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The differences between lighting engineers and senior electrical designers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a lighting engineer and a senior electrical designer. Additionally, a senior electrical designer has an average salary of $87,859, which is higher than the $85,362 average annual salary of a lighting engineer.
The top three skills for a lighting engineer include A/V, technical aspects and STARS. The most important skills for a senior electrical designer are electrical design, revit, and electrical equipment.
| Lighting Engineer | Senior Electrical Designer | |
| Yearly salary | $85,362 | $87,859 |
| Hourly rate | $41.04 | $42.24 |
| Growth rate | 3% | 3% |
| Number of jobs | 38,070 | 78,838 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 60% | Associate Degree, 50% |
| Average age | 45 | 45 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
A lighting engineer oversees everything that is happening in a tv show, concert, play, or theater production. This is the person responsible for ensuring that the lighting and the visual effects are operating just right. Their skills are essential because this will set the mood for the audience with the lighting effects that they provide. Also, they monitor the work of the flight crew and technicians.
A Senior Electrical Designer is in charge of creating electrical schematics, layouts, and other grid plans for their organization, as well as providing the best solution for improvements. They supervise the material, construction, labor costs, and project timescales.
Lighting engineers and senior electrical designers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Lighting Engineer | Senior Electrical Designer | |
| Average salary | $85,362 | $87,859 |
| Salary range | Between $61,000 And $117,000 | Between $66,000 And $116,000 |
| Highest paying City | Los Angeles, CA | Ceres, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | Alaska |
| Best paying company | Apple | Lam Research |
| Best paying industry | Manufacturing | Manufacturing |
There are a few differences between a lighting engineer and a senior electrical designer in terms of educational background:
| Lighting Engineer | Senior Electrical Designer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 60% | Associate Degree, 50% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Electrical Engineering |
| Most common college | Northeastern University | Michigan Technological University |
Here are the differences between lighting engineers' and senior electrical designers' demographics:
| Lighting Engineer | Senior Electrical Designer | |
| Average age | 45 | 45 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 93.5% Female, 6.5% | Male, 89.2% Female, 10.8% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.9% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 11.5% Asian, 14.3% White, 64.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 4.8% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 11.0% Asian, 14.5% White, 64.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |