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The differences between staff design engineers and cost 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 staff design engineer and a cost engineer. Additionally, a staff design engineer has an average salary of $128,071, which is higher than the $87,901 average annual salary of a cost engineer.
The top three skills for a staff design engineer include architecture, RF and CAD. The most important skills for a cost engineer are project management, cost analysis, and construction management.
| Staff Design Engineer | Cost Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $128,071 | $87,901 |
| Hourly rate | $61.57 | $42.26 |
| Growth rate | 3% | 3% |
| Number of jobs | 154,963 | 65,278 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 74% |
| Average age | 45 | 45 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
Staff design engineers are tasked to assess the efficiency of instruments, technologies, and equipment by collaborating with the engineering team to plan, design, and develop technologies efficiently. Their responsibilities include building and setting up, as wells as improving systems and procedures. They should possess strong attention to detail, good visual and spatial awareness, creativity, problem-solving, excellent verbal, written, and project management skills, and strong mathematical and IT skills to become efficient and effective staff design engineers.
A cost engineer is responsible for projecting cost and expenses reports for the production process, identify and mitigate risks, and develop strategic techniques to reduce the excessive financial loss for project buildings. Cost engineers conduct data and statistical analysis to measure time deliverables and quality checks to ensure profitability and adherence to business objectives. They research and negotiate materials from trusted suppliers and vendors with high-quality products that would meet construction designs and client specifications.
Staff design engineers and cost engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Staff Design Engineer | Cost Engineer | |
| Average salary | $128,071 | $87,901 |
| Salary range | Between $89,000 And $182,000 | Between $64,000 And $120,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | Rhode Island |
| Best paying company | HBO | BP America Inc |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Energy |
There are a few differences between a staff design engineer and a cost engineer in terms of educational background:
| Staff Design Engineer | Cost Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 74% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Business |
| Most common college | Northeastern University | Georgia Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between staff design engineers' and cost engineers' demographics:
| Staff Design Engineer | Cost Engineer | |
| Average age | 45 | 45 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 75.7% Female, 24.3% | Male, 74.1% Female, 25.9% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.7% Asian, 23.8% White, 57.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 4.9% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 11.3% Asian, 14.4% White, 64.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |