STEM

Electrical Engineer

Design electrical systems and circuits, from tiny chips in phones to the power lines that light a city

Open interactive guide

What does an Electrical Engineer do?

Electrical engineers work in labs, factories, utilities, and design offices. They sketch circuits, build test versions, and find out why something overheats or stops working. It suits people who enjoy physics, math, and tinkering with wires and circuit boards.

A day in the life

8:30 AMReview test results from a new circuit board
10:00 AMSketch a circuit that lets a sensor run on a small battery
11:30 AMSimulate the design on a computer before ordering parts
1:30 PMSolder and probe a prototype at the lab bench
3:30 PMFind out why a motor controller keeps overheating
4:45 PMWrite a test report for the manufacturing team

What's great

  • Your work reaches phones, cars, and power grids
  • Mix of math and hands-on lab time
  • Many industries hire electrical engineers
  • A professional license is an option

The hard parts

  • Math and physics classes are demanding
  • Small mistakes can burn out parts
  • Product deadlines can mean long hours
  • Fast-changing chips mean constant learning

What is an Electrical Engineer's salary and outlook?

$61k – $152k
Salary Range
Bachelor's degree
Typical Education
Growing

Typical pay in this guide runs from about $60,600 to $151,500 a year, with a midpoint around $101,000. These are planning figures for students, not a job offer or an official wage.

CareerLens rates the outlook as Growing.

For the official national outlook, see BLS Occupational Data.

How do you become an Electrical Engineer?

A common path is Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering. The ladder often runs from Junior Electrical Engineer to Electrical Engineer, then Senior Electrical Engineer, and Director of Engineering. Other routes: Work as an engineering technician, then finish a degree; Pass the FE exam, later the PE exam; Master's degree in chips or power systems; Co-op or internship during college.

  • Work as an engineering technician, then finish a degree
  • Pass the FE exam, later the PE exam
  • Master's degree in chips or power systems
  • Co-op or internship during college

Career path

Entry level
Junior Electrical Engineer
Mid career
Electrical Engineer
Senior
Senior Electrical Engineer
Executive
Director of Engineering

Will AI replace an Electrical Engineer?

How much will AI change this job?

A lot

AI will change many everyday tasks in this job. The work shifts toward judgment, checking, and people.

AI will handle many routine tasks, but engineers still lead design.

Electrical engineers will use AI to speed up calculations, drafting, and testing circuits. This means less time on repetitive number crunching and more time solving tricky problems and checking that designs actually work safely. The job shifts toward guiding AI tools, making smart judgment calls, and working closely with teams.

AI can help with

  • Running quick circuit simulations and calculations
  • Drafting wiring diagrams and schematics
  • Checking designs against safety codes automatically

What stays human

  • Deciding which design fits the real-world problem
  • Making safety judgment calls on final systems
  • Talking with clients and teams to solve issues

Skills to build now

  • Take math and physics classes seriously now
  • Join a robotics or electronics club
  • Practice explaining technical ideas clearly to others

Based on public research from Anthropic and OpenAI, drafted with AI, checked automatically, and read by a person. How we know

This describes how the work may change. It is not a prediction that the job will disappear.