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Robotics Engineers: Career Profile

Research, design, develop, or test robotic applications.

What Tasks Do Robotics Engineers Perform?

The core tasks performed by robotics engineers span:

  • Review or approve designs, calculations, or cost estimates.
  • Process or interpret signals or sensor data.
  • Debug robotics programs.
  • Build, configure, or test robots or robotic applications.
  • Create back-ups of robot programs or parameters.
  • Provide technical support for robotic systems.
  • Design end-of-arm tooling.
  • Design robotic systems, such as automatic vehicle control, autonomous vehicles, advanced displays, advanced sensing, robotic platforms, computer vision, or telematics systems.

Skills and Knowledge

Top robotics engineers combine a mix of skills and domain knowledge.

Most Important Skills

The abilities most central to this role, rated on an importance scale of 0 to 5:

Critical Thinking  4.0 / 5
0
5
Complex Problem Solving  3.9 / 5
0
5
Reading Comprehension  3.9 / 5
0
5
Monitoring  3.9 / 5
0
5
Judgment and Decision Making  3.9 / 5
0
5
Systems Analysis  3.9 / 5
0
5

Top Knowledge Areas

Engineering and Technology  4.8 / 5
0
5
Design  4.6 / 5
0
5
Computers and Electronics  4.5 / 5
0
5
Mechanical  4.2 / 5
0
5
Mathematics  4.2 / 5
0
5
English Language  4.0 / 5
0
5

Other Robotics Engineers Job Titles

This career also goes by job titles like:

  • Algorithm Engineer
  • Automation Engineer
  • Autonomous Vehicle Design Engineer
  • Autonomy Engineer
  • Controls Engineer
  • Design Engineer
  • Factory Automations Engineer
  • Mechatronics Engineer

Employment and Demand

There are roughly 130,140 robotics engineers working in the United States today. Employment is projected to grow by +8.6% over the projection horizon.

Forecasted number of jobs for Robotics Engineers

Robotics Engineers Pay

Statistic Value
Annual median $72,925
Hourly median $35.06
10th percentile $43,931
25th percentile $58,428
75th percentile $87,421
90th percentile $101,918

Pay can vary substantially based on experience, location, and industry.

Salary ranges for Robotics Engineers

Robotics Engineers Salary by State

State Annual median salary
District of Columbia $167,270
Alabama $146,480
New Mexico $142,520
Virginia $142,110
Wyoming $139,010
Maryland $135,990
Alaska $132,410
Massachusetts $132,020
New Jersey $131,960
Rhode Island $131,830
Idaho $131,390
California $128,830
Oregon $125,920
Colorado $125,330
Washington $125,080
Hawaii $120,330
Connecticut $119,220
New Hampshire $118,630
South Carolina $117,980
Minnesota $116,660
Texas $115,950
Georgia $115,790
Maine $114,610
Ohio $113,880
New York $113,380
Utah $113,290
Mississippi $112,100
Oklahoma $111,230
Vermont $110,640
Arizona $110,160
Illinois $109,380
Wisconsin $107,400
North Carolina $106,960
Indiana $106,040
Florida $103,920
Michigan $103,800
Pennsylvania $103,580
West Virginia $103,400
Nevada $101,660
Iowa $100,200
Tennessee $97,990
Louisiana $95,550
Missouri $93,020
Kentucky $89,650
Guam $89,440
North Dakota $88,100
Montana $87,130
Delaware $85,530
South Dakota $82,970
Nebraska $76,910
Arkansas $75,000
Kansas $69,210
Puerto Rico $58,710

Pay by U.S. Region

Pay for robotics engineers shift depending on where you work. These regions lead on median pay:

Region Median annual wage Share of U.S. jobs Location quotient
Far Western US $127,455 22.6% 1.41
Middle Atlantic $127,069 15.3% 1.60
New England $124,655 4.3% 0.92
Rocky Mountains $120,932 3.4% 0.87
Southwest $117,599 10.1% 0.89
Southeast $111,896 28.2% 1.65
Great Lakes $108,385 12.1% 1.08
Plains States $95,614 3.6% 0.55

Where the Jobs Cluster

Metro area State Median annual wage Employment
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV DC $162,610 7,950
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA CA $157,770 3,490
Lexington Park, MD MD $157,330 1,090
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA CA $156,140 5,060
Charlottesville, VA VA $152,840 70
Wilmington, NC NC $148,580 90
Huntsville, AL AL $148,430 3,120
Albuquerque, NM NM $143,050 1,080

Which Industries Hire Robotics Engineers

The bulk of robotics engineers are concentrated in the following sectors:

Industry Employment Median annual wage
Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services 37,330 $112,040
Manufacturing 36,850 $107,590
Wholesale Trade 6,470 $103,760
Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services 6,030 $95,040
Management of Companies and Enterprises 5,210 $122,930
Information 3,800 $159,700
Construction 3,520 $81,570
Utilities 2,970 $118,630
Robotics Engineers sectors

Robotics Engineers work in the following industries:

Robotics Engineers industries

Tools and Technology

  • Data base user interface and query software: Amazon Web Services AWS software (hot technology)
  • Content workflow software: Atlassian JIRA (hot technology)
  • Computer aided design CAD software: Autodesk AutoCAD (hot technology)
  • Computer aided design CAD software: Bentley MicroStation (hot technology)
  • Development environment software: C (hot technology)
  • Object or component oriented development software: C# (hot technology)
  • Object or component oriented development software: C++ (hot technology)
  • Computer aided design CAD software: Dassault Systemes SolidWorks (hot technology)
  • File versioning software: Git (hot technology)
  • Web platform development software: JavaScript (hot technology)
  • Operating system software: Linux (hot technology)
  • Development environment software: Microsoft .NET Framework (hot technology)

What the Workplace Is Like

Daily working conditions for robotics engineers tends to involve the following characteristics:

  • E-Mail
  • Face-to-Face Discussions with Individuals and Within Teams
  • Importance of Being Exact or Accurate
  • Telephone Conversations
  • Work With or Contribute to a Work Group or Team

Education and Training

Entry-level robotics engineers positions require a bachelor’s degree as the typical entry-level education. The role falls in Considerable Preparation Needed (Job Zone 4), signaling the level of preparation typically expected.

Other Careers to Consider

Similar Occupations

Where to Study

Aspiring robotics engineers typically earn programs in:

1 programs across 1 majors

References

Data on this page comes from the following authoritative sources:

  • U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) for employment and wage data by state and industry.
  • BLS Employment Projections for total employment and growth forecasts.
  • O*NET (Occupational Information Network) for skills, knowledge, tasks, work activities, work context, technology, and education-zone data.

SOC code: 17-2199.08 (Engineers, All Other).

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