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The differences between aircraft engineers and avionics systems engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both an aircraft engineer and an avionics systems engineer. Additionally, an avionics systems engineer has an average salary of $99,014, which is higher than the $72,867 average annual salary of an aircraft engineer.
The top three skills for an aircraft engineer include DOD, aircraft systems and CAD. The most important skills for an avionics systems engineer are avionics systems, FAA, and system integration.
| Aircraft Engineer | Avionics Systems Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $72,867 | $99,014 |
| Hourly rate | $35.03 | $47.60 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 5,718 | 80,025 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 61% | Bachelor's Degree, 70% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
An aircraft engineer oversees the design and assembly of an aircraft. Broadly, they are responsible for developing aircraft designs, testing and fine-tuning them, and ensuring safe practices during the assembly process. Specifically, this involves providing design drafts, meeting with executives to get feedback, and working in an engineering team to improve designs. They must consider aerodynamic principles, air safety, passenger comfort, and customer. This position requires an advanced degree and strong experience in the aviation field.
Avionics systems engineers conduct research development problems associated with aviation, essentially instrument landing systems and other safety instruments for aircraft vehicles. They are a subspecialty of the field of aerospace engineering. They also inspect, adjust, test, and repair electronic components of aircraft flight-control systems, navigation, and communication and compile maintenance and overhaul records of the work they do. Avionics systems engineer also adjusts frequencies of the communications apparatus when performing periodic checks on those frequency settings.
Aircraft engineers and avionics systems engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Aircraft Engineer | Avionics Systems Engineer | |
| Average salary | $72,867 | $99,014 |
| Salary range | Between $53,000 And $99,000 | Between $76,000 And $127,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | - |
| Highest paying state | California | - |
| Best paying company | Joby Aviation | - |
| Best paying industry | Transportation | - |
There are a few differences between an aircraft engineer and an avionics systems engineer in terms of educational background:
| Aircraft Engineer | Avionics Systems Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 61% | Bachelor's Degree, 70% |
| Most common major | Aerospace Engineering | Electrical Engineering |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between aircraft engineers' and avionics systems engineers' demographics:
| Aircraft Engineer | Avionics Systems Engineer | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 91.1% Female, 8.9% | Male, 91.9% Female, 8.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.2% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 11.4% Asian, 10.8% White, 68.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% | Black or African American, 4.1% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 10.8% Asian, 11.0% White, 69.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 8% | 8% |