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The differences between failure analysis engineers and reliability engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a failure analysis engineer and a reliability engineer. Additionally, a reliability engineer has an average salary of $105,551, which is higher than the $91,071 average annual salary of a failure analysis engineer.
The top three skills for a failure analysis engineer include corrective action, failure analysis and data analysis. The most important skills for a reliability engineer are java, troubleshoot, and ruby.
| Failure Analysis Engineer | Reliability Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $91,071 | $105,551 |
| Hourly rate | $43.78 | $50.75 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 43,275 | 44,471 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 65% | Bachelor's Degree, 76% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
A failure analysis engineer is responsible for conducting quality control checks on operational business processes, identifying inconsistencies and errors, and writing recommendations to address failures and increase efficiency. Failure analysis engineers analyze incident reports of operational issues, assisting the technology team in designing high-performing software applications and network systems to support business functions and requirements. They also support the end-users in resolving issues, writing resolution, and creating instructional manuals for reference. A failure analysis engineer should have excellent technical skills, as well as intensive knowledge of engineering products and services.
A reliability engineer is in charge of determining and managing the asset reliability risks of businesses. Reliability engineers are professionals who solve problems related to engineering. They are equipped with a better understanding of the principles of performance evaluation and prediction for product safety. The job requires knowledge of the field of engineering, strong communication, interpersonal skills, management skills, attention to detail, and reliability. They are also expected to become experts in engineering systems.
Failure analysis engineers and reliability engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Failure Analysis Engineer | Reliability Engineer | |
| Average salary | $91,071 | $105,551 |
| Salary range | Between $66,000 And $124,000 | Between $76,000 And $144,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Richmond, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | Washington |
| Best paying company | Meta | The Citadel |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Start-up |
There are a few differences between a failure analysis engineer and a reliability engineer in terms of educational background:
| Failure Analysis Engineer | Reliability Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 65% | Bachelor's Degree, 76% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Mechanical Engineering |
| Most common college | California State Polytechnic University, Pomona | Northwestern University |
Here are the differences between failure analysis engineers' and reliability engineers' demographics:
| Failure Analysis Engineer | Reliability Engineer | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 83.7% Female, 16.3% | Male, 87.5% Female, 12.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.3% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 10.5% Asian, 15.5% White, 65.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 4.4% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 10.8% Asian, 14.3% White, 66.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 4% | 4% |