Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between manufacturing engineers and development engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a manufacturing engineer, becoming a development engineer takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a development engineer has an average salary of $93,206, which is higher than the $78,522 average annual salary of a manufacturing engineer.
The top three skills for a manufacturing engineer include lean manufacturing, CAD and solidworks. The most important skills for a development engineer are java, python, and software development.
| Manufacturing Engineer | Development Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $78,522 | $93,206 |
| Hourly rate | $37.75 | $44.81 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 115,384 | 224,881 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 73% | Bachelor's Degree, 72% |
| Average age | 43 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 6 |
Manufacturing Engineers are responsible for handling and developing an efficient manufacturing system or procedure that will help a company produce up to standard products while in adherence to the policies, regulations, and expected cost and schedule. Furthermore, Manufacturing Engineers must also monitor quality control, identify or detect errors, provide and suggest improvements, oversee the procurement of materials involved in the production, and coordinate with various teams or departments within the company to ensure the effectiveness of innovations or new developments.
A Development Engineer is responsible for the development and validation of products, systems, and components. They are also responsible for quality control of work and continuous improvement of engineer activities.
Manufacturing engineers and development engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Manufacturing Engineer | Development Engineer | |
| Average salary | $78,522 | $93,206 |
| Salary range | Between $60,000 And $102,000 | Between $70,000 And $122,000 |
| Highest paying City | Palo Alto, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | Washington |
| Best paying company | Meta | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Technology |
There are a few differences between a manufacturing engineer and a development engineer in terms of educational background:
| Manufacturing Engineer | Development Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 73% | Bachelor's Degree, 72% |
| Most common major | Mechanical Engineering | Mechanical Engineering |
| Most common college | Georgia Institute of Technology | Michigan Technological University |
Here are the differences between manufacturing engineers' and development engineers' demographics:
| Manufacturing Engineer | Development Engineer | |
| Average age | 43 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 88.8% Female, 11.2% | Male, 85.5% Female, 14.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.3% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 10.8% Asian, 17.0% White, 62.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% | 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 | 5% | 5% |