JobAfterNext

Validation Engineers

Design or plan protocols for equipment or processes to produce products meeting internal and external purity, safety, and quality requirements.

Wages

BLS doesn't publish wages for Validation Engineers separately. These are the figures for Industrial Engineers (17-2112), its parent occupation.

Median annual wage, U.S.$102,440
Employment, U.S.365,740
Median hourly wage$49.25
Annual wage percentiles, U.S., May 2025
10th25thMedian75th90th
$74,370$83,600$102,440$129,250$159,860
By state (51)
StateEmploymentMedian annualLocation quotient
Alabama7,650$99,8801.54
Alaska220$156,5100.28
Arizona7,520$108,2800.99
Arkansas1,710$98,4100.56
California32,680$124,6000.76
Colorado5,200$109,7500.77
Connecticut6,020$104,1601.51
Delaware820$120,1900.72
District of Columbia160$103,3000.10
Florida14,050$101,6100.60
Georgia8,940$100,1000.78
Hawaii50$123,8000.04
Idaho1,330$100,8400.66
Illinois18,640$100,5401.30
Indiana11,680$97,4801.55
Iowa3,600$97,6900.98
Kansas3,450$99,8301.02
Kentucky6,070$96,8201.29
Louisiana1,710$122,9200.38
Maine1,030$101,0300.68
Maryland3,900$119,9300.60
Massachusetts11,470$109,4201.34
Michigan30,990$101,6802.99
Minnesota17,580$102,6602.53
Mississippi2,450$95,8300.90
Missouri5,070$99,2900.73
Montana390$104,4300.33
Nebraska1,160$98,1700.48
Nevada1,570$102,0900.43
New Hampshire1,940$101,3101.21
New Jersey6,870$103,8400.68
New Mexico1,140$128,0900.56
New York11,810$102,6400.52
North Carolina11,580$99,3101.00
North Dakota600$96,9400.59
Ohio23,480$100,0601.80
Oklahoma2,170$97,5100.54
Oregon5,810$128,2901.26
Pennsylvania13,180$99,5600.92
Rhode Island990$109,3500.84
South Carolina7,960$101,0601.47
South Dakota830$93,2000.77
Tennessee7,440$99,0800.96
Texas30,980$104,5600.94
Utah5,520$103,9401.35
Vermont440$103,0100.62
Virginia5,580$102,5500.58
Washington6,130$129,0500.73
West Virginia850$108,3600.51
Wisconsin13,070$96,9801.89
Wyoming240$122,0700.36

Similar occupations

Similarity is our measure: the cosine of importance x level over all 120 O*NET skills, knowledge areas and abilities. It is not an O*NET finding. More.

#OccupationJob ZoneSimilarity
1Industrial Engineers40.975
2Mechanical Engineers40.972
3Industrial Engineering Technologists and Technicians30.971
4Electrical Engineers40.968
5Materials Engineers40.966
6Mining and Geological Engineers, Including Mining Safety Engineers40.963
7Architectural and Engineering Managers50.963
8Nuclear Engineers40.961
9Materials Scientists40.960
10Mechatronics Engineers40.957

One skill away

Among the 50 occupations most similar to Validation Engineers, those at the same Job Zone or lower, where exactly one skill rated at least 3 in importance needs a level more than 0.75 points higher (on O*NET's 0-7 level scale). Our definition. Change the thresholds.

OccupationSkill to buildLevel gapSimilarity
Industrial Engineering Technologists and TechniciansTechnology Design2.000.971
Food Scientists and TechnologistsQuality Control Analysis0.760.955
Commercial and Industrial DesignersTechnology Design2.370.952
Wind Energy EngineersMathematics0.880.952
Power Distributors and DispatchersOperation and Control1.000.947
Environmental EngineersCoordination0.760.942
Fire-Prevention and Protection EngineersTechnology Design1.750.941
Water Resource SpecialistsTime Management0.760.939

Software to learn next

Software used by at least 3 of the 20 occupations most similar to Validation Engineers, excluding software Validation Engineers already lists and any you named. Ranked by how many of them use it, weighted by how much more common it is among them than across all occupations (lift). Our ranking.

SoftwareSimilar jobs using itLift
Autodesk AutoCAD16 of 204.3x
SAP software17 of 202.8x
MathWorks Simulink6 of 2014.6x
Computer numerical control CNC software4 of 2046.2x
Finite element method FEM software5 of 2021.0x
ANSYS simulation software5 of 2019.2x
Maplesoft Maple5 of 2015.4x
Rapid prototyping software4 of 2023.1x
Supervisory control and data acquisition SCADA software7 of 205.2x
Computer aided design and drafting CADD software5 of 208.5x

Skills

From O*NET data. Importance is rated 1 to 5 and level 0 to 7.

