Electrical Engineers salary
SOC 17-2071 · BLS OEWS May 2025
What the range looks like
A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.
- 10th
- $76,550
- 25th
- $92,830
- Median
- $120,630
- 75th
- $152,950
- 90th
- $184,300
Getting in
- Typical education to enter
- Bachelor's degree
- Related work experience
- None
- On-the-job training
- None
Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.
Where electrical engineers earn the most
Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.
The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.
| # | State | Median | Cost of living | Employed | Concentrationvs. national |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Mexico | $158,520 | 92.2 | 2,560 | 2.30× |
| 2 | California | $144,040 | 110.7 | 24,230 | 1.04× |
| 3 | District of Columbia | $143,000 | 109.9 | 330 | 0.37× |
| 4 | New Hampshire | $135,710 | 104.2 | 1,600 | 1.83× |
| 5 | Washington | $132,710 | 107.0 | 7,610 | 1.68× |
| 6 | Texas | $129,450 | 97.1 | 20,870 | 1.16× |
| 7 | Idaho | $129,340 | 95.5 | 1,000 | 0.91× |
| 8 | Massachusetts | $127,720 | 105.8 | 5,040 | 1.08× |
| 9 | Delaware | $126,970 | 99.8 | 660 | 1.07× |
| 10 | Alaska | $125,970 | 102.4 | 350 | 0.83× |
| 11 | Alabama | $125,630 | 88.8 | 4,600 | 1.70× |
| 12 | New Jersey | $125,370 | 108.8 | 2,940 | 0.54× |
| 13 | Oregon | $125,160 | 103.4 | 2,540 | 1.01× |
| 14 | Maryland | $125,150 | 105.0 | 4,650 | 1.32× |
| 15 | Louisiana | $123,710 | 88.2 | 990 | 0.40× |
| 16 | Colorado | $120,760 | 103.1 | 4,200 | 1.14× |
| 17 | Virginia | $119,030 | 101.1 | 7,260 | 1.38× |
| 18 | New York | $119,010 | 107.9 | 8,770 | 0.71× |
| 19 | Missouri | $118,670 | 90.8 | 2,410 | 0.64× |
| 20 | Maine | $114,620 | 97.0 | 1,150 | 1.40× |
| 21 | West Virginia | $113,420 | 89.5 | 500 | 0.55× |
| 22 | Wyoming | $111,740 | 92.7 | 280 | 0.78× |
| 23 | Vermont | $111,310 | 98.0 | 820 | 2.11× |
| 24 | Pennsylvania | $110,820 | 97.6 | 6,970 | 0.90× |
| 25 | North Dakota | $110,810 | 89.0 | 260 | 0.47× |
| 26 | North Carolina | $110,130 | 94.3 | 7,090 | 1.12× |
| 27 | Minnesota | $109,510 | 98.6 | 3,150 | 0.84× |
| 28 | Illinois | $107,860 | 100.0 | 5,460 | 0.70× |
| 29 | Oklahoma | $107,760 | 87.8 | 2,080 | 0.96× |
| 30 | Nevada | $107,400 | 100.0 | 1,100 | 0.56× |
| 31 | Nebraska | $107,260 | 90.1 | 1,060 | 0.81× |
| 32 | Hawaii | $106,350 | 110.0 | 1,080 | 1.35× |
| 33 | Michigan | $106,070 | 96.2 | 10,840 | 1.93× |
| 34 | Iowa | $105,820 | 87.8 | 1,280 | 0.64× |
| 35 | Utah | $105,720 | 98.9 | 1,680 | 0.76× |
| 36 | Mississippi | $104,990 | 87.0 | 1,130 | 0.76× |
| 37 | Florida | $104,780 | 103.4 | 9,220 | 0.73× |
| 38 | Tennessee | $104,450 | 91.9 | 2,830 | 0.68× |
| 39 | Connecticut | $104,160 | 103.6 | 2,930 | 1.35× |
| 40 | Indiana | $102,670 | 93.3 | 4,000 | 0.98× |
| 41 | Kansas | $102,630 | 90.1 | 2,100 | 1.14× |
| 42 | Ohio | $100,620 | 92.8 | 6,360 | 0.90× |
| 43 | Arizona | $100,550 | 100.7 | 5,370 | 1.30× |
| 44 | Wisconsin | $99,700 | 94.1 | 3,550 | 0.94× |
| 45 | South Dakota | $98,980 | 88.6 | 530 | 0.91× |
| 46 | Kentucky | $98,550 | 90.2 | 1,540 | 0.60× |
| 47 | South Carolina | $98,440 | 93.7 | 3,490 | 1.18× |
| 48 | Arkansas | $96,860 | 86.9 | 900 | 0.54× |
| 49 | Montana | $87,360 | 94.6 | 790 | 1.21× |
Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where electrical engineers wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.
