JobAfterNext

Automotive Engineers

Develop new or improved designs for vehicle structural members, engines, transmissions, or other vehicle systems, using computer-assisted design technology. Direct building, modification, or testing of vehicle or components.

Wages

BLS doesn't publish wages for Automotive Engineers separately. These are the figures for Mechanical Engineers (17-2141), its parent occupation.

Median annual wage, U.S.$104,110
Employment, U.S.296,810
Median hourly wage$50.05
Annual wage percentiles, U.S., May 2025
10th25thMedian75th90th
$73,990$84,130$104,110$132,590$164,340
By state (51)
StateEmploymentMedian annualLocation quotient
Alabama$100,230
Alaska380$124,3400.61
Arizona5,050$100,2700.82
Arkansas1,410$80,1800.56
California30,530$130,9000.88
Colorado7,190$124,4301.31
Connecticut4,600$105,0901.42
Delaware610$125,1300.66
District of Columbia510$133,3000.38
Florida10,740$99,9800.57
Georgia5,290$100,6200.57
Hawaii530$98,7400.44
Idaho1,070$93,1900.65
Illinois11,790$102,6801.01
Indiana8,690$99,5901.42
Iowa3,470$97,7001.17
Kansas4,630$86,2601.69
Kentucky4,170$101,0501.09
Louisiana1,890$119,5400.51
Maine890$102,4300.72
Maryland6,550$122,8701.24
Massachusetts7,680$119,3001.11
Michigan34,630$104,8904.12
Minnesota5,890$99,1401.05
Mississippi1,570$98,0000.71
Missouri4,870$99,3300.87
Montana500$94,1900.51
Nebraska950$88,0600.49
Nevada1,410$102,6800.48
New Hampshire2,760$103,6602.12
New Jersey4,180$112,3000.51
New Mexico2,710$157,7101.63
New York8,590$102,4400.46
North Carolina9,560$100,7201.01
North Dakota790$86,3300.96
Ohio14,390$99,1001.36
Oklahoma2,270$101,8500.70
Oregon2,920$103,4700.78
Pennsylvania13,550$97,9201.17
Rhode Island1,560$116,2301.63
South Carolina5,780$104,5801.31
South Dakota560$88,3800.64
Tennessee3,930$99,5500.63
Texas22,080$112,4100.82
Utah3,370$102,5001.02
Vermont530$107,3300.92
Virginia7,470$104,1800.95
Washington8,240$110,4301.22
West Virginia760$97,3900.57
Wisconsin7,470$95,8701.33
Wyoming230$117,7500.44

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
1Aerospace Engineers40.972
2Materials Engineers40.971
3Mechanical Engineers40.970
4Electrical Engineers40.969
5Fuel Cell Engineers40.969
6Photonics Engineers40.967
7Nuclear Engineers40.967
8Mechatronics Engineers40.967
9Industrial Engineering Technologists and Technicians30.966
10Chemical Engineers40.966

One skill away

Among the 50 occupations most similar to Automotive 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
Materials EngineersScience0.760.971
Nuclear EngineersOperations Monitoring1.000.967
Mechatronics EngineersOperation and Control0.880.967
Chemical EngineersScience1.000.966
Materials ScientistsScience0.760.963
Mining and Geological Engineers, Including Mining Safety EngineersManagement of Material Resources1.250.962
Marine Engineers and Naval ArchitectsOperation and Control1.000.960
Bioengineers and Biomedical EngineersLearning Strategies0.880.955
Transportation EngineersManagement of Personnel Resources0.880.954
Mechanical Engineering Technologists and TechniciansOperation and Control0.880.944

Software to learn next

Software used by at least 3 of the 20 occupations most similar to Automotive Engineers, excluding software Automotive 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
National Instruments LabVIEW17 of 2012.7x
Microsoft Visual Basic12 of 205.8x
Mathsoft Mathcad7 of 2016.2x
Finite element method FEM software6 of 2025.2x
Dassault Systemes Abaqus5 of 2033.0x
Supervisory control and data acquisition SCADA software9 of 206.7x
Rapid prototyping software5 of 2028.8x
Computer numerical control CNC software4 of 2046.2x
MSC Software Nastran4 of 2046.2x
Verilog6 of 2011.5x

