Electrical Engineers Career, Salary and Skills
Electrical Engineers have a BLS-reported national median annual wage of $120,630 based on the 2025 OEWS dataset, with reported national employment of 198,750. Wage data is published for 368 locations.
Occupation description
Research, design, develop, test, or supervise the manufacturing and installation of electrical equipment, components, or systems for commercial, industrial, military, or scientific use.
O*NET code
17-2071.00
Job zone
4
Typical education
Bachelor's Degree
Experience
Over 4 years, up to and including 6 years
National salary and employment
Median annual
$120,630
Hourly median
$58.00
Employment
198,750
Data year
2025
National salary distribution
Top skills
| Skill | Importance | Level |
|---|---|---|
| Writing | 4.12 | 4.25 |
| Critical Thinking | 4.00 | 4.12 |
| Reading Comprehension | 4.00 | 4.38 |
| Speaking | 3.88 | 4.25 |
| Complex Problem Solving | 3.88 | 4.00 |
| Active Listening | 3.88 | 4.12 |
| Active Learning | 3.88 | 3.88 |
| Monitoring | 3.50 | 3.88 |
| Mathematics | 3.38 | 4.12 |
| Coordination | 3.25 | 3.25 |
Typical tasks
- Oversee project production efforts to assure projects are completed on time and within budget.
- Direct or coordinate manufacturing, construction, installation, maintenance, support, documentation, or testing activities to ensure compliance with specifications, codes, or customer requirements.
- Perform detailed calculations to compute and establish manufacturing, construction, or installation standards or specifications.
- Operate computer-assisted engineering or design software or equipment to perform engineering tasks.
- Confer with engineers, customers, or others to discuss existing or potential engineering projects or products.
- Investigate or test vendors' or competitors' products.
- Inspect completed installations and observe operations to ensure conformance to design and equipment specifications and compliance with operational, safety, or environmental standards.
- Design, implement, maintain, or improve electrical instruments, equipment, facilities, components, products, or systems for commercial, industrial, or domestic purposes.
Technology
- Ada
- Advanced boolean expression language ABEL
- Altera hardware description language AHDL
- Apache Subversion SVN
- APLAC
- ATD protocol
- Autodesk AutoCAD
- Autodesk AutoCAD Civil 3D
- Autodesk Revit
- Automated material handling software
- Availability prediction modeling software
- AVEVA InTouch HMI
- Bash
- Bentley MicroStation
Electrical Engineers salary by location
Areas with the highest reported employment for this occupation.
- Electrical Engineers Salary in CAMedian $144,040 · Employment 24,230
- Electrical Engineers Salary in TXMedian $129,450 · Employment 20,870
- Electrical Engineers Salary in MIMedian $106,070 · Employment 10,840
- Electrical Engineers Salary in FLMedian $104,780 · Employment 9,220
- Electrical Engineers Salary in Los Angeles, CAMedian $139,780 · Employment 8,970
- Electrical Engineers Salary in NYMedian $119,010 · Employment 8,770
- Electrical Engineers Salary in WAMedian $132,710 · Employment 7,610
- Electrical Engineers Salary in VAMedian $119,030 · Employment 7,260
- Electrical Engineers Salary in NCMedian $110,130 · Employment 7,090
- Electrical Engineers Salary in PAMedian $110,820 · Employment 6,970
- Electrical Engineers Salary in OHMedian $100,620 · Employment 6,360
- Electrical Engineers Salary in New York, NYMedian $128,340 · Employment 6,290
Related careers
- Aerospace Engineering and Operations Technologists and TechniciansNational median $82,890
- Electrical and Electronic Equipment AssemblersNational median not published
- Automotive EngineersNational median $104,110
- Manufacturing EngineersNational median $102,440
- Calibration Technologists and TechniciansNational median $67,820
- Electrical and Electronics DraftersNational median $76,870
- Industrial Engineering Technologists and TechniciansNational median $66,120
- Robotics TechniciansNational median $73,900
Career and skills data: O*NET 31.0 (onetcenter.org). Salary and employment data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS, 2025 (bls.gov/oes). Figures are published survey estimates, not real-time market data.