JAMES MORRA | Senior Content Editor
2018
SALARY
CAREER
REPORT
COMPENSATION
Engineering Salaries
Grow Nearly 10 Percent
Over Last Year
A
lthough many electrical and electronics
engineers that responded to Electronic
Design’s latest reader survey are unable
to shake the feeling that they could
make more money in another profession without
the stressful conditions and punishing workload,
two-thirds of respondents actually feel that they are
adequately compensated for what they do.
The average pay in electrical engineering is look-
ing up, according to the latest results from Elec-
tronic Design’s Salary Survey. Base salaries have
increased from $105,040 to $113,624 over the last
year, while many respondents are also collecting
more money from bonuses and stock compensa-
tion. More than 37% of respondents feel that their
wages are comparable to what other engineering
employers are paying.
Many companies have also expanded other forms
of compensation amid stable economic growth
and the Trump administration’s move to curtail
corporate taxes. Bonuses were $4,492 on average.
Stock compensation came out to $2,764 on average,
though more than two-thirds reported that they
earned less than $1,000 through stock redemp-
tion. In addition, around 17% were rewarded with
company shares, an increase of 3% from last year’s
survey.
Some survey respondents also report that com-
panies are improving access to healthcare, handing
out hiring bonuses, covering continuous education
costs, and offering other incentives to fill open en-
gineering positions amid mounting competition
for talent and growing turnover. The number of
respondents that benefit from profit sharing has
grown from 21% to 25% over the last half decade.
One-third say that their employers offer signing bo-
nuses.
1 ELECTRONICDESIGN..COM
Despite this, more than one-third of respondents
feel that they should be better compensated consid-
ering the talent required for most engineering jobs.
Around 31% say that their compensation packages
are somewhat less competitive than what others re-
ceive, while 13% say that theirs are much less com-
petitive. Another 13% say that they are compensat-
ed somewhat more competitively than others.
The battle for engineering talent is heating up.
That may be boosting compensation in the short
term. Around 67%of those surveyed say a head-
hunter has contacted them within the last year.
while the companies of another 59% are having
trouble finding qualified candidates for open engi-
neering positions. Approximately 40% say that their
company is going to hire more engineers over the
next year, while 50% say staffing will largely stay the
same.
At the same time, almost two-thirds of respon-
dents are seeing their pay rise. Their compensation
has increased 4% on average over the last year, twice
the estimated 2018 inflation rate. But compensa-
tion is affected by many factors, including title,
education, experience, location and an employer’s
financial performance. Many respondents advise
younger engineers to shift into management roles
over time to move forward in terms of wage growth.
Design engineering positions pay $123,159 on
average, including stock payments and bonuses, an
increase from $99,880 over the last five years. Com-
pensation for employees in engineering manage-
ment roles grew from $130,314 to $137,644 since
2014. Executives have the highest salaries, bonus-
es, and stock rewards, with total compensation of
$143,101, up from $128,906 over the same five-year
period.
An employer’s earnings also affect compensation.
Sponsored by
 BY CAREER

SALARIES Executive/operating
management $132,212
1
Engineering
management
$129,376
2
Design & development
engineering $113,999
3
Increase

How will AVERAGE SALARIES

your 2018
compensation
Decrease compare to Average Base Salary $113,624
2017? Average Bonus $4,492
Median Bonus $3,000
Same
Average Stock Options $2,764

BY LOCATION
$128,178
$129,108

$123,127
$109,311

$102,624
$105,463

$101,675

$108,850
$109,720

BY INDUSTRY BY EXPERIENCE

Computer product design $130,539 40 years or more $114,984

Communications systems and equipment $118,328
35–39 years $122,071
Industrial controls systems and equipment $96,270.00
30–34 years $126,416
Test and measurement equipment $102,398.00
25–29 years $124,167
Power design $118,235.00

Research & development $104,696.00 20–24 years $122,758

Software design/development/programming $112,250.00 15–19 years $117,129

Medical products $112,237.00
10–14 years $113,924
Consumer products $117,138.00
5–9 years $91,224
Automotive products $114,532.00
1–4 years $72,014
Avionics, marine, or space $126,564.00

Military products $136,811.00 Less than 1 year $57,682

ICs and semiconductors $144,057.00

Mobile equipment $105,250.00

$0 $30000 $60000 $90000 $120000 $150000

Sponsored by
2 ELECTRONICDESIGN..COM
Respondents working at companies that earn be-
tween $5 million and $999 million in revenue per
year take home $115,616 on average. On the other
hand, respondents employed by large corporations
that report more than $1 billion of sales every year
are earning an average of $139,608. Companies
with less than $5 million pay their employees an av-
erage of $97,291, respondents say.
Working for either a private or public company
can also influence overall pay. The average salary
for respondents working at public companies was
$122,984 with $5,179 in bonuses and $3,226 in
stock, while the numbers for private company em-
ployees—more than 50% of those taking Electronic
Design’s survey—came out to $110,548, $4,258, and
$2,535, respectively. Electrical engineers working in
education generally get paid much less.
Even though almost 30% of respondents say that
they would consider leaving the engineering profes-
sion in order to make more money, most remain in
high spirits. Nearly 90% say they take satisfaction
in their current occupation. Only the challenges ac-
companying the development of new products and
researching potential solutions to these problems
are more important factors in job satisfaction than
pay, according to survey respondents.

Sponsored by
3 ELECTRONICDESIGN..COM