What is an Avionics Engineer?

Avionics engineers can also be called aerospace engineers as they work in the aerospace industry designing and developing aircraft, spacecraft, satellites, and missiles. Some of your duties will include researching problems associated with flight safety problems, landing gear, and electronic navigation problems, and then you will test prototypes to ensure that all systems function as they ought to.

You will also assist with installing and servicing avionics communication equipment and ensuring that all systems comply with Federal Aviation Administration requirements and manufacturers' specifications. You will also be required to create acceptance criteria for design methods, quality standards, and sustainability.

The average yearly salary of an avionic engineer is $82,263 and $39.84 per hour. Required skills for this role include clearance, FAA, Avionics, Electrical systems, DOD, system integration, troubleshooting, and technical support and data. The most commonly required educational qualification is a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering and other relevant fields.

What Does an Avionics Engineer Do

There are certain skills that many avionics engineers have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed analytical skills, business skills and writing skills.

Learn more about what an Avionics Engineer does

How To Become an Avionics Engineer

If you're interested in becoming an avionics engineer, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 72.9% of avionics engineers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 14.3% of avionics engineers have master's degrees. Even though most avionics engineers have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Learn More About How To Become an Avionics Engineer
Top Avionics Engineer Jobs Near You

Avionics Engineer Career Paths

In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of senior systems engineer you might progress to a role such as senior software engineer eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title engineering director.

Avionics Engineer

Average Salary for an Avionics Engineer

Avionics Engineers in America make an average salary of $95,470 per year or $46 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $135,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $67,000 per year.
Average Avionics Engineer Salary
$95,470 Yearly
$45.90 hourly
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Roles and Types of Avionics Engineer

There are several types of avionics engineer, including:

Electrical Engineer

Role:

Electrical engineering is not about to go out of fashion any time soon. Electrical engineers create electrical devices to satisfy our ever-growing needs to stay comfortable and live effortlessly. They design, develop, test, and produce anything from IT to telecommunication devices, generators, engines, vehicles, and navigation systems so we can keep our universe under our control.

Electrical engineering is not something you can just dip your feet in and see how it goes. It is either all in or all out. If you opt for all in, you will spend years learning your craft and end up being an inventor of devices that might potentially make our world a better place.

Electrical engineering is becoming more and more intertwined with computer engineering as IT technologies develop and find their way into controlling mechanical engineering products. The more comprehensive the field becomes, though, the more power and resources go to the ones mastering it. That is why entry-level salaries of electrical engineers average around US$109,000 a year.

  • Average Salary: $81,026
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Staff Engineer

Role:

Staff engineers come in all shapes and sizes and work in a variety of industries. They design and build things: systems, services, products, roads, machines, or equipment. They test and repair, according to their field: electrical equipment, heavy machinery, IT systems and devices, and so on.

They are senior members of an organization. Depending on the size and structure of the organization they work for, they might be in charge of their department or operations in their area of expertise. Alternatively, they might work just below the principal engineer.

Generally, you gain promotion into this role from a junior engineer or engineer position, so hang in there if this is your goal.

  • Average Salary: $107,530
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Stress Engineer

Role:

Stress engineers play a vital role in the engineering of aircraft. Their main role is to determine the stresses and strains in materials and structures when subjected to forces and heavy loads. In the aviation industry, this will mainly relate to aircraft and rocket bodies. However, the analysis could also take place on anything from bridges, tunnels, and down to plastic cutlery.

While a majority of sources see annual salaries of stress engineers as high as $176,500 and as low as $61,000, the majority of stress engineer salaries currently range between $85,000 and $147,000.

To become a stress engineer, applicants need to have a college degree in engineering and an interest in stress analysis. In-depth knowledge of engineering principles and design techniques related to failure analysis, materials science, structural design, and reliability may also be needed for this job.

  • Average Salary: $107,036
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree
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States With The Most Avionics Engineer Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active avionics engineer jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where avionics engineers earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Avionics Engineer Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1California3,372$105,070
2Texas1,171$110,179
3Virginia1,087$89,603
4New York830$86,896
5Florida829$77,342
6Washington796$103,937
7Massachusetts756$104,368
8Maryland664$91,578
9Illinois598$82,198
10Georgia589$83,136
11Colorado543$115,726
12North Carolina475$91,432
13Arizona468$102,511
14Michigan454$92,415
15Ohio415$86,474
16Pennsylvania412$86,322
17Minnesota391$101,629
18Oregon385$95,790
19Alabama341$96,514
20New Jersey322$94,768
21Indiana309$70,266
22Missouri231$94,699
23Utah230$92,313
24Wisconsin216$85,932
25Connecticut170$85,341
26Kansas162$79,556
27South Carolina156$86,066
28Iowa148$75,574
29Tennessee132$85,558
30Louisiana108$95,148
31Kentucky108$77,932
32Nevada103$106,809
33Nebraska102$100,679
34New Mexico102$97,279
35Delaware102$88,204
36Oklahoma94$90,199
37New Hampshire89$84,273
38Arkansas72$73,616
39Idaho71$100,013
40Mississippi54$81,544
41Rhode Island49$108,249
42Wyoming47$92,880
43West Virginia47$91,348
44Alaska46$91,323
45Montana45$94,645
46Maine45$91,564
47Hawaii44$81,050
48Vermont37$95,647
49North Dakota33$89,105
50South Dakota29$87,187

