<prompt> Human: Background: I am a civil engineer specializing in roadway design at a medium size firm. I have been making 45k since graduating in 2014, but recently had my pay increased to 47k based on new salaried employee wage laws. I have a wife who is still in college and brings in no income. After working with the firm for 2 years I planned on asking for a raise based on performance. Many of my colleagues believe Im being underpaid and that mid to low 50s is where I should be at company does not provide raises every year. Im worried that any new engineer hire out of college can demand a higher salary in the 50k range due to a set floor of 47k. I love my job, but my firms reluctance to pay its engineers is driving many away. Question: Does it exhibit entitlement if I ask for an additional raise after receiving the bump in pay not based on my performance? Does my argument for a pay increase sound fair? Any advice would help.Edit: Thanks to everyone for the advice. Me and another recent grad essentially run our department lot of managers who get work, but no one to actually do the work and we both are considering getting out. My current plan is to apply for a job an hour away and commute if I accept. My buddy who graduated at the same time and works for ALDOT makes 55k, which I always assumed the private sector would pay better than a government job. That revelation is what set this in motion. For context, I also am disconnected from family to help with money so providing a good life for my wife has been really hard recently.Assistant: Consulting firm manager here, although we dont do roadway work. Examine state and federal labor data for your field. Your salary seems low.I dont hire Civies but I hire greenhorn Mechies at 60k with four year degrees. At some point - or maybe even online in evenings - you could go back and get a Mechanical Engineering degree that tends to pay a little better with a bit more versatility. Probably could get the dual degree with one more, albeit hard, year of school. Or a Masters in 2 years. As for entitlement, I will admit that there is a tendency in my generation to use that word with respect to yours. As such, I think perhaps the best advice I can give is to benchmark salaries best you can by talking with your coworkers, and also to use Glassdoor etc. to find out what similar companies are paying. Yes, attitude matters so be careful when you approach HR. Being respectful and humble matters. Within the power I have, I will pull out all the stops to do right for my hardest working and most reliable engineers. The squeaky wheels? I have selective hearing loss sometimes. Human: I do know that mechanical engineers typically make more than civil out of college, but growth in infrastructure projects has led to civil engineers being in high demand lately. I do live in Alabama where wages are typically lower than national averages, but the low 50k range is typically where someone with 2 years should be at prior to earning a PE.  <response>: Mech. Engineer here. I would just recommend simultaneously looking for a job and asking for a raise. Its a lot easier to ask for a raise when you have some leverage, and its always nice to have options, so I would encourage you to apply to any relevant positions.Also, all these people talking high salary numbers may live in places with high CoL, something to keep in mind. 