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The differences between product design engineers and quality engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a product design engineer, becoming a quality engineer takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a product design engineer has an average salary of $94,827, which is higher than the $79,672 average annual salary of a quality engineer.
The top three skills for a product design engineer include CAD, mechanical design and GD. The most important skills for a quality engineer are corrective action, continuous improvement, and ISO.
| Product Design Engineer | Quality Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $94,827 | $79,672 |
| Hourly rate | $45.59 | $38.30 |
| Growth rate | 2% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 170,485 | 96,838 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 74% | Bachelor's Degree, 70% |
| Average age | 41 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 4 |
A Product Design Engineer designs new products that customers will want to purchase. They are responsible for designing, modeling, and testing prototypes for products.
A quality engineer's responsibilities include ensuring that the manufacturing processes are efficient and accurate, documenting findings that would raise concerns, conducting quality tests while observing parameters, and implementing changes as necessary to meet the highest quality standards. Quality engineers need to have excellent problem-solving and observation skills to detect any irregularities and possible malfunctions. They also must be able to communicate effectively with the clients for feedbacks and corrective adjustments, address complaints, and immediately resolve any inconsistencies made.
Product design engineers and quality engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Product Design Engineer | Quality Engineer | |
| Average salary | $94,827 | $79,672 |
| Salary range | Between $69,000 And $129,000 | Between $61,000 And $103,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Mateo, 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 product design engineer and a quality engineer in terms of educational background:
| Product Design Engineer | Quality Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 74% | Bachelor's Degree, 70% |
| Most common major | Mechanical Engineering | Mechanical Engineering |
| Most common college | Michigan Technological University | Northwestern University |
Here are the differences between product design engineers' and quality engineers' demographics:
| Product Design Engineer | Quality Engineer | |
| Average age | 41 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 90.9% Female, 9.1% | Male, 78.2% Female, 21.8% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.2% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 8.2% Asian, 16.2% White, 67.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% | Black or African American, 4.7% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 11.5% Asian, 13.9% White, 65.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 4% |