Skills

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

SkillTypeImportanceLevel
Critical ThinkingEssential skill 4.12 4.75
Complex Problem SolvingTransferable skill 4.12 4.25
Reading ComprehensionEssential skill 4.00 4.75
MathematicsEssential skill 3.88 4.88
Judgment and Decision MakingTransferable skill 3.88 4.25
WritingEssential skill 3.88 4.12
SpeakingEssential skill 3.88 3.88
Systems EvaluationTransferable skill 3.75 4.12
Active ListeningEssential skill 3.75 4.00
Operations AnalysisTransferable skill 3.75 3.88
Systems AnalysisTransferable skill 3.75 3.88
CoordinationTransferable skill 3.50 3.62
Active LearningEssential skill 3.38 4.50
ScienceEssential skill 3.25 4.12
Time ManagementTransferable skill 3.25 3.25
Technology DesignTransferable skill 3.12 3.88
MonitoringEssential skill 3.12 3.75
PersuasionTransferable skill 3.12 3.25
InstructingTransferable skill 3.00 3.62
Quality Control AnalysisTransferable skill 3.00 3.62
Management of Personnel ResourcesTransferable skill 3.00 3.00
NegotiationTransferable skill 3.00 3.00
Social PerceptivenessTransferable skill 3.00 3.00
Learning StrategiesEssential skill 2.88 3.00
Operations MonitoringTransferable skill 2.88 3.00
Service OrientationTransferable skill 2.88 2.75
ProgrammingTransferable skill 2.75 2.88
Operation and ControlTransferable skill 2.12 2.12
TroubleshootingTransferable skill 2.00 2.50
Management of Financial ResourcesTransferable skill 2.00 2.12
Management of Material ResourcesTransferable skill 2.00 2.00
Equipment SelectionTransferable skill 1.88 1.75
Equipment MaintenanceTransferable skill 1.00not rated
InstallationTransferable skill 1.00not rated
RepairingTransferable skill 1.00not rated
Knowledge (33) and abilities (52)
Knowledge
NameImportanceLevel
Engineering and Technology 4.71 6.38
Physics 4.35 5.57
Mathematics 4.33 5.52
Mechanical 4.14 5.48
Design 3.86 5.52
Computers and Electronics 3.85 5.38
Transportation 3.76 4.05
English Language 3.70 4.33
Production and Processing 3.33 3.67
Administration and Management 3.24 4.05
Chemistry 3.00 4.14
Education and Training 2.81 4.10
Customer and Personal Service 2.71 3.40
Public Safety and Security 2.67 3.19
Law and Government 2.60 3.24
Economics and Accounting 2.52 2.38
Telecommunications 2.43 2.48
Administrative 2.38 3.24
Communications and Media 2.33 2.38
Personnel and Human Resources 2.19 2.81
Sales and Marketing 2.10 2.57
Foreign Language 1.85 2.05
Psychology 1.79 1.95
Building and Construction 1.76 1.76
Geography 1.75 1.76
Biology 1.57 1.33
Sociology and Anthropology 1.48 1.14
History and Archeology 1.38 0.71
Food Production 1.29not rated
Philosophy and Theology 1.24not rated
Medicine and Dentistry 1.10not rated
Therapy and Counseling 1.10not rated
Fine Arts 1.05not rated
Abilities
NameImportanceLevel
Deductive Reasoning 4.00 4.88
Oral Comprehension 4.00 4.75
Written Comprehension 4.00 4.75
Inductive Reasoning 4.00 4.62
Oral Expression 4.00 4.38
Problem Sensitivity 4.00 4.25
Mathematical Reasoning 3.88 4.75
Originality 3.88 4.62
Fluency of Ideas 3.88 4.00
Written Expression 3.88 4.00
Information Ordering 3.75 4.50
Number Facility 3.75 4.12
Visualization 3.75 4.12
Near Vision 3.75 4.00
Speech Recognition 3.75 3.38
