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Job outlook for lead electrical technicians in the United States
Lead electrical technician job growth summary. After extensive research, interviews, and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
The projected lead electrical technician job growth rate is 0% from 2018-2028.
About -400 new jobs for lead electrical technicians are projected over the next decade.
Lead electrical technician salaries have increased 9% for lead electrical technicians in the last 5 years.
There are over 13,461 lead electrical technicians currently employed in the United States.
There are 54,075 active lead electrical technician job openings in the US.
The average lead electrical technician salary is $100,275.
Are lead electrical technician jobs in demand?
Lead electrical technician job and salary trends over time
Lead electrical technician jobs over time
Lead electrical technician job growth rate over time
| Year | # of jobs | % of population |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 13,461 | 0.00% |
| 2020 | 13,660 | 0.00% |
| 2019 | 14,266 | 0.00% |
| 2018 | 14,362 | 0.00% |
| 2017 | 14,297 | 0.00% |
Average lead electrical technician salary over time
Lead electrical technician salary by year
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $100,275 | $48.21 | +3.5% |
| 2024 | $96,875 | $46.57 | +1.4% |
| 2023 | $95,495 | $45.91 | +1.1% |
| 2022 | $94,500 | $45.43 | +2.4% |
| 2021 | $92,318 | $44.38 | +1.7% |
Lead electrical technician jobs by state
Most common states for lead electrical technicians
| Rank | State | Population | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Utah | 3,101,833 | 803 | 26% |
| 2 | New Hampshire | 1,342,795 | 355 | 26% |
| 3 | Alaska | 739,795 | 185 | 25% |
| 4 | Rhode Island | 1,059,639 | 225 | 21% |
| 5 | Kansas | 2,913,123 | 583 | 20% |
| 6 | Montana | 1,050,493 | 203 | 19% |
| 7 | Nebraska | 1,920,076 | 349 | 18% |
| 8 | Idaho | 1,716,943 | 313 | 18% |
| 9 | South Dakota | 869,666 | 155 | 18% |
| 10 | Pennsylvania | 12,805,537 | 2,162 | 17% |
| 11 | Ohio | 11,658,609 | 1,852 | 16% |
| 12 | New Mexico | 2,088,070 | 312 | 15% |
| 13 | Massachusetts | 6,859,819 | 969 | 14% |
| 14 | Arkansas | 3,004,279 | 423 | 14% |
| 15 | Nevada | 2,998,039 | 409 | 14% |
| 16 | Iowa | 3,145,711 | 408 | 13% |
| 17 | Maine | 1,335,907 | 179 | 13% |
| 18 | Colorado | 5,607,154 | 654 | 12% |
| 19 | Hawaii | 1,427,538 | 177 | 12% |
| 20 | Delaware | 961,939 | 111 | 12% |
Most common cities for lead electrical technicians
| Rank | City | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl | Avg. salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Guilderland | 2 | 6% | $101,837 |
| 2 | Bay Shore | 1 | 4% | $103,225 |
| 3 | Bethlehem | 1 | 3% | $101,980 |
| 4 | Clifton Park | 1 | 3% | $101,724 |
| 5 | Fremont | 5 | 2% | $147,947 |
| 6 | Albany | 1 | 1% | $101,941 |
| 7 | Chicago | 1 | 0% | $101,288 |
Lead Electrical Technician job outlook: Expert opinions
Our panel of lead electrical technician experts
Gonzaga University
Stevens Institute of Technology
California State University - Fresno
University of Alabama at Birmingham
San Diego State University
University of Utah
Old Dominion University
University of Mississippi
Kennesaw State University
What Lead Electrical Technician skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Steven Schennum Ph.D. P.E.: The most important skill is the ability to learn new things, and especially to unlearn things you “know” after evidence demonstrates that these things are not true. Learn how to analyze information. Your intuition, simulations, and results should all be in alignment. If they are not, then dig deeper. Learn the terminology and jargon specific to your company and your projects. Spend time reading. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Don’t be intimidated by new software.
What Lead Electrical Technician skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Min Song: Communication skills and innovative thinking skills. As emerging technologies continue to be complex and multidisciplinary, it’s important to be able to communicate with professionals in diverse disciplines. Taking robotics, for example, the electrical engineer must be able to work with mechanical and biomechanical engineers, computer engineers, software engineers, artificial intelligence experts, cognitive scientists, system engineers, etc. A person will be able to generate innovative ideas only if the person has a complete and comprehensive understanding of the entire system and can work well with other individuals with a range of expertise.
What general advice would you give to a Lead Electrical Technician?
Hovannes Kulhandjian Ph.D.: Negotiate Your Starting Salary: Research industry salary standards and be prepared to negotiate a competitive starting salary based on your qualifications and experience. Pursue In-Demand Skills: Develop specialized skills and certifications that are in high demand within the industry. This can make you more valuable to employers. Seek Opportunities for Advancement: Look for roles with potential for growth and advancement within the company. Express your interest in taking on challenging projects and responsibilities. Leverage Internships and Experience: Demonstrate your value to employers by showcasing your internships, projects, and relevant experience. Stay Informed: Keep up with industry trends and market conditions. Staying informed can help you position yourself for better opportunities and salary increases.
What will help Lead Electrical Technicians increase their earning potential?
Hovannes Kulhandjian Ph.D.: Stay Curious and Keep Learning: The field of electrical engineering is constantly evolving. Stay up to date with the latest advancements and technologies through continuous learning and professional development. Build a Strong Foundation: Focus on mastering the core principles of electrical engineering to provide a strong foundation for your career. Network: Build professional relationships with peers, mentors, and industry experts. Attend conferences and seminars to expand your network and learn from others. Gain Practical Experience: Look for internships, co-op positions, or entry-level jobs that provide hands-on experience. This practical exposure will help you apply your knowledge and stand out in the job market. Develop Soft Skills: Communication, teamwork, and problem-solving skills are crucial in any engineering role. Cultivate these skills to work effectively with others and advance your career.
