Engineering Technician Hourly Pay & Requirements (2026)
Advertised pay, starting pay, skills and experience from 5,127 US job postings by 1,577 employers. Data as of October 2026.
What US employers post for engineering technicians: advertised pay, the skills and experience they ask for, and the job titles they use, from 5,127 open job postings (October 2026).
- The median advertised pay for engineering technicians in US job postings is $31.50 an hour (1,329 postings from 430 employers, October 2026).
- The middle half of those postings offer $25.31 to $39.04 an hour.
- The skills that most set engineering technician postings apart are oscilloscopes, troubleshooting, soldering.
- Postings that state a minimum ask for a median of 2 years of experience.
Engineering Technician job postings in the US, October 2026
- $31.50/hr
- Median advertised pay (1,329 postings)
- $25.31–$39.04
- Middle 50% of postings
- 5,127
- US job postings from 1,577 employers
- 2 years
- Median experience asked
How much does an engineering technician make an hour?
The median advertised pay is $31.50 an hour, from 1,329 US job postings by 430 employers that state pay. That is about $69,000 a year at 2,080 hours.
Advertised pay in 1,329 US engineering technician job postings: median $69,000 a year ($31.50 an hour), middle half $55,000 to $85,000.
- Median: $69,000 ($31.50/hr)
- 25th percentile: $55,000
- 75th percentile: $85,000
The figures as a table
| Annual pay | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| $30K–$40K | 3.3% |
| $40K–$50K | 13.6% |
| $50K–$60K | 16.7% |
| $60K–$70K | 18.0% |
| $70K–$80K | 15.8% |
| $80K–$90K | 12.9% |
| $90K–$100K | 7.9% |
| $100K–$110K | 4.2% |
| $110K–$120K | 3.4% |
| $120K–$130K | 1.2% |
| $130K–$140K | 0.5% |
| $140K–$150K | 0.8% |
| $150K–$160K | 0.4% |
| $160K–$170K | 0.5% |
Midpoint of each posting's pay range, hourly pay × 2,080 hours; at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026.
| Median | Middle 50% | Postings | Most common titles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Postings that state an hourly rate | $31.50 | $25.31–$39.04 | 796 | Engineering Technician, Test Technician, Electronic Technician |
| Postings that state an annual salary | $77,000 | $62K–$97K | 294 | Engineering Technician, Electronics Technician, Engineering Technician I |
| All pay postings, annualised | $69,000 | $55K–$85K | 1,329 | – |
What is the starting salary for an engineering technician?
Figure withheld: fewer than 250 US postings list pay. How we decide.
Engineering technician levels and pay
Levels as they appear in job titles, ordered by the median experience asked.
| Level in title | Share of postings | Median experience asked | Median pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Level I | 6.4% | 1 year | – |
| No level in title | 78.4% | 2 years | $33.79/hr |
| Level II | 7.9% | 2 years | $29.54/hr |
Highest-paying engineering technician jobs
Specializations with at least 250 postings that state pay.
| Specialization | Median pay | Postings with pay | Employers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Engineering Technician (general) | $33.50/hr | 631 | 210 |
Engineering technician pay by state
Single-location US postings; states with at least 100 postings that state pay. States with pay-transparency laws (such as California, Colorado, New York and Washington) are over-represented among postings that state pay.
| State | Median pay | Middle 50% | Postings with pay | Share of postings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | $37.50/hr | $31.73–$46.10 | 238 | 14.5% |
Skills employers ask for in engineering technician job postings
| Skill | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| Communication | 31% |
| Attention to detail | 19% |
| Excel | 18% |
| Problem-solving | 15% |
| Microsoft Office | 13% |
| Work independently | 12% |
| Troubleshooting | 12% |
| Word | 11% |
| Organizational skills | 10% |
| Oscilloscopes | 10% |
Skills named in the posting text; at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026. Methodology.
Skills that set engineering technicians apart
- Oscilloscopes46.8× as often as in all postings · 10%
- Troubleshooting6.5× as often as in all postings · 12%
Skills named in at least 5% of these postings and at least 3 times as often as in job postings overall.
Have a engineering technician job posting in front of you? See which of its skills your resume is missing.
What does an engineering technician do?
Employers post these jobs as Electronics Technician, Test Technician, Electronic Technician, Engineering Technician I, Engineering Technician II and other titles. The largest specializations are Test Technician (18%), Electronics Technician (18%), R&D Technician (4%), Construction Technician (2%), Repair Technician (1%), Construction Materials Testing Technician (6%).