Speech Clarity 3.75 3.12
Category Flexibility 3.62 4.00
Far Vision 3.00 3.12
Selective Attention 3.00 3.00
Visual Color Discrimination 2.88 3.12
Flexibility of Closure 2.88 3.00
Perceptual Speed 2.88 2.88
Speed of Closure 2.75 3.00
Memorization 2.62 2.62
Time Sharing 2.25 2.62
Depth Perception 2.25 2.00
Hearing Sensitivity 2.12 2.88
Auditory Attention 2.12 2.12
Finger Dexterity 2.12 1.75
Control Precision 2.00 2.00
Arm-Hand Steadiness 2.00 1.62
Multilimb Coordination 2.00 1.62
Reaction Time 2.00 1.62
Response Orientation 2.00 1.62
Spatial Orientation 2.00 1.62
Sound Localization 2.00 1.50
Glare Sensitivity 2.00 1.25
Night Vision 2.00 1.25
Peripheral Vision 2.00 1.12
Rate Control 2.00 1.12
Manual Dexterity 1.62 1.00
Trunk Strength 1.50 0.75
Wrist-Finger Speed 1.50 0.62
Speed of Limb Movement 1.50 0.50
Dynamic Flexibility 1.00not rated
Dynamic Strength 1.00not rated
Explosive Strength 1.00not rated
Extent Flexibility 1.00not rated
Gross Body Coordination 1.00not rated
Gross Body Equilibrium 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 87
  • Node.js hot
  • Oracle Java hot
  • Perl hot
  • SAP software hot
  • Salesforce software hot
  • Selenium hot
  • Structured query language SQL hot
  • Swift hot
  • UNIX hot
  • 1CadCam Unigraphics
  • ANSYS simulation software
  • AVL AVL CRUISE
  • Altair Engineering MotionSolve
  • Ambient Design ArtRage
  • Ansys Fluent
  • Apache Groovy
  • Ashlar-Vellum Graphite
  • Atlassian Bamboo
  • Autodesk Alias Automotive
  • Autodesk AutoCAD Mechanical
  • Autodesk Inventor
  • Autodesk SketchBook Pro
  • CADRE Analytic
  • CNC Mastercam
  • Corel Painter
  • Corel Painter Sketch Pad
  • Dassault Systemes Simulia Abaqus FEA
  • Data acquisition systems
  • Debugging software
  • Digital Equipment Corporation DIGITAL Fortran 90
  • GNU Image Manipulation Program GIMP
  • Gamma Technologies GT-SUITE
  • Hardware-in-the-loop HIL simulation software
  • IBM Notes
  • International Material Data System IMDS
  • IronCAD
  • LMS Imagine.Lab AMESim
  • MAHLE Powertrain
  • Magellan Firmware
  • Maplesoft Maple
  • Maplesoft MapleSim
  • MathWorks Simulink
  • Mentor Graphics Flowmaster
  • Metrologic Group Metrolog XG
  • Microsoft Visual Basic Scripting Edition VBScript
  • Minitab
  • Object oriented development environment software
  • Portalgraphics openCanvas
  • Siemens NX
  • Siemens Solid Edge
  • Somat eDAQ
  • Statistical analysis software
  • SystemVerilog
  • TestNG
  • Think3 ThinkDesign Engineering
  • Very high-speed integrated circuit VHSIC hardware description language VHDL
  • Xcode

Where it concentrates

BLS doesn't publish wages for Automotive Engineers separately. These are the figures for Mechanical Engineers (17-2141), 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, IN1,00010.52$127,700
Peoria, IL2,1206.70$128,710
Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI22,5006.19$109,470
Ann Arbor, MI2,2805.43$127,310
Lexington Park, MD6704.97$127,650
Niles, MI5504.84$106,320
Elizabethtown, KY4504.56$102,590
Kokomo, IN3004.47$105,410
Huntsville, AL2,1504.23$102,450
Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA7504.21$109,550

More metros, other thresholds