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The differences between automotive engineers and designers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become an automotive engineer, becoming a designer takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, an automotive engineer has an average salary of $82,211, which is higher than the $66,347 average annual salary of a designer.
The top three skills for an automotive engineer include CAD, ISO and adaptive. The most important skills for a designer are sketch, customer service, and graphic design.
| Automotive Engineer | Designer | |
| Yearly salary | $82,211 | $66,347 |
| Hourly rate | $39.52 | $31.90 |
| Growth rate | 2% | 3% |
| Number of jobs | 104,464 | 52,433 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 71% | Bachelor's Degree, 61% |
| Average age | 41 | 38 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 12 |
An automotive engineer specializes in designing and developing vehicles for public or private use. Their job entails conducting extensive research and analyses, conceptualizing plans with fellow experts, building prototypes and structures, troubleshooting problems, and implementing multiple test procedures to identify how the vehicle operates at different conditions and ensure its quality adheres to standards and regulations. Besides developing new vehicles, an automotive engineer may also modify existing models, which requires them to study the market and consumers' feedback, identify the strengths and weaknesses of existing systems, and coordinate upgrades.
A designer is someone who creates a master plan of the look or workings of something before it will be made. It could be tangible or intangible objects, products, procedures, laws, events, games, graphics, services, and even experiences. Designers are creative thinkers with a great eye to configure the skeletal and structural properties of the targeted output. They work in several fields, such as fashion, architecture, web graphics, and user experience. In spite of the variety of professionals in the design industry, all of them are artistic, passionate, inspiring, and emotionally connected to their projects and brands.
Automotive engineers and designers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Automotive Engineer | Designer | |
| Average salary | $82,211 | $66,347 |
| Salary range | Between $57,000 And $118,000 | Between $45,000 And $97,000 |
| Highest paying City | Belmont, CA | Seattle, WA |
| Highest paying state | California | Washington |
| Best paying company | Cal | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Hospitality | Technology |
There are a few differences between an automotive engineer and a designer in terms of educational background:
| Automotive Engineer | Designer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 71% | Bachelor's Degree, 61% |
| Most common major | Mechanical Engineering | Graphic Design |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between automotive engineers' and designers' demographics:
| Automotive Engineer | Designer | |
| Average age | 41 | 38 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 93.0% Female, 7.0% | Male, 56.9% Female, 43.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.2% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 8.6% Asian, 15.9% White, 67.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% | Black or African American, 3.4% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 10.6% Asian, 10.4% White, 70.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 13% |