What a electrical engineer earns, by metro
Median pay for electrical engineers runs from $72,910 in San Juan-Bayamon-Caguas to $187,060 in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara — a 2.57× range across 428 metropolitan areas. The national median of $120,630 sits inside that range but describes no particular market.
Electrical Engineer — nationalBLS OEWS · May 2025
$120,630Median annual
$58.00Median hourly
$76,55010th percentile
$184,30090th percentile
198,750Employed nationally
Median means half earn more and half earn less — it says nothing about
how far. The percentile columns are where the information is.
What the percentile band tells you
Ten per cent of electrical engineers earn below $76,550 and ten per cent above $184,300 — a 2.41× band. The upside from median to 90th percentile is 53%, which is a normal amount of room for experience and specialisation to matter. An offer below the 25th percentile is worth questioning; one above the 75th is worth taking seriously.
Where the money is
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara (CA) leads and San Juan-Bayamon-Caguas (PR) trails, but the gap is modest. For a role like this the more useful comparison is not between cities but between the 10th and 90th percentile within one — see the band above.
Highest paying metros
| Metropolitan area | Median | Hourly | LQ | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara CA | $187,060 | $89.93 | 2.87 | 4,160 |
| Slidell-Mandeville-Covington LA | $167,010 | $80.29 | 0.41 | 50 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont CA | $166,030 | $79.82 | 0.81 | 2,470 |
| Santa Rosa-Petaluma CA | $164,880 | $79.27 | 0.36 | 100 |
| Albuquerque NM | $163,720 | $78.71 | 2.47 | 1,280 |
| Vallejo CA | $160,060 | $76.95 | 0.79 | 150 |
| Manchester-Nashua NH | $159,360 | $76.62 | 4.1 | 1,050 |
| North Coast Region of California nonmetropolitan area | $154,820 | $74.43 | 0.31 | 40 |
| Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos TX | $145,360 | $69.89 | 2.46 | 4,070 |
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue WA | $140,210 | $67.41 | 1.85 | 4,930 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim CA | $139,780 | $67.20 | 1.12 | 8,970 |
| Northeast Virginia nonmetropolitan area | $138,840 | $66.75 | 5.15 | 380 |
| Kahului-Wailuku HI | $137,030 | $65.88 | 0.72 | 70 |
| San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles CA | $136,240 | $65.50 | 0.67 | 100 |
| Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom CA | $136,190 | $65.48 | 1.03 | 1,420 |
| Idaho Falls ID | $136,100 | $65.43 | 1.24 | 130 |
| Fresno CA | $134,780 | $64.80 | 0.65 | 400 |
| Santa Maria-Santa Barbara CA | $134,640 | $64.73 | 0.88 | 230 |
| Santa Cruz-Watsonville CA | $133,560 | $64.21 | 0.74 | 90 |
| Baton Rouge LA | $133,030 | $63.96 | 0.68 | 350 |
| Wenatchee-East Wenatchee WA | $132,930 | $63.91 | 1.19 | 80 |
| Florence-Muscle Shoals AL | $131,330 | $63.14 | 0.68 | 50 |
| Stockton-Lodi CA | $131,080 | $63.02 | 0.42 | 160 |
| Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands TX | $131,070 | $63.02 | 1.37 | 5,770 |
| Huntsville AL | $130,330 | $62.66 | 6.42 | 2,190 |
Lowest paying metros
| Metropolitan area | Median | Hourly | LQ | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Juan-Bayamon-Caguas PR | $72,910 | $35.05 | 0.26 | 230 |
| Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal SC | $75,020 | $36.07 | 0.46 | 50 |
| Lansing-East Lansing MI | $83,180 | $39.99 | 1.15 | 320 |
| Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers AR | $83,930 | $40.35 | 0.48 | 170 |
| North Arkansas nonmetropolitan area | $84,850 | $40.79 | 0.53 | 80 |
| South Central Wisconsin nonmetropolitan area | $84,950 | $40.84 | 0.82 | 220 |
| Wausau WI | $85,210 | $40.97 | 0.69 | 60 |
| Elkhart-Goshen IN | $85,730 | $41.21 | 1.23 | 200 |
| Lower East Mississippi nonmetropolitan area | $87,630 | $42.13 | 0.82 | 130 |
| College Station-Bryan TX | $88,690 | $42.64 | 0.73 | 130 |
Huntsville is the cluster
Huntsville has 6.42× the national concentration of electrical engineers — the densest market in the country for this role, with 2,190 employed locally. Pay there is $130,330, which does not put it near the top of the pay table. Concentration and compensation are different things — a dense market is easier to get hired in and easier to move around within, but the competition that makes it dense also caps what employers need to offer.
