--- title: "Energy Engineer, Except Wind and Solar" description: "Design, develop, or evaluate energy-related projects or programs to reduce energy costs or improve energy efficiency during the designing, building, or…" canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/energy-engineer" last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z" --- # Energy Engineer, Except Wind and Solar **Category:** Architecture and Engineering · **SOC code:** 17-2199 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 17-2199.03 Design, develop, or evaluate energy-related projects or programs to reduce energy costs or improve energy efficiency during the designing, building, or remodeling stages of construction. May specialize in electrical systems; heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems; green buildings; lighting; air quality; or energy procurement. Also advertised as: Energy Efficiency Engineer; Energy Engineer; Industrial Energy Engineer; Test and Balance Engineer (TAB Engineer). ## At a glance - **Median annual wage:** $122,930 (BLS OEWS, May 2025) - **Median hourly wage:** $59.10/hr - **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $66,810 to $189,950, with the middle half between $90,970 and $158,090 - **Total US employment:** 154,070 - **Typical entry education:** Bachelor's - **Preparation required:** Medium preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed" - **Projected growth:** +3.7% over 2025–2035 (BLS EP, 2025–2035) - **Annual job openings:** 8,800 openings a year - **AI-resilience score:** 28/100 — 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 154,070 US jobs. | Percentile | Annual wage | | --- | --- | | 10th | $66,810 | | 25th | $90,970 | | 50th (median) | $122,930 | | 75th | $158,090 | | 90th | $189,950 | | Mean (average) | $125,330 | ### 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 | $162,070 | $175,758 | 2,190 | | AL | $152,550 | $171,746 | 3,460 | | DC | $151,920 | $138,234 | 3,560 | | VA | $148,160 | $146,542 | 5,060 | | AK | $142,390 | $139,108 | 200 | | WA | $134,570 | $125,751 | 3,580 | | CO | $132,590 | $128,663 | 2,540 | | NJ | $132,450 | $121,732 | 4,540 | | MA | $131,260 | $124,115 | 2,850 | | ID | $130,970 | $137,150 | 560 | | CA | $130,850 | $118,181 | 28,610 | | MD | $129,770 | $123,639 | 7,340 | | NH | $128,130 | $123,007 | 610 | | VT | $126,550 | $129,188 | 390 | | CT | $124,110 | $119,786 | 2,430 | 38 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 53 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/energy-engineer/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/energy-engineer. ## Outlook BLS projects employment to move from 166,700 in the 2025–2035 base year to 173,000 by the end of the cycle — a gain of 6,200 jobs, or +3.7%. About as fast as average: 3.7% against 3.5% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 8,800 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2025–2035. ## 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. ## What the work involves - Monitor energy related design or construction issues, such as energy engineering, energy management, or sustainable design. - Advise clients or colleagues on topics such as climate control systems, energy modeling, data logging, sustainable design, or energy auditing. - Review architectural, mechanical, or electrical plans or specifications to evaluate energy efficiency. - Inspect or monitor energy systems, including heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) or daylighting systems to determine energy use or potential energy savings. - Identify and recommend energy savings strategies to achieve more energy-efficient operation. - Collect data for energy conservation analyses, using jobsite observation, field inspections, or sub-metering. - Conduct energy audits to evaluate energy use and to identify conservation and cost reduction measures. - Perform energy modeling, measurement, verification, commissioning, or retro-commissioning. ## Skills and knowledge ### Essential skills - Reading Comprehension — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Active Listening — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Writing — 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 Learning — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Speaking — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Mathematics — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Science — importance 3.9 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 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Systems Analysis — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Judgment and Decision Making — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Systems Evaluation — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Social Perceptiveness — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Operations Analysis — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Coordination — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Persuasion — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale ### Knowledge areas - Engineering and Technology — importance 4.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Mathematics — importance 4.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Mechanical — importance 4.2 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Building and Construction — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Design — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - English Language — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale ### Abilities - Problem Sensitivity — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Oral Comprehension — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Written 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 - Written Expression — 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 | 5.20 | | I — Investigative | 4.69 | | C — Conventional | 4.40 | | E — Enterprising | 3.09 | | S — Social | 2.24 | | A — Artistic | 2.03 | ### 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 | 92.6 | | ISTP | 82.6 | | INTJ | 78.7 | | ESTJ | 73.1 | | ISFJ | 65.9 | Best-fitting types: ISTJ. ## Related occupations O\*NET's primary related occupations, in its own ranked order. - [Energy Auditor](https://nuecareer.com/careers/energy-auditor) — median $74,690 - [Solar Energy Systems Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/solar-energy-systems-engineer) — median $122,930 - [Wind Energy Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/wind-energy-engineer) — median $122,930 - [Wind Energy Development Manager](https://nuecareer.com/careers/wind-energy-development-manager) — median $141,900 - [Biomass Power Plant Manager](https://nuecareer.com/careers/biomass-power-plant-manager) — median $126,060 - [Mechanical Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/mechanical-engineer) — median $104,110 - [Electrical Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/electrical-engineer) — median $120,630 - [Biofuels/Biodiesel Technology and Product Development Manager](https://nuecareer.com/careers/biofuels-biodiesel-technology-and-product-development-manager) — median $171,270 - [Solar Energy Installation Manager](https://nuecareer.com/careers/solar-energy-installation-manager) — median $79,920 - [Environmental Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/environmental-engineer) — median $107,110 ## Sources - **O\*NET** — O\*NET 31.0 Database, August 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, 2025–2035. https://www.bls.gov/emp/ - **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 31.0 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/energy-engineer