Top 3 Industries for Highest Electrical Engineer Salary

Some of the highest paying careers in the world are in the field of electrical engineering. Electrical engineering jobs are among the most profitable jobs out there, an electrical engineer salary can exceed $254,000 per year.

RELATED: TOP 3 JOBS FOR HIGHEST MECHANICAL ENGINEER SALARY

An Electrical Engineer tends to earn more than the national average salary, and this is expected to continue. Electrical Engineering jobs have some of the highest career potentials, and We would like to share with you the Top 3 Industries where you can achieve the Highest Electrical Engineer Salary.

On average, an Electrical Engineer earns a salary of $71,000 per year. Most engineers move on to management jobs, if they have more than two decades of experience hands-on experience in their field, get paid sizable amounts.

Electrical engineering jobs are for implementing systems and designing components and devices that use electricity to operate. They have to be adept at handling electricity in their devices, designing protocols, researching alternative sources, creating solutions, and improving product and system safety.

Due to the nature of electrical engineering jobs, electrical engineers work in teams, they solve complex problems regarding electrical systems. Often, these teams consist of electrical engineers with proficiency in different areas, so the group is better-equipped to find a solution to an electrical problem. As a team, electrical engineers inspect completed projects to ensure compliance with design standards, while applying electrical engineering principles, such as design implementation and improving electrical instruments.

Therefore, if you want to earn the highest electrical engineer salary, you must be a great team player. The secret to success in electrical engineering jobs is to be able to communicate ideas and ask the right questions to evoke curiosity and challenge the status quo. That’s how you make the big bucks!

Electrical Engineers must be skilled in math and be excellent problem solvers. Successful Electrical Engineers must think creatively and feel comfortable with public speaking and group presentation settings.

Before we dive into the top industries where you find the highest salary for Electrical Engineers, let’s understand the possible career paths for electrical engineers:

Career Paths for Electrical Engineers are :

1. Electrical Engineer

– Senior Electrical Engineer

– Design Engineering Manager

2. Systems Engineer

– Senior Electronics Design Engineer

– Principal Systems Engineer

– Product Manager

3. Test Engineer

– Senior Test Engineer

– Quality Control Manager

4. Electrical Application Engineer

– Client or Supplier Engineer

– Applications Engineering Manager

5. Network Design Engineer

– Senior Network Engineer

– Telecom Network Manager

– Information Technology Manager

Choosing the Right Industry for Your Next Electrical Engineering Job

Well, not every industry employs electrical engineers for the same job functions, so it is important that you understand the difference between the market sectors to ensure your best interests in the long run while maximizing your earning potential. The Computer Hardware Designer position currently pays the highest salary for electrical engineers, primarily due to the shortage of professionals in this marketplace. Regardless of whether or not you have your electrical engineering degree on hand, or you are going to graduate soon, evaluating possible careers can feel mind-boggling. Therefore to ensure that you do not leave anything on the table regarding earning potential and personal interest, here’s a breakdown of the top 3 industries for the highest electrical engineer salary.

1. Computer Hardware & Signal Processing

The average starting salary for an electrical hardware engineer is $86,300. Hardware Engineering is a relatively new field of engineering, and there are not enough electrical hardware engineers to keep up with the demand, although, the job growth rate could potentially slow over time. An Electrical Hardware Engineer can anticipate earning a salary of $111,730 per year with five to eight years of experience and $167,100 per year or more with 15+ years of experience.

Signal processing is a technology that incorporates the fundamental theory, applications, algorithms, and implementations of information processing of physical and symbolic formats designated as signals. It uses mathematical, statistical, computational and linguistic representations, formalisms, and techniques for representation, modeling, and analysis. Moreover, electrical hardware engineers are often responsible for performing all signal processing tasks while they are designing computer parts and components.

• Computer Hardware Engineer salary ranges from $79,160 – $254,546
• Artificial Intelligence Engineer salary ranges from $88,200 – $235,593
• Electrical Circuit Engineer salary ranges from $85,000 – $230,000

International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) is among the largest brands within the computational hardware engineering community. Electrical engineers will find that working for this firm is rewarding not only salary-wise but also from a career growth and skill development perspective.

2. Advanced Automation & Robotic Systems

Control engineering used to be an integral part of mechanical engineering and has turned into a relatively new industry that combines software engineering and mathematics concepts. Control engineers focus on designing and developing automated machines that have multiple functions. The instruments that an automation engineer may control could be part of an automated system, manufacturing process, or robotic device. This type of electrical engineering can earn a starting salary of $64,600 and a mid-career salary of $105,570. The salary for an electrical engineer in this field can be as high as $159,850 per year or more with 15 or more years of experience.

