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Job outlook for protection engineers in the United States
Are protection engineer jobs in demand?
Protection engineer job and salary trends over time
Protection engineer jobs over time
Protection engineer job growth rate over time
| Year | # of jobs | % of population |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 78 | 0.00% |
| 2020 | 82 | 0.00% |
| 2019 | 89 | 0.00% |
| 2018 | 90 | 0.00% |
| 2017 | 90 | 0.00% |
Average protection engineer salary over time
Protection engineer salary by year
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $100,632 | $48.38 | +3.1% |
| 2024 | $97,610 | $46.93 | +2.6% |
| 2023 | $95,176 | $45.76 | +0.7% |
| 2022 | $94,513 | $45.44 | +2.1% |
| 2021 | $92,602 | $44.52 | +2.5% |
Protection engineer jobs by state
Most common states for protection engineers
| Rank | State | Population | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | District of Columbia | 693,972 | 292 | 42% |
| 2 | Virginia | 8,470,020 | 1,104 | 13% |
| 3 | Oregon | 4,142,776 | 527 | 13% |
| 4 | Delaware | 961,939 | 127 | 13% |
| 5 | Washington | 7,405,743 | 850 | 11% |
| 6 | Maryland | 6,052,177 | 674 | 11% |
| 7 | Massachusetts | 6,859,819 | 678 | 10% |
| 8 | Colorado | 5,607,154 | 580 | 10% |
| 9 | California | 39,536,653 | 3,639 | 9% |
| 10 | New Hampshire | 1,342,795 | 126 | 9% |
| 11 | Wyoming | 579,315 | 53 | 9% |
| 12 | Utah | 3,101,833 | 241 | 8% |
| 13 | Vermont | 623,657 | 49 | 8% |
| 14 | Georgia | 10,429,379 | 732 | 7% |
| 15 | Arizona | 7,016,270 | 457 | 7% |
| 16 | Minnesota | 5,576,606 | 403 | 7% |
| 17 | Idaho | 1,716,943 | 117 | 7% |
| 18 | Montana | 1,050,493 | 72 | 7% |
| 19 | Alaska | 739,795 | 53 | 7% |
| 20 | New Mexico | 2,088,070 | 123 | 6% |
Most common cities for protection engineers
| Rank | City | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl | Avg. salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Frankfort | 1 | 4% | $113,822 |
| 2 | Annapolis | 1 | 3% | $84,740 |
| 3 | Pomona | 3 | 2% | $121,959 |
| 4 | Brentwood | 1 | 2% | $109,002 |
| 5 | Hendersonville | 1 | 2% | $108,738 |
| 6 | Hilo | 1 | 2% | $66,723 |
| 7 | Baton Rouge | 3 | 1% | $94,348 |
| 8 | Franklin | 1 | 1% | $109,114 |
| 9 | Huntsville | 1 | 1% | $91,527 |
| 10 | Phoenix | 4 | 0% | $106,773 |
| 11 | Atlanta | 2 | 0% | $86,227 |
| 12 | Anaheim | 1 | 0% | $121,342 |
| 13 | Chandler | 1 | 0% | $106,276 |
| 14 | Denver | 1 | 0% | $96,301 |
| 15 | Indianapolis | 1 | 0% | $96,209 |
| 16 | Irvine | 1 | 0% | $120,637 |
Protection Engineer job outlook: Expert opinions
Our panel of protection engineer experts
Gonzaga University
Stevens Institute of Technology
University of Alabama at Birmingham
San Diego State University
Daytona State College
Old Dominion University
University of Central Florida
What Protection Engineer skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Steven Schennum Ph.D. P.E.: The most important skill is the ability to learn new things, and especially to unlearn things you “know” after evidence demonstrates that these things are not true. Learn how to analyze information. Your intuition, simulations, and results should all be in alignment. If they are not, then dig deeper. Learn the terminology and jargon specific to your company and your projects. Spend time reading. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Don’t be intimidated by new software.
What Protection Engineer skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Min Song: Communication skills and innovative thinking skills. As emerging technologies continue to be complex and multidisciplinary, it’s important to be able to communicate with professionals in diverse disciplines. Taking robotics, for example, the electrical engineer must be able to work with mechanical and biomechanical engineers, computer engineers, software engineers, artificial intelligence experts, cognitive scientists, system engineers, etc. A person will be able to generate innovative ideas only if the person has a complete and comprehensive understanding of the entire system and can work well with other individuals with a range of expertise.
