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The differences between planning engineers and design engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a planning engineer, becoming a design engineer takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a planning engineer has an average salary of $82,521, which is higher than the $77,134 average annual salary of a design engineer.
The top three skills for a planning engineer include project management, infrastructure and transmission planning. The most important skills for a design engineer are C++, UL, and project management.
| Planning Engineer | Design Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $82,521 | $77,134 |
| Hourly rate | $39.67 | $37.08 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 56,792 | 138,173 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 75% | Bachelor's Degree, 72% |
| Average age | 42 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 6 |
A planning engineer is in charge of developing plans and systems to organize and schedule project procedures, ensuring efficiency and timeliness. Their responsibilities revolve around learning and understanding the extent of all operations, setting schedules and objectives, liaising with external parties such as vendors or distributors, and maintaining an active communication line with other departments. Furthermore, a planning engineer must monitor the progress of the workflow and the performance of the workforce, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations.
A design engineer is responsible for creating systems and applications based on their expertise. Design engineers work through client specifications based on business needs. A design engineer also provides recommendations on improving existing systems to boost its performance and increase efficiency. Design engineers must have an excellent command of computer systems, programming codes, and technical data to ensure the system's stability and high-quality processes. A design engineer should also have strong analytical and time-management skills to perform tasks and meet deadlines.
Planning engineers and design engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Planning Engineer | Design Engineer | |
| Average salary | $82,521 | $77,134 |
| Salary range | Between $61,000 And $110,000 | Between $57,000 And $102,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Meta | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Energy | Technology |
There are a few differences between a planning engineer and a design engineer in terms of educational background:
| Planning Engineer | Design Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 75% | Bachelor's Degree, 72% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Mechanical Engineering |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | Michigan Technological University |
Here are the differences between planning engineers' and design engineers' demographics:
| Planning Engineer | Design Engineer | |
| Average age | 42 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 83.2% Female, 16.8% | Male, 88.9% Female, 11.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.3% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 10.6% Asian, 15.6% White, 65.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 3.2% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 8.2% Asian, 16.8% White, 67.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 4% | 5% |