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The differences between start-up engineers and product 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 start-up engineer and a product engineer. Additionally, a start-up engineer has an average salary of $96,978, which is higher than the $89,645 average annual salary of a product engineer.
The top three skills for a start-up engineer include test results, control systems and test procedures. The most important skills for a product engineer are CAD, product design, and project management.
| Start-Up Engineer | Product Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $96,978 | $89,645 |
| Hourly rate | $46.62 | $43.10 |
| Growth rate | 2% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 87,993 | 157,888 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 74% |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
A start-up engineer must have systematic debugging skills. They are responsible for fixing bugs reported by clients. They must also promptly navigate unfamiliar codebases. They develop new tools to meet clients' needs.
A product engineer specializes in designing and developing commercial materials and services. They are primarily responsible for conducting thorough research and analysis of the latest trends and marketing conditions to come up with new ideas and products for the public. Moreover, they are also responsible for producing reports and presentations, coordinating with the development team of their company. Product engineers also reach out to vendors and suppliers for the raw materials, set regulations and standards for the product, and even conduct a rigorous and regular quality check.
Start-up engineers and product engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Start-Up Engineer | Product Engineer | |
| Average salary | $96,978 | $89,645 |
| Salary range | Between $62,000 And $150,000 | Between $68,000 And $118,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | New Mexico | California |
| Best paying company | CyberCoders | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Manufacturing | Technology |
There are a few differences between a start-up engineer and a product engineer in terms of educational background:
| Start-Up Engineer | Product Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 74% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Mechanical Engineering |
| Most common college | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Michigan Technological University |
Here are the differences between start-up engineers' and product engineers' demographics:
| Start-Up Engineer | Product Engineer | |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 93.4% Female, 6.6% | Male, 87.8% Female, 12.2% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.2% Asian, 10.3% White, 72.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% | Black or African American, 3.1% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 17.0% White, 67.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 5% |