Where the role is most concentrated
| Metropolitan area | Median | Hourly | LQ | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Huntsville AL | $130,330 | $62.66 | 6.42 | 2,190 |
| Northeast Virginia nonmetropolitan area | $138,840 | $66.75 | 5.15 | 380 |
| Kokomo IN | $106,550 | $51.23 | 4.71 | 210 |
| Lexington Park MD | $128,900 | $61.97 | 4.62 | 420 |
| Manchester-Nashua NH | $159,360 | $76.62 | 4.1 | 1,050 |
| Burlington-South Burlington VT | $112,200 | $53.94 | 3.82 | 590 |
| Eastern Washington nonmetropolitan area | $92,880 | $44.66 | 3.74 | 520 |
| Tucson AZ | $117,470 | $56.48 | 3.4 | 1,690 |
| Jackson MI | $109,240 | $52.52 | 3.22 | 230 |
| Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville FL | $122,020 | $58.66 | 3.05 | 960 |
| Ann Arbor MI | $109,240 | $52.52 | 2.89 | 810 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara CA | $187,060 | $89.93 | 2.87 | 4,160 |
Largest employers by metro
| Metropolitan area | Median | Hourly | LQ | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim CA | $139,780 | $67.20 | 1.12 | 8,970 |
| New York-Newark-Jersey City NY-NJ | $128,340 | $61.70 | 0.52 | 6,290 |
| Detroit-Warren-Dearborn MI | $114,390 | $55.00 | 2.49 | 6,060 |
| Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands TX | $131,070 | $63.02 | 1.37 | 5,770 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington TX | $124,390 | $59.80 | 1.11 | 5,720 |
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue WA | $140,210 | $67.41 | 1.85 | 4,930 |
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria DC-VA-MD-WV | $126,420 | $60.78 | 1.11 | 4,450 |
| Chicago-Naperville-Elgin IL-IN | $113,520 | $54.58 | 0.74 | 4,290 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara CA | $187,060 | $89.93 | 2.87 | 4,160 |
| Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos TX | $145,360 | $69.89 | 2.46 | 4,070 |
| Boston-Cambridge-Newton MA-NH | $128,610 | $61.83 | 1.17 | 4,030 |
| Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington PA-NJ-DE-MD | $127,730 | $61.41 | 0.95 | 3,520 |
Current openings
Remote Electrical Engineer
Los Angeles-Long Beach-AnaheimNew York-Newark-Jersey CityDetroit-Warren-DearbornHouston-Pasadena-The WoodlandsDallas-Fort Worth-ArlingtonSeattle-Tacoma-BellevueWashington-Arlington-AlexandriaChicago-Naperville-Elgin
About this data
Figures come from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics programme, May 2025 release, SOC code 17-2071. OEWS surveys employers, so it reports what is actually paid rather than what job advertisements claim, and it excludes the self-employed. Estimates are published for 428 of 528 metropolitan areas; the remaining 100 had too few survey responses for BLS to publish without risking disclosure, so they are absent here rather than estimated. For a specialised role that is normal. Read the methodology.