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> The salaries are significantly lower, to the point where 90th percentile electricians often make less than 10th percentile engineers [1] Do you have a source

by ysavir 4y ago

> The salaries are significantly lower, to the point where 90th percentile electricians often make less than 10th percentile engineers [1] Do you have a source for this? How much of that derives from tech workers generally living in high COL areas and needing higher salaries, while electricians are distributed throughout the land at all COL? I have no doubt that high-earning engineers outearn high-earning electricians, but the assumption about this disparity seems suspect to me, without a source to back it up.

akiselev 4y ago
The 90/10 number is definitely biased towards California, but the national numbers really aren't that better. The 75th percentile for electricians is $77,350 [1] and the 25th percentile for developers is $90,870 [2] so the overall number is probably closer to 80/20 or even 85/15. [1] https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes472111.htm https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes472111.htm [2] https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes151252.htm https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes151252.htm
- ysavir 4y ago
  Thanks for the links! Interesting to compare and contrast locations with this in mind. In Indiana, seems 75th percentile electricians earn about the same as 25th percentile software engineers. In Nebraska, it's 90th electricians and ~35th software engineers. A lot to take into consideration, and a wider gap then I expected in non-tech hubs.
rootusrootus 4y ago
A bit of informal research suggests that the median software engineer earns 90-120K in the US. This might be slightly outdated. Due to my position, I have visibility for the salary of many software developers at my company (mid-size, about 5000 employees), and that's not far off. It might be low by 10-15K. We have developers across the US. The same informal research suggests a pretty consistent 60K or so for journeyman electricians. The range is tighter because skilled trade wages are subject to more regulation. Based on my knowledge of the Oregon & Washington prevaling wage rates (my wife works in accounting and has several small business electricians as customers), 60K does sound about right. Though as an hourly worker, it is not uncommon for them to sign up for more hours to push their yearly compensation above 100K.

by ysavir 4y ago

akiselev 4y ago

The 90/10 number is definitely biased towards California, but the national numbers really aren't that better. The 75th percentile for electricians is $77,350 [1] and the 25th percentile for developers is $90,870 [2] so the overall number is probably closer to 80/20 or even 85/15. [1] https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes472111.htm https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes472111.htm [2] https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes151252.htm https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes151252.htm

ysavir 4y ago
Thanks for the links! Interesting to compare and contrast locations with this in mind. In Indiana, seems 75th percentile electricians earn about the same as 25th percentile software engineers. In Nebraska, it's 90th electricians and ~35th software engineers. A lot to take into consideration, and a wider gap then I expected in non-tech hubs.

rootusrootus 4y ago

A bit of informal research suggests that the median software engineer earns 90-120K in the US. This might be slightly outdated. Due to my position, I have visibility for the salary of many software developers at my company (mid-size, about 5000 employees), and that's not far off. It might be low by 10-15K. We have developers across the US. The same informal research suggests a pretty consistent 60K or so for journeyman electricians. The range is tighter because skilled trade wages are subject to more regulation. Based on my knowledge of the Oregon & Washington prevaling wage rates (my wife works in accounting and has several small business electricians as customers), 60K does sound about right. Though as an hourly worker, it is not uncommon for them to sign up for more hours to push their yearly compensation above 100K.