JobAfterNext

Photonics Engineers

Design technologies specializing in light information or light energy, such as laser or fiber optics technology.

Wages

BLS doesn't publish wages for Photonics Engineers separately. These are the figures for Engineers, All Other (17-2199), its parent occupation.

Median annual wage, U.S.$122,930
Employment, U.S.154,070
Median hourly wage$59.10
Annual wage percentiles, U.S., May 2025
10th25thMedian75th90th
$66,810$90,970$122,930$158,090$189,950
By state (51)
StateEmploymentMedian annualLocation quotient
Alabama3,460$152,5501.65
Alaska200$142,3900.61
Arizona1,720$102,2800.54
Arkansas820$76,9400.63
California28,610$130,8501.59
Colorado2,540$132,5900.89
Connecticut2,430$124,1101.44
Delaware$103,580
District of Columbia3,560$151,9205.12
Florida8,600$105,4100.87
Georgia4,120$112,2600.85
Hawaii1,100$122,8001.77
Idaho560$130,9700.67
Illinois2,520$111,9300.42
Indiana1,540$120,8800.49
Iowa1,100$103,0900.71
Kansas780$76,1000.55
Kentucky500$99,8300.25
Louisiana6,310$99,0703.29
Maine590$120,4300.93
Maryland7,340$129,7702.68
Massachusetts2,850$131,2600.79
Michigan7,700$121,0001.77
Minnesota1,290$108,8500.44
Mississippi480$111,0300.42
Missouri1,850$102,9800.63
Montana240$97,4700.47
Nebraska300$88,4900.29
Nevada870$103,7800.57
New Hampshire610$128,1300.90
New Jersey4,540$132,4501.07
New Mexico2,190$162,0702.54
New York5,760$117,6000.60
North Carolina4,270$112,4500.87
North Dakota220$100,2500.52
Ohio7,000$120,4701.27
Oklahoma860$119,8100.51
Oregon2,030$123,2201.04
Pennsylvania3,250$108,9500.54
Rhode Island380$117,0800.77
South Carolina1,280$110,4900.56
South Dakota110$112,2600.23
Tennessee4,400$96,6401.36
Texas10,820$115,8100.78
Utah1,750$110,3201.02
Vermont390$126,5501.29
Virginia5,060$148,1601.24
Washington3,580$134,5701.02
West Virginia660$118,8000.95
Wisconsin690$110,3600.24
Wyoming110$113,0500.40

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
1Fuel Cell Engineers40.978
2Electronics Engineers, Except Computer40.976
3Microsystems Engineers50.973
4Nanosystems Engineers50.972
5Materials Engineers40.968
6Computer Hardware Engineers40.968
7Robotics Engineers40.968
8Automotive Engineers40.967
9Electrical Engineers40.966
10Aerospace Engineers40.964

One skill away

Among the 50 occupations most similar to Photonics 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 ScientistsScience0.880.956
Chemical EngineersScience1.120.953
Nuclear EngineersTime Management0.880.947
Electrical and Electronic Engineering Technologists and TechniciansEquipment Maintenance0.870.942
Commercial and Industrial DesignersPersuasion0.870.940
Petroleum EngineersSocial Perceptiveness0.870.940
Nanotechnology Engineering Technologists and TechniciansEquipment Maintenance1.000.939
Biofuels/Biodiesel Technology and Product Development ManagersManagement of Personnel Resources0.880.919

Software to learn next

Software used by at least 3 of the 20 occupations most similar to Photonics Engineers, excluding software Photonics 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
MathWorks Simulink9 of 2021.9x
PTC Creo Parametric11 of 2011.8x
Finite element method FEM software7 of 2029.4x
Maplesoft Maple7 of 2021.5x
ANSYS simulation software6 of 2023.1x
Very high-speed integrated circuit VHSIC hardware description language VHDL5 of 2038.5x
Verilog7 of 2013.5x
Rapid prototyping software5 of 2028.8x
Minitab9 of 205.9x
Hardware description language HDL4 of 2046.2x