What Lead Electrical Technician skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Arie Nakhmani: Electrical Engineering has always (from its inception) been a good profession to enter, but now it is better than ever. Now everything is becoming Electrical Engineering, and the world cannot survive without it even for a few days. Electrical Engineering is the most necessary profession for the survival of modern society.
What Lead Electrical Technician skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Dr. Arif Engin: Electrical engineering graduates are sought by a wide range of employers in government and industry for many different types of work. The top occupations in electrical engineering fields are projected to grow and sometimes require an advanced degree.
What will help Lead Electrical Technicians increase their earning potential?
Dr. Arif Engin: Electrical engineers solve problems by skillfully applying mathematics and science. Electrical engineering classes are challenging at college, and electrical engineers must embrace lifelong learning to remain at the top of their skills. In the end, seeing the results of their work in a finished product is a rewarding experience.
Florian Solzbacher
Department Chair, Professor, Elect & Computer EngineeringUniversity of Utah
Electrical and Computer Engineering Department
What skills will help Lead Electrical Technicians earn the most?
Florian Solzbacher: The ability to solve problems efficiently and effectively (i.e., fast and cost-effective) really is critical to companies: every month delay in completion delays revenue and income, which may even dwarf the additional engineering cost. Significantly increased development cost also raises the cost of the product, impacting margins. Developments that come with significant after-sales service and support costs also have to be considered.
From experience, there are, of course, "expert tracks" in many companies that allow an engineer to reach very high compensation levels because they are one of a few who solve specific complicated problems. In some cases, this can go all the way to below board level. In most cases, however, management skills (personnel, projects, budgets) lead to tracks that eventually increase management of engineering activities and decrease the active engineering. In recent years, more and more high-tech companies have moved to have engineers lead the entire business as CEO.
Starting your own business is another path to high incomes, but associated with significant risks, and initially possibly much lower income than a job at an established company.
Interpersonal skills - which do not often come easy to engineers who tend to be focused on solving technical problems - must also never be underestimated because so much in solving real-world problems requires communication and balancing competing needs and resources. And we all stand and fall with the team and the people that make up the team. Long term, an engineering leader who is able to coalesce a strong team around a target objective and motivate his team and who is able to mediate inter-team challenges tends to be far more successful than managers who ignore those aspects.
What experience really stands out on Lead Electrical Technician resumes?
Michel Audette Ph.D.: I am not in Human Resources, so I cannot speak from that perspective, but I suspect that a resume that can describe in a few words not only some meaningful projects undertaken by the engineer, but through a few well-crafted sentences, convey that this engineer has an important role in a design project and possesses real expertise rather than just the ability to insert buzzwords in a sentence. I once heard Elon Musk say in describing who he hired for Tesla, that a true expert can describe a problem at several scales; I like that definition. It takes more than buzzword-level expertise to do that.
I also believe that employers are looking for certain industry-standard tools, such as GIT software revision control or MS TEAMs, as well as relevant open-source tools that relate to that specific area of the company in question. I am convinced that they also value any leadership qualities that they can ascertain from a resume, where a candidate makes the case for having a formative impact on the outcome of a project. Not a blowhard, made-for-TV, hierarchical take on leadership, but the ability to take a high-level view of the state of a project, parse it in terms of what the bottlenecks or pitfalls are, find a technical solution collegially, as well as rally and motivate collaborators to see those critical areas through.
Will there be an enduring impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Lead Electrical Technicians?
Michel Audette Ph.D.: My take on this is what I've seen with my wife's work in industry, which suggests that the industrial landscape is going to be increasingly equipped for, and open to, remote work. I think that the implication for graduates is that they may need to be flexible about working within a geographically distributed team. If company deciders feel that someone is worth employing because of a unique skill set, then they would typically be more willing to hire that person even if unable to make it to work regularly, if that is feasible given the nature of the work; some work, such as hardware testing or industrial production, may not lend itself to remote contributions.
Nonetheless, for those areas that accommodate geographically distributed activity, such as software development, graduates can expect to interact with team members all over the US, possibly all over the world, if someone is deemed unique enough to hire despite living abroad. This places a high premium on the ability and willingness to work in a heterogeneous team, where not only will members look different, but also have myriad accents in their English, which will also impose a certain adaptability and tolerance to team members.
A related impact could also be that global hiring will make it easier for multi-national companies to hire a portion of their talent in countries where wages are lower and motivate US-based engineers to seek out graduate degrees in order to increase their competitiveness and employability at US salaries.
How do you envision technology impacting Lead Electrical Technicians in the next 5 years?
Dr. John Daigle Ph.D.: Starting with automatic speech recognition and leading to biometrics in identifications/verifications of people and self-driving autonomous vehicles in the near future, artificial intelligence/machine learning continues to play a big role in the development of our society and our thinking with respect to ethics and safety. Additionally, wireless access to information and entertainment and connectivity for data-intensive applications in IoT and industrial IoT would skyrocket with emerging 5G and future technologies. Tomorrow's electrical engineers would work in interdisciplinary teams that would increasingly involve mechanical and biomedical engineers and computer scientists.
Will there be an enduring impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Lead Electrical Technicians?
Hai Ho Ph.D.: I believe the impact is short term, and once vaccines are effective and available, our graduates will have expected graduation and access to a responsive job market.