Electricity and electronics: the power grid, circuits, chips, antennas, and every gadget with a battery or a plug.
Top pay: highest pay, longest training
Analog Chip Design Engineer: Designs the analog circuits inside computer chips that handle real-world signals like sound, radio and power. Typical pay $165k.
Computer Hardware Engineer: Designs processors, circuit boards, memory and other physical parts of computers and servers. Typical pay $155k.
RF & Microwave Engineer: Designs antennas and radio circuits for phones, radar, satellites and Wi-Fi. Typical pay $135k.
Power Electronics Engineer: Designs the circuits that convert and control electric power in EV chargers, solar inverters and laptop chargers. Typical pay $130k.
Power System Protection Engineer: Sets up the electrical 'circuit breakers' of the power grid so faults are cut off in a split second before they cause blackouts. Typical pay $125k.
Electrical Engineer: Designs and tests electrical systems such as motors, power systems, controls and navigation equipment. Typical pay $112k.
Electronics Engineer: Designs electronic equipment like sensors, communications gear, medical monitors and audio products. Typical pay $128k.
EMC Compliance Engineer: Makes sure electronics don't leak radio noise that jams other devices, and get FCC approval. Typical pay $110k.
Signal Integrity Engineer: Makes sure ultra-fast signals inside computers, phones and AI servers arrive clean instead of garbled. Typical pay $160k.
MEMS Engineer: Designs microscopic machines on chips, like the motion sensors in phones and the tiny microphones in earbuds. Typical pay $140k.
Substation Design Engineer: Designs the fenced-in yards of transformers and switches that step power up and down across the grid. Typical pay $110k.
Electric Motor Design Engineer: Designs the electric motors that power EVs, drones, elevators and robots. Typical pay $130k.
Mid pay: solid pay, degree or apprenticeship
Utility Distribution Engineer: Plans the poles, wires and transformers that carry electricity to neighborhoods. Typical pay $100k.
Building Electrical Engineer: Designs power, lighting, fire alarm and backup generator systems for buildings. Typical pay $95k.
PCB Design Engineer: Lays out the copper traces and parts on circuit boards so they work, stay cool and can be manufactured. Typical pay $105k.
Lighting Design Engineer: Designs how buildings, stadiums and streets are lit so they look great and save energy. Typical pay $85k.
Substation Relay Technician: Tests and repairs the protective relays and controls inside electrical substations. Typical pay $92k.
Electrical Engineering Technician: Helps electrical engineers build, test, calibrate and repair electrical and electronic equipment. Typical pay $75k.
Industrial Electronics Repairer: Repairs electronic equipment used in factories, transit systems and businesses. Typical pay $70k.
Power Systems Study Engineer: Calculates how electrical systems in factories, hospitals and data centers behave during faults, so workers stay safe. Typical pay $105k.
Instrumentation & Controls Engineer: Designs the sensors, valves and control systems that run refineries, water plants and power stations automatically. Typical pay $108k.
Electronics Test Technician: Tests circuit boards and electronic products to find and fix defects before they ship. Typical pay $68k.
Power Quality Engineer: Hunts down the flickers, surges and electrical "noise" that crash computers, trip factories and fry equipment. Typical pay $108k.
High-Voltage Laboratory Test Engineer: Makes artificial lightning bolts of millions of volts in a giant lab to prove power-line equipment won't fail in a storm. Typical pay $100k.
Starter: fastest way in
Electronics Rework Technician: Uses microscopes and fine soldering tools to fix and modify circuit boards by hand. Typical pay $48k.
Control Panel Builder: Wires the electrical control cabinets that run factory machines, elevators and water pumps. Typical pay $46k.
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.