Skills

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

SkillTypeImportanceLevel
Critical ThinkingEssential skill 4.00 4.75
Reading ComprehensionEssential skill 3.88 5.00
WritingEssential skill 3.88 4.75
Active ListeningEssential skill 3.75 4.12
Active LearningEssential skill 3.62 5.00
MathematicsEssential skill 3.62 4.88
SpeakingEssential skill 3.62 4.00
ScienceEssential skill 3.50 4.00
Complex Problem SolvingTransferable skill 3.38 4.00
Judgment and Decision MakingTransferable skill 3.38 4.00
Operations AnalysisTransferable skill 3.25 3.88
Technology DesignTransferable skill 3.25 3.88
Systems AnalysisTransferable skill 3.12 4.00
Systems EvaluationTransferable skill 3.12 3.75
Quality Control AnalysisTransferable skill 3.00 4.00
MonitoringEssential skill 3.00 3.62
InstructingTransferable skill 3.00 3.50
Learning StrategiesEssential skill 3.00 3.25
CoordinationTransferable skill 3.00 3.12
Equipment SelectionTransferable skill 2.88 3.50
Operations MonitoringTransferable skill 2.88 3.50
Operation and ControlTransferable skill 2.88 3.00
Time ManagementTransferable skill 2.88 3.00
TroubleshootingTransferable skill 2.75 3.25
Social PerceptivenessTransferable skill 2.75 2.75
RepairingTransferable skill 2.62 3.00
PersuasionTransferable skill 2.62 2.75
Management of Personnel ResourcesTransferable skill 2.62 2.50
NegotiationTransferable skill 2.50 2.62
Service OrientationTransferable skill 2.50 2.62
ProgrammingTransferable skill 2.25 2.75
Equipment MaintenanceTransferable skill 2.12 2.25
Management of Material ResourcesTransferable skill 2.00 2.00
Management of Financial ResourcesTransferable skill 1.75 1.38
InstallationTransferable skill 1.25not rated
Knowledge (33) and abilities (52)
Knowledge
NameImportanceLevel
Engineering and Technology 4.83 6.52
Physics 4.57 5.83
Mathematics 4.57 5.74
Computers and Electronics 4.23 5.26
Design 3.96 5.35
English Language 3.33 3.82
Mechanical 3.09 4.09
Telecommunications 2.74 2.86
Chemistry 2.70 3.35
Production and Processing 2.70 3.35
Administration and Management 2.26 2.91
Administrative 2.17 2.43
Customer and Personal Service 2.13 2.43
Public Safety and Security 2.09 1.96
Communications and Media 1.96 1.96
Education and Training 1.95 2.36
Law and Government 1.91 1.74
Sales and Marketing 1.83 2.09
Economics and Accounting 1.78 1.52
Personnel and Human Resources 1.70 1.48
Biology 1.61 1.30
Transportation 1.48 1.14
Geography 1.43 1.13
Building and Construction 1.39 0.87
Foreign Language 1.39 0.74
Medicine and Dentistry 1.36 0.82
Psychology 1.26not rated
History and Archeology 1.17not rated
Fine Arts 1.09not rated
Therapy and Counseling 1.05not rated
Philosophy and Theology 1.04not rated
Sociology and Anthropology 1.04not rated
Food Production 1.00not rated
Abilities
NameImportanceLevel
Deductive Reasoning 4.00 5.12
Written Comprehension 4.00 5.00
Inductive Reasoning 4.00 4.50
Information Ordering 4.00 4.38
Mathematical Reasoning 3.88 4.88
Oral Comprehension 3.88 4.88
Written Expression 3.88 4.62
Oral Expression 3.75 4.88
Originality 3.75 4.62
Fluency of Ideas 3.75 4.25
Problem Sensitivity 3.75 4.12
Category Flexibility 3.62 4.62
Near Vision 3.62 4.12
Number Facility 3.50 4.25
Speech Clarity 3.50 3.62
Visualization 3.25 4.12
Flexibility of Closure 3.25 3.62
Speech Recognition 3.25 3.50
Perceptual Speed 3.00 3.12
Far Vision 2.88 3.50
Selective Attention 2.88 3.00
Speed of Closure 2.88 3.00
Visual Color Discrimination 2.88 3.00
Memorization 2.75 2.75
Control Precision 2.62 3.12
Arm-Hand Steadiness 2.62 3.00
Finger Dexterity 2.62 3.00
Depth Perception 2.50 2.62
Manual Dexterity 2.50 2.50
Time Sharing 2.25 2.25
Hearing Sensitivity 2.12 2.25
Auditory Attention 1.88 1.62
Glare Sensitivity 1.75 1.38
Response Orientation 1.75 1.12
Reaction Time 1.75 1.00
Rate Control 1.75 0.75
Wrist-Finger Speed 1.75 0.75
Multilimb Coordination 1.62 1.12
Trunk Strength 1.62 1.00
Static Strength 1.38 0.38
Extent Flexibility 1.12not rated
Dynamic Flexibility 1.00not rated
Dynamic Strength 1.00not rated
Explosive Strength 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

Software used

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

All 52
  • Computer-aided drafting or design software
  • Dassault Systemes CATIA
  • Debugging software
  • ESRI software
  • Finite element analysis FEA software
  • Formula translation/translator FORTRAN
  • Mapping software
  • Mathsoft Mathcad
  • Optical Research Associates LightTools
  • Optiwave OptiBPM
  • Optiwave OptiFDTD
  • Optiwave OptiSPICE
  • Pattern recognition software
  • Photon Design CrystalWave
  • Photon Design FIMMPROP
  • Photon Design FIMMWAVE
  • Photon Design OmniSim
  • Photon Design PICWave
  • QGIS
  • Spectroscopy software
  • Structure query language SQL
  • Wolfram Research Mathematica

Where it concentrates

BLS doesn't publish wages for Photonics Engineers separately. These are the figures for Engineers, All Other (17-2199), 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
Lexington Park, MD1,02014.58$166,230
Lake Charles, LA1,33013.19$94,810
Huntsville, AL3,11011.77$155,630
Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin, FL8306.66$132,650
Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL1,6206.65$127,400
Panama City-Panama City Beach, FL4605.07$115,210
Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA4404.78$142,130
Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH1,6504.48$142,080
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA4,9704.42$169,650
Baton Rouge, LA1,7804.39$101,720

More metros, other thresholds