Also called: Automation Engineer, PLC Engineer
Designs the electrical brains (PLCs, sensors, motors and software) that make machines and whole production lines run on their own.
You sit in front of a cabinet full of blinking modules with a laptop plugged in, stepping through ladder-logic code line by line. When the new filling machine misbehaves, you watch the sensor signals live, find the timing bug, and push a fix. Big projects mean traveling to a new plant and staying until the line starts up.
Estimate; BLS groups controls engineers with electrical engineers.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 4 years after high school. Bachelor's in electrical, mechanical or mechatronics engineering; many learn PLCs on the job.
Ways in: 4-year college. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Electrical Engineering, Mechatronics Engineering, Mechanical Engineering.
Growing faster than average (about 7% over 10 years). Electrical engineering overall; automation demand is stronger than average.
Low risk in 5 years, medium in 10. AI writes first-draft PLC code and diagnostics; commissioning live lines and owning safety interlocks stay human.
Classes: AP Physics, AP Calculus, Electronics class, Computer science.
Official data: O*NET occupation 17-2071.
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.