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Job outlook for senior electronic engineers in the United States
Are senior electronic engineer jobs in demand?
Senior electronic engineer job and salary trends over time
Senior electronic engineer jobs over time
Senior electronic engineer job growth rate over time
| Year | # of jobs | % of population |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 2,922 | 0.00% |
| 2020 | 3,335 | 0.00% |
| 2019 | 3,512 | 0.00% |
| 2018 | 3,657 | 0.00% |
| 2017 | 3,679 | 0.00% |
Average senior electronic engineer salary over time
Senior electronic engineer salary by year
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $106,931 | $51.41 | +1.9% |
| 2024 | $104,972 | $50.47 | +2.8% |
| 2023 | $102,118 | $49.10 | +0.5% |
| 2022 | $101,601 | $48.85 | +3.0% |
| 2021 | $98,648 | $47.43 | +1.0% |
Senior electronic engineer jobs by state
Most common states for senior electronic engineers
| Rank | State | Population | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | District of Columbia | 693,972 | 326 | 47% |
| 2 | Massachusetts | 6,859,819 | 1,301 | 19% |
| 3 | Maryland | 6,052,177 | 1,010 | 17% |
| 4 | Colorado | 5,607,154 | 896 | 16% |
| 5 | Washington | 7,405,743 | 1,113 | 15% |
| 6 | California | 39,536,653 | 5,456 | 14% |
| 7 | Delaware | 961,939 | 138 | 14% |
| 8 | New Hampshire | 1,342,795 | 172 | 13% |
| 9 | North Dakota | 755,393 | 90 | 12% |
| 10 | Arizona | 7,016,270 | 804 | 11% |
| 11 | Minnesota | 5,576,606 | 603 | 11% |
| 12 | Alaska | 739,795 | 75 | 10% |
| 13 | Alabama | 4,874,747 | 454 | 9% |
| 14 | Michigan | 9,962,311 | 761 | 8% |
| 15 | New Mexico | 2,088,070 | 175 | 8% |
| 16 | Nebraska | 1,920,076 | 156 | 8% |
| 17 | Montana | 1,050,493 | 82 | 8% |
| 18 | North Carolina | 10,273,419 | 748 | 7% |
| 19 | Hawaii | 1,427,538 | 93 | 7% |
| 20 | Maine | 1,335,907 | 92 | 7% |
Most common cities for senior electronic engineers
| Rank | City | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl | Avg. salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Columbus | 3 | 6% | $81,552 |
| 2 | Balch Springs | 1 | 4% | $107,435 |
| 3 | Kokomo | 2 | 3% | $82,534 |
| 4 | Carson | 2 | 2% | $127,430 |
| 5 | Burleson | 1 | 2% | $108,136 |
| 6 | Cedar Hill | 1 | 2% | $107,835 |
| 7 | Fremont | 2 | 1% | $140,874 |
| 8 | Carrollton | 1 | 1% | $107,208 |
| 9 | New York | 2 | 0% | $90,145 |
| 10 | San Diego | 2 | 0% | $124,758 |
| 11 | San Francisco | 2 | 0% | $141,681 |
| 12 | Seattle | 2 | 0% | $124,452 |
| 13 | Tucson | 2 | 0% | $109,831 |
| 14 | Arlington | 1 | 0% | $107,731 |
Senior Electronic Engineer job outlook: Expert opinions
Our panel of senior electronic engineer experts
Gonzaga University
Stevens Institute of Technology
University of Alabama at Birmingham
San Diego State University
University of Utah
Old Dominion University
Michigan Technological University
University of California, Davis
Wright State University
What will help Senior Electronic Engineers increase their earning potential?
Craig Johnson Ph.D., P.E.: Master basic science and engineering concepts, as well as application of 'soft skills' such as written and verbal communication. Acquire skills and knowledge areas in electromechanical devices, especially in areas of energy and heat transfer, reflecting current issues related to climate change and power management.
What general advice would you give to a Senior Electronic Engineer?
Steven Schennum Ph.D. P.E.: Make sure electrical engineering is something that YOU want to do and not something you are doing for someone else (a friend, a relative, etc.). I’ve had students who were pursuing an EE degree just to make their parents (or uncle, or whomever) proud, and weren’t really interested in what they are studying. If you do not have the passion to be an engineer, then do something else. In addition to passion, engineering requires a lot of math, reason, and logic. If you are easily frustrated, struggle with mathematics, and are inclined to give up, then don’t waste your time. Find a more suitable way to live your life. If you live your life by disregarding your own interests while trying to gain the approval of someone else, you will wind up being miserable.
