Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between instrumentation engineers and junior engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become an instrumentation engineer, becoming a junior engineer takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, an instrumentation engineer has an average salary of $88,783, which is higher than the $70,653 average annual salary of a junior engineer.
The top three skills for an instrumentation engineer include PLC, autocad and analyzers. The most important skills for a junior engineer are control systems, java, and C++.
| Instrumentation Engineer | Junior Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $88,783 | $70,653 |
| Hourly rate | $42.68 | $33.97 |
| Growth rate | 3% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 45,735 | 107,703 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 79% | Bachelor's Degree, 70% |
| Average age | 45 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 6 |
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.
A Junior Engineer helps design, build, or maintain engines, machines, or public works. They work under the supervision of an engineer.
Instrumentation engineers and junior engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Instrumentation Engineer | Junior Engineer | |
| Average salary | $88,783 | $70,653 |
| Salary range | Between $65,000 And $119,000 | Between $54,000 And $91,000 |
| Highest paying City | Cupertino, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | Washington |
| Best paying company | Apple | Apple |
| Best paying industry | Government | Technology |
There are a few differences between an instrumentation engineer and a junior engineer in terms of educational background:
| Instrumentation Engineer | Junior Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 79% | Bachelor's Degree, 70% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Civil Engineering |
| Most common college | Michigan Technological University | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between instrumentation engineers' and junior engineers' demographics:
| Instrumentation Engineer | Junior Engineer | |
| Average age | 45 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 91.2% Female, 8.8% | Male, 83.4% Female, 16.6% |
| Race ratio | 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% | Black or African American, 3.1% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 7.8% Asian, 16.7% White, 67.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 5% |