Electrical and Electronics Drafters salary

SOC 17-3012 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$76,870

per year, nationally

Middle half

$61,430–$96,730

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

17,920

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

-5.6%

1,700 openings/yr

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.

$50,040$120,290

10th: $50,040
25th: $61,430
Median: $76,870
75th: $96,730
90th: $120,290

Getting in

Typical education to enter: Associate'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 and electronics drafters 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 Hampshire	$102,070	104.2	220	2.78×
2	New Mexico	$101,330	92.2	390	3.93×
3	Massachusetts	$87,290	105.8	470	1.13×
4	North Carolina	$81,960	94.3	430	0.75×
5	Idaho	$81,590	95.5	100	1.03×
6	Ohio	$80,840	92.8	510	0.80×
7	Texas	$80,620	97.1	1,840	1.13×
8	Georgia	$80,620	96.3	470	0.83×
9	Indiana	$80,100	93.3	360	0.96×
10	Utah	$79,360	98.9	290	1.47×
11	Colorado	$79,300	103.1	750	2.27×
12	Kentucky	$79,050	90.2	80	0.35×
13	California	$78,310	110.7	2,730	1.30×
14	Oregon	$78,170	103.4	330	1.44×
15	New York	$77,830	107.9	850	0.76×
16	New Jersey	$77,600	108.8	240	0.48×
17	Minnesota	$77,330	98.6	250	0.74×
18	Tennessee	$77,180	91.9	340	0.91×
19	Missouri	$76,690	90.8	420	1.25×
20	South Carolina	$76,440	93.7	290	1.09×
21	Maryland	$75,680	105.0	380	1.20×
22	Wisconsin	$75,650	94.1	470	1.40×
23	Maine	$75,100	97.0	110	1.55×
24	Iowa	$74,470	87.8	180	1.02×
25	Michigan	$73,860	96.2	380	0.74×
26	Arizona	$73,080	100.7	570	1.53×
27	Florida	$73,010	103.4	660	0.58×
28	Pennsylvania	$72,720	97.6	500	0.71×
29	Washington	$72,250	107.0	390	0.96×
30	Nevada	$71,310	100.0	250	1.38×
31	Oklahoma	$69,520	87.8	290	1.47×
32	Illinois	$68,310	100.0	150	0.21×
33	Hawaii	$68,050	110.0	80	1.12×
34	Connecticut	$66,980	103.6	430	2.22×
35	Wyoming	$64,690	92.7	40	1.12×
36	Virginia	$64,650	101.1	280	0.59×
37	Delaware	$63,460	99.8	60	1.03×
38	Louisiana	$62,550	88.2	150	0.68×
39	Kansas	$60,730	90.1	210	1.24×
40	Nebraska	$59,570	90.1	190	1.63×
41	Mississippi	$58,780	87.0	110	0.83×
42	Alabama	$51,650	88.8	300	1.23×
43	South Dakota	$50,840	88.6	40	0.76×

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 and electronics drafters wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for electrical and electronics drafters

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	$115,530	110.4	480	3.65×
2	Boulder, CO	$103,910	105.2	40	1.65×
3	Manchester-Nashua, NH	$102,810	105.7	160	7.05×
4	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$100,420	102.7	100	1.47×
5	Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA	$100,090	93.6	30	1.05×
6	Anchorage, AK	$98,920	105.4	60	3.17×
7	Worcester, MA	$98,610	102.5	70	1.71×
8	Boise City, ID	$97,550	98.4	80	1.81×
9	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$90,360	106.9	40	0.76×
10	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	$87,010	100.1	250	0.76×
11	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$86,140	108.3	340	1.09×
12	Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX	$84,680	98.1	230	1.54×
13	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$84,680	115.6	290	1.06×
14	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$84,090	111.1	220	0.92×
15	Columbus, OH	$83,700	95.5	120	0.92×
16	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	$83,100	103.1	720	1.55×
17	Fort Collins-Loveland, CO	$82,400	101.1	—	—
18	Salt Lake City-Murray, UT	$82,320	100.9	120	1.21×
19	Tucson, AZ	$81,970	96.9	80	1.71×
20	Raleigh-Cary, NC	$81,960	98.2	190	2.18×
21	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$81,230	108.9	250	0.69×
22	Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN	$80,100	95.7	170	1.36×
23	Charleston-North Charleston, SC	$79,990	101.0	60	1.28×
24	Rochester, NY	$79,910	97.0	100	1.81×
25	Chattanooga, TN-GA	$79,830	91.5	50	1.71×
26	Fargo, ND-MN	$79,710	90.9	30	1.82×
27	Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN	$79,580	96.3	110	0.86×
28	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$79,530	105.8	560	3.00×
29	Madison, WI	$79,220	97.3	90	1.90×
30	Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX	$79,160	98.6	460	1.22×
31	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC	$78,900	97.3	—	—
32	San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX	$78,530	94.7	110	0.81×
33	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$78,450	110.5	60	1.49×
34	Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY	$78,350	99.6	50	0.92×
35	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$78,170	104.8	200	0.89×
36	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$78,170	105.4	270	1.95×
37	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$77,830	112.6	580	0.53×
38	Greensboro-High Point, NC	$77,810	92.9	30	0.77×
39	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$77,630	113.6	860	1.19×
40	Cedar Rapids, IA	$77,150	89.0	40	2.25×

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 and electronics drafters wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.

Electrical and Electronics Drafters salary

What the range looks like

Getting in

Where electrical and electronics drafters earn the most

Best paying metro areas for electrical and electronics drafters

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