As part of today’s automated work environments, Automation and Robotic Engineers develop and design computer control systems that not only power automated systems, but also help unify and consolidate manufacturing functions while gathering data to be analyzed and used to improve the entire automated infrastructure. These automated robotic technologies also help replace human laborers in unsafe conditions, for example.

• Control Systems Engineer salary ranges from $72,000 – $197,026
• Robotics and Automation Engineer salary ranges from $67,842 – $171,000
• Industrial Applications Engineer salary ranges from $76,679 – $186,550

The practice of building robots to perform tasks autonomously goes back a long way, but research in the operation and possible uses of robots did not mature considerably prior to the 20th century.

Now, we dream of the day when robots will be able to mirror human behavior and handle duties in a human-like manner. These days, robotics is a rapidly expanding industry, as advancements in engineering keep happening; exploring, developing, and building new robots provide many functional purposes, whether it be in domestic, commercial, or military settings.

For instance, Rockwell Automation is a supplier of industrial & commercial automation products and information systems, with brand names such as Allen-Bradley and Rockwell. They manage their organization via two sectors – Infrastructure Software and Control System Solutions. The Rockwell Automation portfolio includes Control Systems, Integrated Architecture, Industrial Controls, Safety Technology, Information Software, Manufacturing System Management, Intelligent Sensing Devices, Network Sensors & Industrial Switches as well as Security Systems.

3. Aerospace & Space Defense Systems

An electrical engineer builds the backbone of aerospace and defense systems and those entering this sector can expect a starting salary of $59,240 and a mid-career salary of $113,970. This job provides electrical engineering graduates the chance to design and develop components that handle flight control systems, they can also test the functionality of defense systems. In return for this hard work, the salary for an electrical engineer in this field can be as high as $146,820 per year or more with 15 or more years of experience.

I want to take this opportunity and mention the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI). SDI is a secret government program that was a proposed missile defense system intended to protect us from attacks with strategic ballistic weapons. This system is aimed at combining ground defense units, orbital communication, and deployment platforms and is focused on strategic defense.

Working for the SDI as close as you can get to STAR WARS, and as you can imagine, every electrical engineer with aerospace engineering experience wishes to get recruited for a position in the SDI and make some of the highest salaries in this field. This program requires the highest levels of security clearance, hence only a few, secretly selected, lucky electrical engineers, get these high paying jobs.

• Communication and Remote-Sensing Engineer salary ranges from $92,332 – $221,500
• Aerospace and Electrical Systems Engineer salary ranges from $76,219 – $219,150
• Signal Processing Engineer salary ranges from $80,250 – $214,000

Boeing Defense, Space & Security (BDS) is a unit of The Boeing Company responsible for defense and aerospace products and services. Boeing Integrated Defense Systems was found in 2002 by combining the former “Military Aircraft and Missile Systems” and “Space and Communications” divisions. BDS made Boeing the world’s 2nd-largest defense firm, responsible for 45{64d42ef84185fe650eef13e078a399812999bbd8b8ee84343ab535e62a252847} of the company’s income in 2011.

Honorable Mention: Automotive Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS)

Advanced Driver Assistance Systems support vehicle operators in the driving process. When built with a secure Human-Machine Interface, they will improve vehicle and road safety. Advanced driver assistance systems are designed for automating and enhancing vehicle systems for safety and improving the driving experience. Safety measures are created to prevent accidents by notifying the driver with against potential hazards or by preventing crashes via safety precautions and overtaking control over the automobile. Other functions include automated lights, adaptive cruise control, automated braking, GPS navigation, traffic alerts, and mobile phone linking.

There are numerous types of ADAS available; some functions are built-in and some are add-ons. ADAS depend on data from multiple data sources, such as vehicle imaging and computer vision systems. More data points are possible to be discovered from the primary instrument systems known as Vehicle-to-Vehicle and Vehicle-to-Infrastructure systems.

• Instrumentation and Measurement Engineer salary ranges from $77,000 – $211,650
• Automotive Systems Engineer salary ranges from $58,400 – $188,800
• Advanced Electronics Engineer salary ranges from $88,620 – $266,850

However, now that the world’s leading automotive manufacturers are focusing on developing fully electric and autonomous vehicles, they have become desperate to find electrical engineers who are adept at designing and developing such systems; that is why it provides a high salary and a great career in Algorithm Engineering (Object Detection, Recognition, and Tracking), Application Engineering (Analog & Digital Signal Processing), System Verification Engineering, System Security and System Architecture.

In a world riddled by COVID-19, to pursue a successful career as an electrical or electronics engineer got even tougher, primarily due to the competitive nature of the job market in this field as well as the fast rate of growth of the technology, and also, there are more talented engineers who are available for new jobs than ever. As you build your career this year, make sure to model your career on success stories by electrical and electronics engineers. Good luck.