SkillTypeImportanceLevel
Reading ComprehensionEssential skill 4.12 4.50
Critical ThinkingEssential skill 4.00 4.12
WritingEssential skill 4.00 4.12
SpeakingEssential skill 4.00 4.00
Active ListeningEssential skill 3.88 4.00
MonitoringEssential skill 3.88 4.00
ScienceEssential skill 3.75 4.38
Complex Problem SolvingTransferable skill 3.75 4.00
Active LearningEssential skill 3.25 3.62
Judgment and Decision MakingTransferable skill 3.12 3.62
MathematicsEssential skill 3.12 3.62
Systems AnalysisTransferable skill 3.12 3.62
Systems EvaluationTransferable skill 3.12 3.38
Operations MonitoringTransferable skill 3.12 3.25
Social PerceptivenessTransferable skill 3.12 3.00
Operations AnalysisTransferable skill 3.00 4.00
CoordinationTransferable skill 3.00 3.12
Learning StrategiesEssential skill 3.00 3.12
Quality Control AnalysisTransferable skill 3.00 3.12
Time ManagementTransferable skill 3.00 3.12
PersuasionTransferable skill 2.88 2.88
InstructingTransferable skill 2.75 3.12
Management of Personnel ResourcesTransferable skill 2.75 2.88
Service OrientationTransferable skill 2.75 2.88
NegotiationTransferable skill 2.75 2.75
TroubleshootingTransferable skill 2.25 2.25
Operation and ControlTransferable skill 2.12 2.12
Management of Material ResourcesTransferable skill 2.00 2.00
Technology DesignTransferable skill 1.88 1.25
ProgrammingTransferable skill 1.88 1.00
Management of Financial ResourcesTransferable skill 1.75 1.00
Equipment MaintenanceTransferable skill 1.38not rated
Equipment SelectionTransferable skill 1.12not rated
RepairingTransferable skill 1.12not rated
InstallationTransferable skill 1.00not rated
Knowledge (33) and abilities (52)
Knowledge
NameImportanceLevel
Engineering and Technology 4.26 5.05
Production and Processing 4.15 4.55
English Language 3.75 4.35
Customer and Personal Service 3.70 4.55
Mathematics 3.65 4.85
Design 3.60 4.30
Mechanical 3.35 4.05
Education and Training 3.25 4.60
Computers and Electronics 3.15 4.30
Administration and Management 3.15 4.00
Administrative 2.90 4.30
Law and Government 2.90 2.85
Physics 2.80 3.45
Chemistry 2.60 3.30
Public Safety and Security 2.50 2.80
Personnel and Human Resources 2.45 3.20
Communications and Media 2.25 2.10
Telecommunications 2.16 2.00
Psychology 2.11 2.16
Economics and Accounting 1.95 2.00
Sales and Marketing 1.90 1.80
Biology 1.89 1.74
Transportation 1.80 1.75
Medicine and Dentistry 1.70 1.10
Building and Construction 1.58 1.42
Geography 1.53 1.53
Foreign Language 1.45 0.95
Food Production 1.42 1.15
Sociology and Anthropology 1.42 0.89
History and Archeology 1.21not rated
Philosophy and Theology 1.15not rated
Therapy and Counseling 1.05not rated
Fine Arts 1.00not rated
Abilities
NameImportanceLevel
Deductive Reasoning 4.12 4.38
Written Comprehension 4.12 4.38
Written Expression 4.12 4.12
Oral Comprehension 4.00 4.38
Inductive Reasoning 4.00 4.12
Oral Expression 4.00 4.12
Problem Sensitivity 4.00 4.12
Near Vision 3.88 3.88
Information Ordering 3.75 4.00
Category Flexibility 3.75 3.88
Speech Clarity 3.75 3.12
Speech Recognition 3.62 3.50
Mathematical Reasoning 3.25 3.88
Number Facility 3.12 3.50
Fluency of Ideas 3.12 3.12
Originality 3.00 3.12
Flexibility of Closure 3.00 3.00
Selective Attention 3.00 3.00
Perceptual Speed 3.00 2.88
Far Vision 2.88 2.88
Visualization 2.75 3.00
Time Sharing 2.75 2.88
Visual Color Discrimination 2.50 2.38
Speed of Closure 2.25 2.38
Auditory Attention 2.25 2.12
Hearing Sensitivity 2.25 2.12
Memorization 2.12 2.12
Control Precision 2.12 1.88
Trunk Strength 2.12 1.75
Arm-Hand Steadiness 2.00 1.88
Finger Dexterity 2.00 1.38
Wrist-Finger Speed 2.00 1.38
Depth Perception 1.88 1.75
Rate Control 1.75 0.75
Reaction Time 1.75 0.75
Response Orientation 1.75 0.75
Multilimb Coordination 1.62 0.75
Manual Dexterity 1.25not rated
Dynamic Flexibility 1.00not rated
Dynamic Strength 1.00not rated
Explosive Strength 1.00not rated
Extent Flexibility 1.00not rated
Glare Sensitivity 1.00not rated
Gross Body Coordination 1.00not rated
Gross Body Equilibrium 1.00not rated
Night Vision 1.00not rated
Peripheral Vision 1.00not rated
Sound Localization 1.00not rated
Spatial Orientation 1.00not rated
Speed of Limb Movement 1.00not rated
Stamina 1.00not rated
Static Strength 1.00not rated

