--- title: "Electrical Engineer" description: "Research, design, develop, test, or supervise the manufacturing and installation of electrical equipment, components, or systems for commercial…" canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/electrical-engineer" last-updated: "2026-08-23T15:56:39.581Z" --- # Electrical Engineer **Category:** Architecture and Engineering · **SOC code:** 17-2071 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 17-2071.00 Research, design, develop, test, or supervise the manufacturing and installation of electrical equipment, components, or systems for commercial, industrial, military, or scientific use. Also advertised as: Circuits Engineer; Design Engineer; Electrical Controls Engineer; Electrical Design Engineer; Electrical Engineer; Electrical Project Engineer; Engineer; Instrumentation and Electrical Reliability Engineer (I&E Reliability Engineer). ## At a glance - **Median annual wage:** $120,630 (BLS OEWS, May 2025) - **Median hourly wage:** $58.00/hr - **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $76,550 to $184,300, with the middle half between $92,830 and $152,950 - **Total US employment:** 198,750 - **Typical entry education:** Bachelor's - **Preparation required:** Medium preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed" - **Projected growth:** +7.2% over 2024–2034 (BLS EP, 2024–2034) - **Annual job openings:** 11,700 openings a year - **AI-resilience score:** 24/100 — a NueCareer heuristic over O\*NET work activities and context, not a BLS or O\*NET figure ## Pay National wage distribution, BLS OEWS, May 2025, across 198,750 US jobs. | Percentile | Annual wage | | --- | --- | | 10th | $76,550 | | 25th | $92,830 | | 50th (median) | $120,630 | | 75th | $152,950 | | 90th | $184,300 | | Mean (average) | $125,100 | ### Pay by state The 15 highest-paying states, by median annual wage. The cost-of-living-adjusted column divides the state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, so the columns answer different questions: the first is what the job pays there, the second is what that pay buys there. | State | Median annual wage | Cost-of-living adjusted | Employment | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | NM | $158,520 | $171,908 | 2,560 | | CA | $144,040 | $130,094 | 24,230 | | DC | $143,000 | $130,117 | 330 | | NH | $135,710 | $130,284 | 1,600 | | WA | $132,710 | $124,013 | 7,610 | | TX | $129,450 | $133,375 | 20,870 | | ID | $129,340 | $135,443 | 1,000 | | MA | $127,720 | $120,767 | 5,040 | | DE | $126,970 | $127,214 | 660 | | AK | $125,970 | $123,067 | 350 | | AL | $125,630 | $141,439 | 4,600 | | NJ | $125,370 | $115,224 | 2,940 | | OR | $125,160 | $121,090 | 2,540 | | MD | $125,150 | $119,237 | 4,650 | | LA | $123,710 | $140,250 | 990 | 36 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 51 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/electrical-engineer/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/electrical-engineer. ## Outlook BLS projects employment to move from 192,000 in the 2024–2034 base year to 205,700 by the end of the cycle — a gain of 13,800 jobs, or +7.2%. Much faster than average: 7.2% against 3.1% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 11,700 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2024–2034. ## How to get in - **Typical entry education:** Bachelor's degree (BLS Employment Projections). - **Preparation level:** Medium preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed". - **Related work experience typically required:** None. - **Typical on-the-job training:** None. ### Education people in this job actually hold O\*NET surveys incumbents, so this distribution describes who is in the job today and can differ from the BLS entry requirement above. | Education level | Share of workers | | --- | --- | | Bachelor's Degree | 81.6% | | Associate's Degree (or other 2-year degree) | 11.0% | | Master's Degree | 7.3% | ## What the work involves - Investigate customer or public complaints to determine the nature and extent of problems. - Supervise or train project team members, as necessary. - Confer with engineers, customers, or others to discuss existing or potential engineering projects or products. - Oversee project production efforts to assure projects are completed on time and within budget. - Operate computer-assisted engineering or design software or equipment to perform engineering tasks. - Design, implement, maintain, or improve electrical instruments, equipment, facilities, components, products, or systems for commercial, industrial, or domestic purposes. - Estimate labor, material, or construction costs for budget preparation purposes. - Prepare technical drawings, specifications of electrical systems, or topographical maps to ensure that installation and operations conform to standards and customer requirements. ## Skills and knowledge ### Essential skills - Writing — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Reading Comprehension — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Critical Thinking — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Active Listening — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Speaking — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Active Learning — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Monitoring — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Mathematics — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale ### Transferable skills These are the skills that carry into other occupations, and they drive the related-occupation and career-change rankings on this site. - Complex Problem Solving — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Coordination — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Judgment and Decision Making — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Systems Analysis — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Systems Evaluation — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Operations Analysis — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Social Perceptiveness — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Instructing — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale ### Knowledge areas - Engineering and Technology — importance 4.7 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Computers and Electronics — importance 4.7 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Design — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - English Language — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Mathematics — importance 3.7 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Physics — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale ### Abilities - Written Comprehension — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Written Expression — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Oral Comprehension — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Oral Expression — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Problem Sensitivity — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Deductive Reasoning — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale ## Who it suits O\*NET rates every occupation on the six Holland (RIASEC) interest areas, on a 1–7 scale. This occupation's strongest areas are Realistic (R), Investigative (I), Conventional (C). | Interest area | Score (1–7) | | --- | --- | | R — Realistic | 6.02 | | I — Investigative | 5.45 | | C — Conventional | 4.43 | | E — Enterprising | 2.44 | | A — Artistic | 2.12 | | S — Social | 1.72 | ### Personality fit These scores are **derived by NueCareer**, not published by any government agency: they are cosine similarities between a personality type's trait profile and this occupation's O\*NET interest and work-style ratings, expressed 0–100. Treat them as a starting point for exploration, not as evidence that a type belongs in a job. | Type | Fit score (0–100) | | --- | --- | | ISTJ | 89.8 | | ISTP | 86.1 | | INTJ | 82.4 | | INTP | 66.0 | | ESTJ | 65.5 | Best-fitting types: ISTJ, ISTP. ## Related occupations O\*NET's primary related occupations, in its own ranked order. - [Electronics Engineer, Except Computer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/electronics-engineer) — median $130,220 - [Electrical and Electronic Engineering Technologist and Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/electrical-and-electronic-engineering-technologist-and-technician) — median $78,190 - [Mechanical Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/mechanical-engineer) — median $104,110 - [Electrical and Electronics Repairer, Commercial and Industrial Equipment](https://nuecareer.com/careers/electrical-and-electronics-repairer-commercial-and-industrial-equipment) — median $74,090 - [Mechanical Engineering Technologist and Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/mechanical-engineering-technologist-and-technician) — median $74,510 - [Electrical and Electronics Repairer, Powerhouse, Substation, and Relay](https://nuecareer.com/careers/electrical-and-electronics-repairer-powerhouse-substation-and-relay) — median $103,020 - [Mechatronics Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/mechatronics-engineer) — median $122,930 - [Industrial Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/industrial-engineer) — median $102,440 - [Solar Energy Systems Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/solar-energy-systems-engineer) — median $122,930 - [Microsystems Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/microsystems-engineer) — median $122,930 ## Sources - **O\*NET** — O\*NET 30.3 Database, May 2026. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html - **BLS OEWS** — BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. https://www.bls.gov/oes/ - **BLS EP** — BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, 2024–2034. https://www.bls.gov/emp/ - **BLS OOH** — BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2024–2034 edition. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/ - **BEA RPP** — BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024. https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area --- This bank includes information from the O\*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105). O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology JSON representation of this page: https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/electrical-engineer