What Protection Engineer skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Arie Nakhmani: Electrical Engineering has always (from its inception) been a good profession to enter, but now it is better than ever. Now everything is becoming Electrical Engineering, and the world cannot survive without it even for a few days. Electrical Engineering is the most necessary profession for the survival of modern society.
What will help Protection Engineers increase their earning potential?
Arie Nakhmani: People who have EE degrees like being able to choose from a variety of EE sub-fields and being able to enter new areas because they learn science fundamentals and math, critical thinking, and the ability to solve difficult problems that are very helpful in life regardless of the job they pick. People dislike that solving difficult problems is difficult and requires a lot of effort. Not all are ready to put their effort in.
What will help Protection Engineers increase their earning potential?
Dr. Arif Engin: Electrical engineers solve problems by skillfully applying mathematics and science. Electrical engineering classes are challenging at college, and electrical engineers must embrace lifelong learning to remain at the top of their skills. In the end, seeing the results of their work in a finished product is a rewarding experience.
David Mccallister
Professor, Program ManagerDaytona State College
Fire Science & Emergency Medical Services
What skills stand out on Protection Engineer resumes?
David Mccallister: Hands-on experience in the field of fire protection technical skills - proof of employable job skills at the technician level will make the fire protection professional more likely to understand the application of the fire codes
What soft skills should all Protection Engineers possess?
David Mccallister: The ability to listen and empathize with the customer's fears/concerns and the ability to convey a presence of partnership and support from the local jurisdiction to the customer/business owner/occupant needing the expertise of the fire protection professional.
What hard/technical skills are most important for Protection Engineers?
David Mccallister: Computer skills, research skills, a comprehensive understanding of the fire codes, and technical drawings related to fire protection.
What skills will help Protection Engineers earn the most?
David Mccallister: A comprehensive fire protection professional that has communications skills and the knowledge of the fire codes, and the necessary understanding of the value (financial - includes cost-benefit- and intrinsic) of fire protection systems
Will there be an enduring impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Protection Engineers?
Michel Audette Ph.D.: My take on this is what I've seen with my wife's work in industry, which suggests that the industrial landscape is going to be increasingly equipped for, and open to, remote work. I think that the implication for graduates is that they may need to be flexible about working within a geographically distributed team. If company deciders feel that someone is worth employing because of a unique skill set, then they would typically be more willing to hire that person even if unable to make it to work regularly, if that is feasible given the nature of the work; some work, such as hardware testing or industrial production, may not lend itself to remote contributions.
Nonetheless, for those areas that accommodate geographically distributed activity, such as software development, graduates can expect to interact with team members all over the US, possibly all over the world, if someone is deemed unique enough to hire despite living abroad. This places a high premium on the ability and willingness to work in a heterogeneous team, where not only will members look different, but also have myriad accents in their English, which will also impose a certain adaptability and tolerance to team members.
A related impact could also be that global hiring will make it easier for multi-national companies to hire a portion of their talent in countries where wages are lower and motivate US-based engineers to seek out graduate degrees in order to increase their competitiveness and employability at US salaries.
Maria Jacob
ProfessorUniversity of Central Florida
Department of ECE
Will there be an enduring impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Protection Engineers?
Maria Jacob: Well, this is a somewhat difficult question, since it's hard to predict what is going to happen.
Given the current research, everything seems to indicate that even with the vaccine, we won't be able to come back to what we were used to for a long time.
This will mean, work and classes from home for some time. Although I see and enjoy some of the advantages of staying at home (that go from clothing to saving money on gas), I feel we are losing some of the human contact we were used to. Of course, we have software like Zoom or Meet that helps us to communicate with others, but this virtuality is just simply different. For example, some students do just fine, and others can't deal with the fact that they have to write their questions over a chat. More than that, some students have family making everything more difficult.
There are other aspects that also impact the knowledge the new graduates have at the time of start working. For example, we as professors also have to take into account that we are living special circumstances and that some students may find this new system more difficult. Then, sometimes is easy to overcompensate and be more lenient with some things. If we are not careful this could lead to students graduating having less knowledge in some topics, where students pass a class not knowing certain topics that they should.