Also called: Acoustic Engineer (Audio Products), Microphone Engineer
Designs the speakers and microphones in phones, earbuds, cars, and concert sound systems.
You simulate a tiny speaker that has to sound big, build prototypes, and measure them in an anechoic chamber. Then you listen, because the final judge is the human ear.
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 or mechanical engineering, or physics.
Ways in: 4-year college, Graduate school. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Physics, Audio Engineering.
Growing about average. BLS does not project this specialty separately; rating estimated from related occupations.
Medium risk for 10 years. AI optimizes speaker designs in simulation; building prototypes and judging by ear stay human.
Classes: AP Physics, AP Calculus, Music.
Official data: O*NET occupation 17-2199.
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.