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The differences between instrumentation engineers and product 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 product engineer takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a product engineer has an average salary of $89,645, which is higher than the $88,783 average annual salary of an instrumentation engineer.
The top three skills for an instrumentation engineer include PLC, autocad and analyzers. The most important skills for a product engineer are CAD, product design, and project management.
| Instrumentation Engineer | Product Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $88,783 | $89,645 |
| Hourly rate | $42.68 | $43.10 |
| Growth rate | 3% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 45,735 | 157,888 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 79% | Bachelor's Degree, 74% |
| 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 product engineer specializes in designing and developing commercial materials and services. They are primarily responsible for conducting thorough research and analysis of the latest trends and marketing conditions to come up with new ideas and products for the public. Moreover, they are also responsible for producing reports and presentations, coordinating with the development team of their company. Product engineers also reach out to vendors and suppliers for the raw materials, set regulations and standards for the product, and even conduct a rigorous and regular quality check.
Instrumentation engineers and product engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Instrumentation Engineer | Product Engineer | |
| Average salary | $88,783 | $89,645 |
| Salary range | Between $65,000 And $119,000 | Between $68,000 And $118,000 |
| Highest paying City | Cupertino, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Apple | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Government | Technology |
There are a few differences between an instrumentation engineer and a product engineer in terms of educational background:
| Instrumentation Engineer | Product Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 79% | Bachelor's Degree, 74% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Mechanical Engineering |
| Most common college | Michigan Technological University | Michigan Technological University |
Here are the differences between instrumentation engineers' and product engineers' demographics:
| Instrumentation Engineer | Product Engineer | |
| Average age | 45 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 91.2% Female, 8.8% | Male, 87.8% Female, 12.2% |
| 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, 7.9% Asian, 17.0% White, 67.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 5% |