Radio engineer vs controls designer

The differences between radio engineers and controls designers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a radio engineer and a controls designer. Additionally, a radio engineer has an average salary of $98,659, which is higher than the $91,944 average annual salary of a controls designer.

The top three skills for a radio engineer include RF, java and FM. The most important skills for a controls designer are PLC, control panels, and IDS.

Radio engineer vs controls designer overview

	Radio Engineer	Controls Designer
Yearly salary	$98,659	$91,944
Hourly rate	$47.43	$44.20
Growth rate	3%	3%
Number of jobs	18,734	79,729
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 67%	Bachelor's Degree, 53%
Average age	45	45
Years of experience	6	6

Radio engineer vs controls designer salary

Radio engineers and controls designers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Radio Engineer	Controls Designer
Average salary	$98,659	$91,944
Salary range	Between $66,000 And $147,000	Between $69,000 And $121,000
Highest paying City	Irving, TX	San Jose, CA
Highest paying state	Washington	Rhode Island
Best paying company	Apple	Visteon
Best paying industry	Telecommunication	Technology

Differences between radio engineer and controls designer education

There are a few differences between a radio engineer and a controls designer in terms of educational background:

	Radio Engineer	Controls Designer
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 67%	Bachelor's Degree, 53%
Most common major	Electrical Engineering	Electrical Engineering
Most common college	Northeastern University	Carnegie Mellon University

Radio engineer vs controls designer demographics

Here are the differences between radio engineers' and controls designers' demographics:

	Radio Engineer	Controls Designer
Average age	45	45
Gender ratio	Male, 88.1% Female, 11.9%	Male, 86.5% Female, 13.5%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 4.9% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 11.6% Asian, 14.3% White, 64.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%	Black or African American, 4.8% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 11.0% Asian, 17.7% White, 61.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between radio engineer and controls designer duties and responsibilities

Radio engineer example responsibilities.

Process improvement efforts and/or other opportunities to automate these processes with computer applications with C++ and/or Java where applicable.
Create custom software products to support a variety of SCSI storage devices for SVR4 UNIX.
Design and develop RF/Analog broadband cable distribution equipment.
Execute event analysis and provide solutions to meet KPI requirements.
Evaluate technical readiness of VOIP over cellular technology for executive team
Perform testing of prototypes for conformance to FCC specifications during development.

Controls designer example responsibilities.

Establish communication links and prepare machines for bench-testing to attain UL certification.
Engineer, draft, modify PLC programs and HMI programs, create schematics, test software with customer to their satisfaction.
Create the simulation with SolidWorks.
Create and deploy disk images for latest SolidWorks releases as needed.
Develop applications for HVAC, semiconductor, industrial coatings, medical, and renewable and sustainable industries.
Lead designer assign to smaller projects at various plants dealing with instrumentation, PLS and DCS upgrades / modifications.

Radio engineer vs controls designer skills

Common radio engineer skills

RF, 26%
Java, 13%
FM, 13%
Transmitters, 8%
FCC, 7%
Debugging, 6%

Common controls designer skills

PLC, 12%
Control Panels, 6%
IDS, 6%
Auto CAD, 6%
I/O, 5%
UL, 4%