What Senior Electronic 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 Senior Electronic 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 Senior Electronic 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 Senior Electronic 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.
Florian Solzbacher
Department Chair, Professor, Elect & Computer EngineeringUniversity of Utah
Electrical and Computer Engineering Department
What skills stand out on Senior Electronic Engineer resumes?
Florian Solzbacher: Examples of having applied the knowledge gained in their studies to practical examples of solving engineering problems that require the combination of skills and at least some understanding of system engineering aspects are important signals that graduating engineers are ready to be productive in a real-world setting are always important. Obviously, participating in projects that address current "hot topic" problems, e.g., in robotics, AI/machine learning, power systems, biomedical applications, or that resonate with specific problems an employer is currently working on, will raise a student's profile.
Supplemental skills, such as Entrepreneurial or business training, can enhance and differentiate a student's resume. This shows that an engineer is not solely focused on the core technical engineering skills but does have an understanding of the driving forces and their interaction in a real-world business setting, that are not only part of the design requirements for a product (e.g., design to cost), but also often drive the selection of technical solution paths, after all, every development and product has to make business sense. Imagine two young engineers proposing a solution to their manager for a new product: one maybe even over-exceeds the technical requirements, but the development and/or manufacturing and servicing effort and cost is significantly higher than a colleagues solution that may only just about reach the requirements, or maybe even compromise on some specifications, but that is far cheaper to develop, make and service and that may allow entering a far larger market- chances are very high that the business may decide to go for the "inferior" solution from a technical point of view, that is, however, the better product. This supplemental skill set is a significant competitive advantage to have as an engineer.
What hard/technical skills are most important for Senior Electronic Engineers?
Florian Solzbacher: First of all, the fundamentals (mostly math, physics, materials/chemistry) and basic EE/CE concepts need to be solid. As stated above: the ability to solve real-world development and system integration problems that require "global optimization" of technical performance as opposed to local optimization of specific sub-systems or components is really critical.
Beyond that, given the accelerating breadth of specializations and sub-areas, it is important that students have sufficient depth and breadth of knowledge in the specific area they are targeting. It is important that schools are offering tracks and guidance as to what skills are needed to allow students to successfully master engineering tasks across a range of sub-areas. We have to recognize that in the context of a 4-year program, it is no longer possible to train a student in all areas of ECE - a combined BS/MS degree or MS/Ph.D. degree obviously provides more runway to add breadth.
Will there be an enduring impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Senior Electronic 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.
What type of skills will young Senior Electronic Engineers need?
Joshua Pearce Ph.D: The trends were already present before COVID - but they have been accelerated: graduates need to work remotely and function in virtual teams on large complex projects. Many jobs have been virtualized, and recruiters are targeting talent with proven abilities. Many graduates received a crash course in large-scale cooperation with massive open-source development projects like the thousands of engineers that joined Helpful Engineering to combat COVID. They worked on everything from designing PPE that overran the NIHs 3D printing Exchange to complicated electronics for open-source ventilators.
What Senior Electronic Engineer skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Andre Knoesen Ph.D.: The gap year is an excellent period to expand soft skills (e.g., communication, critical thinking, creativity, writing, and exposure to other cultures) that are essential for new engineers. Basic engineering talents could be maintained by volunteering time in K-12 schools, such as assisting in distance learning efforts.
What general advice would you give to a Senior Electronic Engineer?
Fred Garber Ph.D.: I think the primary question, in the minds of those who are yet to graduate or are still searching, is in regard to the strength of the technical job market, especially the local job market. But you are in a position to definitively answer that question.
In you article, I would ask that you address the following:
Number of employers looking to fill and number of job offerings in the region (by engineering and computer science major) compared to last year and to the previous five years.
Any noticeable differences in job descriptions Zippia is receiving relative to work environment, benefits, starting salaries, etc.
Many of our soon-to-graduate students would be very interested in these quantitative and qualitative comparisons. Additionally, vast numbers of potential students would benefit from such information to guide their career choices.