The closest official occupation is Electrical and Electronic Engineering Technologists and Technicians (17-3023.00). Its most important tasks:
- Review electrical engineering plans to ensure adherence to design specifications and compliance with applicable electrical codes and standards.
- Read blueprints, wiring diagrams, schematic drawings, or engineering instructions for assembling electronics units, applying knowledge of electronic theory and components.
- Assemble, test, or maintain circuitry or electronic components, according to engineering instructions, technical manuals, or knowledge of electronics, using hand or power tools.
- Maintain system logs or manuals to document testing or operation of equipment.
- Modify, maintain, or repair electronics equipment or systems to ensure proper functioning.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (CC BY 4.0).
How much experience do you need to be an engineering technician?
Among 2,119 postings that state a minimum, the median is 2 years. 6% say 0 years and 25% ask for 1 year or less.
Minimum experience asked in 2,119 US engineering technician job postings: median 2 years, and 25% ask for 1 year or less.
The figures as a table
| Minimum experience asked | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| 0 yr | 7% |
| 1 yr | 19% |
| 2 yrs | 28% |
| 3-4 yrs | 23% |
| 5-7 yrs | 18% |
| 8-9 yrs | 2% |
| 10+ yrs | 2% |
Postings that state a minimum (required or preferred); at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026.
We do not show a degree figure: in our checks, degree requirements in posting text were found too rarely to publish one. Why.
Full-time 98%, Part-time 2% of the 460 postings that state working hours.
Other names for an engineering technician: job titles employers use
| Job title | Employers using it |
|---|---|
| Engineering Technician | 445 (28.2%) |
| Electronics Technician | 102 (6.5%) |
| Test Technician | 99 (6.3%) |
| Electronic Technician | 94 (6.0%) |
| Engineering Technician I | 76 (4.8%) |
| Engineering Technician II | 75 (4.8%) |
| Engineering Tech | 57 (3.6%) |
| Electrical Engineering Technician | 47 (3.0%) |
| R&D Technician | 45 (2.9%) |
| Commissioning Technician | 39 (2.5%) |
| Test Technician II | 36 (2.3%) |
| Construction Technician | 35 (2.2%) |
| Engineering Technician III | 30 (1.9%) |
| Senior Engineering Technician | 26 (1.7%) |
| Electrical Test Technician | 26 (1.7%) |
| Test Engineering Technician | 24 (1.5%) |
| Engineering Technician V | 24 (1.5%) |
| Test Technician I | 24 (1.5%) |
| Production Test Technician | 23 (1.5%) |
| Engineering Technologist | 23 (1.5%) |
Titles read in our audit and used by at least 3 employers.
Engineering Technician compared with similar careers
| Career | Median pay | Median experience | Postings | Shares N of top 25 skills |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Engineering Technician | $31.50/hr | 2 years | 5,127 | – |
| Aircraft Mechanic | $35.18/hr | 3 years | 2,617 | 17 |
| Electrician | $36.23/hr | 3 years | 11,274 | 15 |
| Manufacturing Technician | $25.00/hr | 2 years | 3,947 | 17 |
| Electrical Engineer | $132K | 5 years | 18,271 | 15 |
Similar careers
| Career | Shares N of the top 25 skills | Median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Aircraft Mechanic | 17 | $35.18/hr |
| Electrician | 15 | $36.23/hr |
| Manufacturing Technician | 17 | $25.00/hr |
| Electrical Engineer | 15 | $132K |
| Field Service Technician | 16 | $30.30/hr |
| Assembler | 12 | $21.45/hr |
Applying for engineering technician jobs?
- Engineering technician resume examples: one-page examples for these roles
- Match your resume to a job: paste a posting and see the skills your resume is missing
- Check your resume: see how an applicant tracking system reads it
- Find engineering technician jobs: search open postings
Source and method
Open US job postings collected from employers' applicant tracking systems, de-duplicated, counted only when their job title was read in our audit. Shares count at most 20 postings per employer, and franchise locations of one brand count as one employer. Pay uses hourly and annual figures only; a figure is shown when leaving out the largest employer moves it by 10% or less. Every figure states its number of postings. Methodology and measured accuracy.
Accuracy check: we read 20 randomly chosen postings counted on this page in full; 18 of them were this career or a closely related one (October 2026).
Download the figures on this page (CSV): every number above with its count of postings. Aggregate figures are licensed CC BY 4.0; cite the page when you reuse them.