Also called: Human Factors Engineer, Crew Systems Engineer
Designs cockpits, controls, and displays around how real human brains and bodies work under stress.
You run pilots through a simulator emergency while tracking where their eyes go and how fast they react. Then you redesign a warning display so it can't be misread at 3 a.m. over the ocean.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Master's degree, about 6 years after high school. Bachelor's in engineering or psychology; many hold a master's in human factors.
Ways in: 4-year college, Graduate school. Training cost: $60k – $150k.
Majors to look at: Human Factors Engineering, Psychology, Industrial Engineering.
Growing about average. Not tracked separately by BLS; demand steady across aerospace and defense.
Low risk for 10 years. AI helps analyze pilot studies; simulator testing with real pilots and designing around human limits stay human.
Classes: AP Psychology, Statistics, Computer science, Art or design.
Official data: O*NET occupation 17-2112.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.