Software used

Examples from O*NET data. "Hot" and "in demand" are O*NET flags for technologies often listed in job postings.

All 112
  • Django hot
  • Elasticsearch hot
  • Extensible markup language XML hot
  • Git hot
  • GitHub hot
  • Go hot
  • Grafana Labs Grafana Cloud hot
  • JUnit hot
  • Jenkins CI hot
  • Linux hot
  • Microsoft Access hot
  • Microsoft Outlook hot
  • Microsoft Power Automate hot
  • Microsoft PowerShell hot
  • Microsoft Project hot
  • Microsoft SQL Server hot
  • Microsoft Visio hot
  • Microsoft Visual Basic hot
  • Microsoft Visual Studio hot
  • Microsoft Windows hot
  • Microsoft Word hot
  • MongoDB hot
  • MySQL hot
  • NoSQL hot
  • Node.js hot
  • PHP hot
  • Perl hot
  • PostgreSQL hot
  • Prometheus hot
  • Puppet hot
  • R hot
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux hot
  • Red Hat OpenShift hot
  • Ruby hot
  • Scala hot
  • Selenium hot
  • Shell script hot
  • Splunk Enterprise hot
  • Teradata Database hot
  • The MathWorks MATLAB hot
  • UNIX hot
  • UNIX Shell hot
  • Apache Ant
  • Apache Groovy
  • Apache HTTP Server
  • Apache Solr
  • Apache Struts
  • Atlassian Bamboo
  • Bugzilla
  • Cadence Incisive Enterprise Simulator
  • Cadence Incisive Enterprise Specman Elite Testbench
  • Dassault Systemes CATIA
  • EMC Documentum
  • Email software
  • GE Intelligent Platforms Proficy HMI/SCADA iFIX
  • Hewlett Packard LoadRunner
  • Hewlett Packard QuickTest Professional
  • IBM Notes
  • IBM Rational ClearQuest
  • IndySoft Gage InSite Enterprise
  • Laboratory information management system LIMS
  • Logic simulators
  • Minitab
  • Nagios
  • National Instruments LabVIEW
  • PTC Creo Parametric
  • Perforce Helix software
  • QUALCOMM eXtensible Diagnostic Monitor QxDM
  • Red Hat WildFly
  • Ruby on Rails
  • Simulation program with integrated circuit emphasis SPICE
  • Simulation software
  • Sparta Systems TrackWise
  • Statistical software
  • Structure query language SQL
  • Synopsys electronic design software
  • Ubuntu
  • Verilog
  • Very high-speed integrated circuit VHSIC hardware description language VHDL
  • Virtual private networking VPN software
  • Windows kernel debuggers
  • Wireshark

Where it concentrates

BLS doesn't publish wages for Validation Engineers separately. These are the figures for Industrial Engineers (17-2112), its parent occupation.

Metro areas ranked by BLS location quotient: the occupation's share of the area's jobs divided by its share of all US jobs. Above 1 means more concentrated than the nation. Metros employing fewer than 100 are left out.

Metro areaEmploymentLocation quotientMedian annual
Columbus, IN9107.76$97,480
Kalamazoo-Portage, MI1,2404.34$97,250
Sheboygan, WI5603.95$94,170
Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI17,3503.87$104,110
Peoria, IL1,5003.85$117,180
Decatur, AL5303.65$106,230
Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL2,0303.52$101,610
Racine-Mount Pleasant, WI5603.12$86,000
Fond du Lac, WI3203.07$98,410
Oshkosh-Neenah, WI6703.06$97,180

More metros, other thresholds