Circuit design engineer vs electrical design engineer

The differences between circuit design engineers and electrical design engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a circuit design engineer, becoming an electrical design engineer takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a circuit design engineer has an average salary of $107,694, which is higher than the $83,944 average annual salary of an electrical design engineer.

The top three skills for a circuit design engineer include circuit design, CMOS and RF. The most important skills for an electrical design engineer are electrical design, revit, and electrical systems.

Circuit design engineer vs electrical design engineer overview

	Circuit Design Engineer	Electrical Design Engineer
Yearly salary	$107,694	$83,944
Hourly rate	$51.78	$40.36
Growth rate	3%	3%
Number of jobs	70,906	87,121
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 63%	Bachelor's Degree, 75%
Average age	45	45
Years of experience	6	2

What does a circuit design engineer do?

A circuit design engineer specializes in designing and developing electrical components and circuits in devices and machinery. Among their responsibilities include identifying the needs of every project, developing strategies to attain optimal quality, developing diagrams and test structures, troubleshooting, and repairing issues. They must also perform regular maintenance checks on existing systems and perform upgrades and corrective measures as needed. Moreover, a circuit design engineer typically works in a team setting, which requires an active communication line for a smooth and efficient workflow.

What does an electrical design engineer do?

An electrical design engineer develops electrical systems for different applications. Electrical design engineers create system layouts and specifications. They test the systems and make some adjustments whenever necessary. The solutions they create range from component designs to large systems. The set of skills imperative for this job include good technical abilities, teamwork, motivation for extra work hours, ability to execute job under pressure, and enthusiasm. They should also be savvy in technology and innovation.

Circuit design engineer vs electrical design engineer salary

Circuit design engineers and electrical design engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Circuit Design Engineer	Electrical Design Engineer
Average salary	$107,694	$83,944
Salary range	Between $84,000 And $137,000	Between $63,000 And $110,000
Highest paying City	Federal Way, WA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	Rhode Island	Washington
Best paying company	Apple	Apple
Best paying industry	Technology	Technology

Differences between circuit design engineer and electrical design engineer education

There are a few differences between a circuit design engineer and an electrical design engineer in terms of educational background:

	Circuit Design Engineer	Electrical Design Engineer
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 63%	Bachelor's Degree, 75%
Most common major	Electrical Engineering	Electrical Engineering
Most common college	Northeastern University	Michigan Technological University

Circuit design engineer vs electrical design engineer demographics

Here are the differences between circuit design engineers' and electrical design engineers' demographics:

	Circuit Design Engineer	Electrical Design Engineer
Average age	45	45
Gender ratio	Male, 74.4% Female, 25.6%	Male, 89.9% Female, 10.1%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 4.6% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 10.5% Asian, 19.9% White, 60.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%	Black or African American, 4.9% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 11.3% Asian, 14.4% White, 64.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between circuit design engineer and electrical design engineer duties and responsibilities

Circuit design engineer example responsibilities.

Lead cross-site LVR task force to get full set of schematics match to functional target RTL model.
Process orders for VPN long distance service and manage the VPN dial plan to ensure no duplications.
Manage client order request generate from sales, provisioning and designing data, voice and IP network services.
Size transistors to reduce RC time constant in dynamic flip-flops and to achieve equivalent performance in high frequency.
Lead a small design team to deliver a 90 nm LP 125 MHz medium-size Gigabit Ethernet PHY DSP.
Manage a team that include hardware engineers, software engineers, and verifications engineers to evaluate the McORE 200 microprocessor.

Electrical design engineer example responsibilities.

Utilize LabView software package to automate testing.
Used Perl and Linux script to help automate the ASIC design and test flow.
Work with approval agencies to achieve UL, CSA, CE, FCC and IC certifications.
Coordinate with senior electrical engineers and achieve hands-on experience on coal fire plant power generation and power transformers, circuit breakers.
Perform RF checkout, aperture field probing and user sign-off of chambers and test equipment for various types of chambers.
Analyze and simulate low power circuits, front-end amplifiers and develop analog signal conditioning circuitry interfacing the digital control systems.

Circuit design engineer vs electrical design engineer skills

Common circuit design engineer skills

Circuit Design, 14%
CMOS, 6%
RF, 6%
Verilog, 5%
CAD, 4%
FPGA, 4%

Common electrical design engineer skills

Electrical Design, 10%
Revit, 5%
Electrical Systems, 5%
CAD, 4%
Analog, 4%
Engineering Design, 4%

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Circuit Design Engineer
Circuit Design Engineer vs Electrical Design Engineer

Updated January 8, 2025

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