Best paying metro areas for electrical engineers
The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.
The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.
| # | Metro area | Median | Cost of living | Employed | Concentrationvs. national |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | $187,060 | 110.4 | 4,160 | 2.87× |
| 2 | Slidell-Mandeville-Covington, LA | $167,010 | 92.7 | 50 | 0.41× |
| 3 | San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | $166,030 | 115.6 | 2,470 | 0.81× |
| 4 | Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA | $164,880 | 107.8 | 100 | 0.36× |
| 5 | Albuquerque, NM | $163,720 | 95.5 | 1,280 | 2.47× |
| 6 | Vallejo, CA | $160,060 | 108.5 | 150 | 0.79× |
| 7 | Manchester-Nashua, NH | $159,360 | 105.7 | 1,050 | 4.10× |
| 8 | Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX | $145,360 | 98.1 | 4,070 | 2.46× |
| 9 | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | $140,210 | 111.1 | 4,930 | 1.85× |
| 10 | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | $139,780 | 113.6 | 8,970 | 1.12× |
| 11 | Kahului-Wailuku, HI | $137,030 | 109.4 | 70 | 0.72× |
| 12 | San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA | $136,240 | 108.6 | 100 | 0.67× |
| 13 | Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA | $136,190 | 106.7 | 1,420 | 1.03× |
| 14 | Idaho Falls, ID | $136,100 | 94.4 | 130 | 1.24× |
| 15 | Fresno, CA | $134,780 | 102.2 | 400 | 0.65× |
| 16 | Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA | $134,640 | 108.8 | 230 | 0.88× |
| 17 | Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA | $133,560 | 109.9 | 90 | 0.74× |
| 18 | Baton Rouge, LA | $133,030 | 90.8 | 350 | 0.68× |
| 19 | Wenatchee-East Wenatchee, WA | $132,930 | 103.9 | 80 | 1.19× |
| 20 | Florence-Muscle Shoals, AL | $131,330 | 84.8 | 50 | 0.68× |
| 21 | Stockton-Lodi, CA | $131,080 | 105.1 | 160 | 0.42× |
| 22 | Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX | $131,070 | 98.6 | 5,770 | 1.37× |
| 23 | Huntsville, AL | $130,330 | 93.1 | 2,190 | 6.42× |
| 24 | Raleigh-Cary, NC | $130,240 | 98.2 | 1,500 | 1.58× |
| 25 | Boulder, CO | $130,170 | 105.2 | 530 | 2.17× |
| 26 | Lake Charles, LA | $129,940 | 85.9 | 70 | 0.51× |
| 27 | Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA | $129,880 | 110.5 | 460 | 1.12× |
| 28 | Boise City, ID | $129,790 | 98.4 | 590 | 1.17× |
| 29 | Worcester, MA | $129,720 | 102.5 | 480 | 1.08× |
| 30 | Charleston, WV | $129,250 | 88.7 | 60 | 0.47× |
| 31 | Durham-Chapel Hill, NC | $129,030 | 97.6 | 1,020 | 2.31× |
| 32 | Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT | $128,960 | 106.9 | 430 | 0.84× |
| 33 | Lexington Park, MD | $128,900 | 100.8 | 420 | 4.62× |
| 34 | Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH | $128,610 | 108.3 | 4,030 | 1.17× |
| 35 | Longview-Kelso, WA | $128,340 | 97.5 | 30 | 0.62× |
| 36 | New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ | $128,340 | 112.6 | 6,290 | 0.52× |
| 37 | Kennewick-Richland, WA | $128,190 | 100.1 | 450 | 2.74× |
| 38 | Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA | $128,080 | 105.4 | 2,320 | 1.50× |
| 39 | Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD | $127,730 | 102.6 | 3,520 | 0.95× |
| 40 | Midland, TX | $127,420 | 95.8 | 130 | 0.85× |
Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where electrical engineers wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.
Similar occupations
Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.
- Civil Engineers$100,840
- Industrial Engineers$102,440
- Mechanical Engineers$104,110
- Engineers, All Other$122,930
- Electronics Engineers, Except Computer$130,220
- Computer Hardware Engineers$161,740
- Aerospace Engineers$134,960
- Environmental Engineers$107,110