Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between electrical & instrumentation designers and instrumentation engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both an electrical & instrumentation designer and an instrumentation engineer. Additionally, an instrumentation engineer has an average salary of $88,783, which is higher than the $81,188 average annual salary of an electrical & instrumentation designer.
The top three skills for an electrical & instrumentation designer include PLC, instrumentation design and control systems. The most important skills for an instrumentation engineer are PLC, autocad, and analyzers.
| Electrical & Instrumentation Designer | Instrumentation Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $81,188 | $88,783 |
| Hourly rate | $39.03 | $42.68 |
| Growth rate | 3% | 3% |
| Number of jobs | 81,243 | 45,735 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 53% | Bachelor's Degree, 79% |
| Average age | 45 | 45 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
An electrical instrumentation designer's main job is to design instruments that can be used in various areas such as laboratories, power plants, or research institutes. They work together with a team or individually to design instruments, create a prototype, and test its functions. They can even install these instruments in different establishments and locations. They are tasked with repair and training engineers. At other times, they are assigned to record expenses and other documentation.
An instrumentation engineer specializes in designing and developing equipment to optimize business processes. Their responsibilities revolve around performing research and analysis to identify the needs of a company, coordinating with different departments to gather data, devising strategies to create new processes, and preparing reports and presentations for the executives. An instrumentation engineer mostly performs installations and repairs; they also conduct regular maintenance to ensure the efficiency of facilities. Furthermore, they must answer inquiries and resolve issues and concerns, all in adherence to the company's policies and regulations.
Electrical & instrumentation designers and instrumentation engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Electrical & Instrumentation Designer | Instrumentation Engineer | |
| Average salary | $81,188 | $88,783 |
| Salary range | Between $60,000 And $109,000 | Between $65,000 And $119,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | Cupertino, CA |
| Highest paying state | - | California |
| Best paying company | - | Apple |
| Best paying industry | - | Government |
There are a few differences between an electrical & instrumentation designer and an instrumentation engineer in terms of educational background:
| Electrical & Instrumentation Designer | Instrumentation Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 53% | Bachelor's Degree, 79% |
| Most common major | Drafting And Design | Electrical Engineering |
| Most common college | Michigan Technological University | Michigan Technological University |
Here are the differences between electrical & instrumentation designers' and instrumentation engineers' demographics:
| Electrical & Instrumentation Designer | Instrumentation Engineer | |
| Average age | 45 | 45 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 85.2% Female, 14.8% | Male, 91.2% Female, 8.8% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.9% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 11.5% Asian, 14.3% White, 64.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 4.9% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 11.5% Asian, 15.5% White, 63.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |