Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between product development engineers and product design engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a product development engineer and a product design engineer. Additionally, a product design engineer has an average salary of $94,827, which is higher than the $86,075 average annual salary of a product development engineer.
The top three skills for a product development engineer include CAD, solidworks and product development. The most important skills for a product design engineer are CAD, mechanical design, and GD.
| Product Development Engineer | Product Design Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $86,075 | $94,827 |
| Hourly rate | $41.38 | $45.59 |
| Growth rate | 2% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 202,155 | 170,485 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 75% | Bachelor's Degree, 74% |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
A Product Development Engineer is responsible for creating and testing new product designs. They collaborate with market researchers to evaluate market needs, existing competition, and potential costs.
A Product Design Engineer designs new products that customers will want to purchase. They are responsible for designing, modeling, and testing prototypes for products.
Product development engineers and product design engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Product Development Engineer | Product Design Engineer | |
| Average salary | $86,075 | $94,827 |
| Salary range | Between $64,000 And $113,000 | Between $69,000 And $129,000 |
| Highest paying City | Sunnyvale, CA | San Mateo, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Amazon | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Technology |
There are a few differences between a product development engineer and a product design engineer in terms of educational background:
| Product Development Engineer | Product Design Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 75% | Bachelor's Degree, 74% |
| Most common major | Mechanical Engineering | Mechanical Engineering |
| Most common college | Michigan Technological University | Michigan Technological University |
Here are the differences between product development engineers' and product design engineers' demographics:
| Product Development Engineer | Product Design Engineer | |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 86.8% Female, 13.2% | Male, 90.9% Female, 9.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.1% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 7.8% Asian, 16.7% White, 67.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% | 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% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 5% |