Avionics Engineer Education

Avionics Engineer Majors

Electrical Engineering
57.4 %
Mechanical Engineering
4.7 %
Computer Science
4.7 %

Avionics Engineer Degrees

Bachelors

72.9 %

Masters

14.3 %

Associate

8.8 %

Top Colleges for Avionics Engineers

1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Cambridge, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,832

Enrollment

4,550

2. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,354

Enrollment

7,083

3. California State University - Long Beach

Long Beach, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$6,798

Enrollment

31,503

4. Georgia Institute of Technology

Atlanta, GA • Private

In-State Tuition

$12,424

Enrollment

15,201

5. Cornell University

Ithaca, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,188

Enrollment

15,105

6. Purdue University

West Lafayette, IN • Private

In-State Tuition

$9,992

Enrollment

33,495

7. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor, MI • Private

In-State Tuition

$15,262

Enrollment

30,079

8. Rice University

Houston, TX • Private

In-State Tuition

$47,350

Enrollment

3,962

9. University of Notre Dame

Notre Dame, IN • Private

In-State Tuition

$53,391

Enrollment

8,568

10. California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

Pomona, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$7,353

Enrollment

24,841

Top Skills For an Avionics Engineer

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 8.2% of avionics engineers listed faa on their resume, but soft skills such as analytical skills and business skills are important as well.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Avionics Engineer Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Avionics Engineer templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Avionics Engineer resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

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Avionics Engineer diversity

Avionics Engineer Gender Distribution

Male
Male
92%
Female
Female
8%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among avionics engineers, 7.6% of them are women, while 92.4% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among avionics engineers is White, which makes up 69.3% of all avionics engineers.

  • The most common foreign language among avionics engineers is Spanish at 46.2%.

Online Courses For Avionics Engineer That You May Like

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1. Introduction to Systems Engineering

coursera

"Introduction to Systems Engineering" uses a structured yet flexible approach to provide a holistic, solid foundation to the successful development of complicated systems. The course takes you step by step through the system life cycle, from design to development, production and management. You will learn how the different components of a system interrelate, and how each contributes to a project’s goals and success. The discipline’s terminology, which can so often confuse the newcomer, is...

2. MBSE: Model-Based Systems Engineering

coursera

This Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) course and the Digital Thread courses featured earlier in this specialization bring together the concepts from across digital manufacturing and design, forming a vision in which the geometry of a product is just one way of describing it. MBSE is where the model resulting from the evolution of system requirements, design, analysis, verification and validation activities is the focus of design and manufacturing. Students will gain an understanding of...

3. Aerospace Engineering: Aircraft Systems and Avionics

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4.6
(584)

Aerospace and Aeronautical Engineering: Master the Systems of Airplanes - Hydraulics, Avionics, Electric, Propulsion...

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Best States For an Avionics Engineer

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as an avionics engineer. The best states for people in this position are Colorado, Texas, Rhode Island, and Nevada. Avionics engineers make the most in Colorado with an average salary of $115,726. Whereas in Texas and Rhode Island, they would average $110,179 and $108,249, respectively. While avionics engineers would only make an average of $106,809 in Nevada, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.

1. Colorado

Total Avionics Engineer Jobs: 543
Highest 10% Earn:
$161,000
Location Quotient:
1.42

$115,726

Avg. Salary

View 543 Avionics Engineer Jobs In CO

2. Texas

Total Avionics Engineer Jobs: 1,171
Highest 10% Earn:
$154,000
Location Quotient:
0.9

$110,179

Avg. Salary

View 1,171 Avionics Engineer Jobs In TX

3. Washington

Total Avionics Engineer Jobs: 796
Highest 10% Earn:
$144,000
Location Quotient:
1.69

$103,937

Avg. Salary

View 796 Avionics Engineer Jobs In WA
Full List Of Best States For Avionics Engineers

How Do Avionics Engineers Rate Their Jobs?

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Top Avionics Engineer Employers

Most Common Employers For Avionics Engineer

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1Bell Flight$103,086$49.563
2Boeing$102,128$49.1026
3The Montessori School - Wilton$99,377$47.783
4Greenpoint Technologies$98,204$47.214
5Honeywell$97,939$47.095
6US Air Conditioning Distributors$97,406$46.836
7Sierra Nevada$97,231$46.7510
8Atk$97,111$46.693
9Delta Air Lines$96,984$46.635
10Piper Aircraft$96,199$46.255
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Updated April 6, 2023