Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between product engineers and product support 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 engineer and a product support engineer. Additionally, a product support engineer has an average salary of $90,379, which is higher than the $89,645 average annual salary of a product engineer.
The top three skills for a product engineer include CAD, product design and project management. The most important skills for a product support engineer are product support, technical support, and troubleshoot.
| Product Engineer | Product Support Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $89,645 | $90,379 |
| Hourly rate | $43.10 | $43.45 |
| Growth rate | 2% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 157,888 | 201,554 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 74% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
A product engineer specializes in designing and developing commercial materials and services. They are primarily responsible for conducting thorough research and analysis of the latest trends and marketing conditions to come up with new ideas and products for the public. Moreover, they are also responsible for producing reports and presentations, coordinating with the development team of their company. Product engineers also reach out to vendors and suppliers for the raw materials, set regulations and standards for the product, and even conduct a rigorous and regular quality check.
A product support engineer is responsible for resolving technical issues of end-users regarding the products and services offered by the company. Product support engineers conduct troubleshooting operations for system failures and write resolution reports for reference. They also support the product analysts in improving the product's features and processes to prevent the reoccurrence of defects and maintain optimal performance. A product support engineer designs automation procedures and runs multiple diagnostic tests to ensure high-quality outputs and avoid operational delays.
Product engineers and product support engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Product Engineer | Product Support Engineer | |
| Average salary | $89,645 | $90,379 |
| Salary range | Between $68,000 And $118,000 | Between $67,000 And $121,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Meta | Apple |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Technology |
There are a few differences between a product engineer and a product support engineer in terms of educational background:
| Product Engineer | Product Support Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 74% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Most common major | Mechanical Engineering | Electrical Engineering |
| Most common college | Michigan Technological University | Northwestern University |
Here are the differences between product engineers' and product support engineers' demographics:
| Product Engineer | Product Support Engineer | |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 87.8% Female, 12.2% | Male, 80.7% Female, 19.3% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.1% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 17.0% White, 67.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% | Black or African American, 3.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.4% Asian, 13.0% White, 69.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 5% |