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The differences between staff engineers and development 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 engineer and a development engineer. Additionally, a staff engineer has an average salary of $107,530, which is higher than the $93,206 average annual salary of a development engineer.
The top three skills for a staff engineer include java, python and architecture. The most important skills for a development engineer are java, python, and software development.
| Staff Engineer | Development Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $107,530 | $93,206 |
| Hourly rate | $51.70 | $44.81 |
| Growth rate | 2% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 277,011 | 224,881 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 74% | Bachelor's Degree, 72% |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
Staff engineers are responsible for designing, developing, and inspecting various products, equipment, or structures. These professionals may perform varied duties depending on their specialization that includes overseeing the design and construction of buildings, bridges, sewer systems, and other infrastructure, estimating the financial costs of construction projects, and ensuring compliance with health and safety laws and regulations. Other duties include designing and developing machinery, tools, and engines, solving design problems, and building the manufacturing equipment needed to create their products.
A Development Engineer is responsible for the development and validation of products, systems, and components. They are also responsible for quality control of work and continuous improvement of engineer activities.
Staff engineers and development engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Staff Engineer | Development Engineer | |
| Average salary | $107,530 | $93,206 |
| Salary range | Between $69,000 And $167,000 | Between $70,000 And $122,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Mateo, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | Washington |
| Best paying company | Flexport | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Telecommunication | Technology |
There are a few differences between a staff engineer and a development engineer in terms of educational background:
| Staff Engineer | Development Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 74% | Bachelor's Degree, 72% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Mechanical Engineering |
| Most common college | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Michigan Technological University |
Here are the differences between staff engineers' and development engineers' demographics:
| Staff Engineer | Development Engineer | |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 87.9% Female, 12.1% | Male, 85.5% Female, 14.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.1% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 7.8% Asian, 16.8% White, 67.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% | Black or African American, 3.1% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 7.8% Asian, 16.7% White, 67.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 5% |