Structural | 62% | 43% | 1,624 |
| Electrical and Computer: Power | 62% | 42% | 1,344 |
| Civil: Transportation | 61% | 43% | 1,929 |
| Mechanical: Machine Design and Materials | 61% | 39% | 401 |
| Civil: Construction | 60% | 38% | 1,000 |
| Chemical | 55% | 32% | 225 |
All updated July 2026 on each exam’s NCEES page.
Once-a-year PE exams
| PE exam | First-time pass | Repeat pass | First-time takers | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agricultural and Biological | 91% | 100% (1 taker) | 33 | Jan 2026 |
| Fire Protection | 85% | 44% | 262 | Jul 2025 |
| Industrial and Systems | 69% | 29% | 80 | Jan 2026 |
| Naval Architecture and Marine | 63% | 38% | 46 | Jan 2026 |
| Electronics, Controls and Communications | 63% | 52% | 175 | Jul 2026 |
| Control Systems | 61% | 45% | 250 | Jul 2026 |
| Architectural | 60% | 31% | 89 | Jan 2026 |
| Mining and Mineral Processing | 57% | 50% | 47 | Jan 2026 |
| Computer Engineering | 56% | 0% (5 takers) | 27 | Jan 2026 |
| Petroleum | 53% | 55% | 62 | Jan 2026 |
| Metallurgical and Materials | 49% | 50% | 43 | Jan 2026 |
| Nuclear | 48% | 60% | 21 | Jan 2026 |
Groups under 100 takers swing a lot between updates. Fire Protection’s figures are from July 2025, NCEES’s latest for that exam.
PE Structural sections
| Section | First-time pass | Repeat pass | First-time takers | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lateral depth, buildings | 63% | 73% | 131 | Jul 2026 |
| Lateral depth, bridges | 63% | 57% | 32 | Jul 2026 |
| Vertical depth, buildings | 54% | 68% | 188 | Jul 2026 |
| Lateral breadth | 45% | 26% | 167 | Jul 2026 |
| Vertical breadth | 44% | 45% | 209 | Jul 2026 |
| Vertical depth, bridges | 37% | 56% | 46 | Jul 2026 |
The breadth sections run year-round; the depth sections run twice a year.
How hard is the PE exam?
NCEES doesn’t rate difficulty. Pass rates are the only measure it publishes, and it says no share of examinees is set in advance to pass. Going by those rates, 27% to 45% of first-time takers failed each year-round exam (our sum: 100 minus NCEES’s pass rate). Repeat takers passed less often on every year-round exam; on most PE Structural sections it was the other way round.
Florida’s board adds one pointer from NCEES statistics: first-time takers with at least four years of engineering experience are more likely to pass.
FE pass rates
NCEES gives FE pass rates for first-time takers from EAC/ABET-accredited programs who test within 12 months of graduating. In its July 2026 update:
| FE exam | Pass rate |
|---|---|
| Mechanical | 73% |
| Environmental | 71% |
| Electrical and Computer | 70% |
| Chemical | 68% |
| Industrial and Systems | 67% |
| Civil | 66% |
| Other Disciplines | 61% |
NCEES’s pages give pass rates by exam, not by state.
Sources: NCEES · Florida FBPE and 10 more. Checked October 2026.
- NCEES: PE Civil exam ↗
- NCEES: PE Mechanical exam ↗
- NCEES: PE Electrical and Computer exams ↗
- NCEES: PE Structural exam ↗
- NCEES: PE Chemical exam ↗
- NCEES: PE Environmental exam ↗
- NCEES: PE Control Systems exam ↗
- NCEES: PE Industrial and Systems exam ↗
- NCEES: PE Architectural Engineering exam ↗
- NCEES: FE exam ↗
- NCEES: Exam scoring ↗
- Florida FBPE: Engineering exams ↗
Rules and fees can change, so check the official site before your test.
Explore
Everything else, in one place
PE exams by discipline