ELECTRONICS engineers who work in Boston or San Jose, CA receive the highest salaries for their category in the nation, according to a 1997 survey by CMP Media Inc.’s Electronic Engineering Times. Nationwide, 8.4% of these engineers earn more than $100,000 a year.
Survey findings indicate engineers in San Jose-the center of Silicon Valley- earn $85,200, while the national median salary is $67,400. Elsewhere in this field, Bostonians receive $74,400. Next highest in the pay pecking order are Portland, OR, San Diego and Austin, TX.
Most of the highest paid electronics engineers work in the Valley, where more than 20% earn more than $100,000 annually. EEs with six-figure incomes typically have six years’ experience or more and are at least 30 years old.
Although women represent only about 5% of EEs in the work force, there’s virtually no gender pay gap in this profession. Women, on average, earn only about $300 less than their male counterparts.
Immigrants usually fare better than American-born EEs. Those born outside the United States typically receive salaries $1,400 above the national average. Most of the immigrants in this field come from India, Hong Kong and China. Typically, immigrants start lower on the wage scale and later surpass native-born Americans. By ethnicity, Chinese-American EEs earn the most money.
Most of the highest paid EEs are en-trepreneurs or employees of start-ups. Those working in the computer or medical fields generally get the highest salaries.
Best paid among all EEs are those whose background includes some management and specific experience in areas such as deep-micron integrated circuit design, application-specific IC design and digital signal processing.
Despite the high salaries not all EEs are pleased about their pay. Based on job title, group leaders are the most content, with 70% saying they’re satisfied with their earnings. Chief engineers are the least happy with their pay. Overall, 38% of surveyed respondents say they’re underpaid.
* Consumer product demand is the driving force for the global electronics industry, projected to be worth $1.2 trillion in 2000. That would make it the greatest economic force the world has ever known.
* Electronics engineering represents the largest and fastest growing segment within the U.S. engineering field. Employment in this segment is expected to grow 29% between 1996 and 2006.
* America’s education system is not keeping up with demand for electronics engineers. The number of B.S. engineering degrees awarded in the United States from 1985 to 1997 declined 16%, while demand for computer engineers is likely to double between 1996 and 2006.
* U.S. engineering programs are losing students from abroad. The number of foreign students in the United States peaked in the mid-’90s, as engineering education outside the country grew. Worldwide, 885,000 engineering degrees are awarded annually, predominantly in Russia and China.
* America’s 2 million EEs are getting older. The median age of these engineers was 43 in 1995, up from 39 in 1987. The number of retired members of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers increased to 15% in 1995, compared with 2% in 1987.
* Workplace trends indicate the number of electronics engineers working for small companies is increasing while those employed by large corporations are declining. But the biggest dip is in the defense sector, where the vast majority still work for large corporations.
Sources: American Electronics Association; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
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