Electrical Engineers
SOC 17-2071 · 2024-2034
Research, design, develop, test, or supervise the manufacturing and installation of electrical equipment, components, or systems for commercial, industrial, military, or scientific use.
How the U.S. Department of Labor describes this work. Published in English only.
The job this trains for
- Typical pay in California
- $148,072per year
- Projected openings
- 15,160
- Projected change
- +7.3%
- Usually needs
- Bachelor's degree
Bright Outlook — a U.S. Department of Labor designation
Rapid Growth
The Department's own designation, made from its national projections. It is not this project's assessment and it is not California's: every other figure on this page comes from California's projection, which can point the other way and for some occupations does.
Skills this work uses most
O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupation database, rates how important each of these is to this work, and they are listed in that order, most important first. The ratings themselves are not shown, because the data carries the number without the scale it was measured on. The names are as published, in English.
- Writing
- Reading Comprehension
- Critical Thinking
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Complex Problem Solving
Pay by region
| Region | Typical pay in California | Projected openings |
|---|---|---|
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara MSA (San Benito and Santa Clara Counties) | $192,000 | 3,370 |
| San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City MD (San Francisco and San Mateo Counties) | $170,711 | 650 |
| Oakland-Fremont-Berkeley MD (Alameda and Contra Costa Counties) | $161,873 | 1,120 |
| North Coast Region (Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, and Mendocino Counties) | $154,765 | 20 |
| Vallejo MSA (Solano County) | $143,640 | 80 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale MD (Los Angeles County) | $139,932 | 3,200 |
| Santa Maria-Santa Barbara MSA (Santa Barbara County) | $138,279 | 160 |
| Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom MSA (El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, and Yolo Counties) | $134,283 | 990 |
| San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles MSA (San Luis Obispo County) | $132,578 | 70 |
| Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine MD (Orange County) | $132,520 | 1,540 |
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad MSA (San Diego County) | $132,249 | 1,560 |
| Santa Cruz-Watsonville MSA (Santa Cruz County) | $130,503 | 70 |
| Fresno MSA (Fresno and Madera Counties) | $130,400 | 270 |
| Santa Rosa-Petaluma MSA (Sonoma County) | $130,380 | 70 |
| Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura MSA (Ventura County) | $130,267 | 260 |
| Redding MSA (Shasta County) | $129,311 | 60 |
| Stockton-Lodi MSA (San Joaquin County) | $126,435 | 100 |
| Bakersfield-Delano MSA (Kern County) | $124,730 | 260 |
| Yuba City MSA (Sutter and Yuba Counties) | $124,514 | 30 |
| Visalia MSA (Tulare County) | $121,649 | 60 |
| North Valley-Northern Mountains Region (Colusa, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Plumas, Sierra, Siskiyou, Tehama, and Trinity Counties) | $117,899 | 20 |
| Modesto MSA (Stanislaus County) | $115,373 | 50 |
| Salinas MSA (Monterey County) | $112,753 | 30 |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario MSA (Riverside and San Bernardino Counties) | $112,332 | 600 |
| Chico MSA (Butte County) | Not reported | 40 |
| San Rafael MD (Marin County) | Not reported | 20 |
Similar work
O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupation database, names these as occupations involving work similar to this one — its own reading of the job, not a grouping by code. They keep O*NET's order, and only those California publishes a projection for are shown.
| The job this trains for | Typical pay in California | Projected openings | Projected change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electronics Engineers, Except Computer | $165,013 | 11,330 | +0.5% |
| Electrical and Electronics Engineering Technologists and Technicians | $88,500 | 11,520 | -2.9% |
| Mechanical Engineers | $134,564 | 20,280 | +11.5% |
| Electrical and Electronics Repairers, Commercial and Industrial Equipment | $89,542 | 5,030 | +5.1% |
| Mechanical Engineering Technologists and Technicians | $89,836 | 3,330 | +5.4% |
| Engineers, All Other | $134,513 | 19,090 | +6.4% |
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