JobAfterNext

Sales Engineers

Sell business goods or services, the selling of which requires a technical background equivalent to a baccalaureate degree in engineering.

Wages

Median annual wage, U.S.$124,900
Employment, U.S.51,790
Median hourly wage$60.05
Annual wage percentiles, U.S., May 2025
10th25thMedian75th90th
$73,870$92,890$124,900$161,230$195,270
By state (46)
StateEmploymentMedian annualLocation quotient
Alabama220$104,4100.32
Alaska$71,080
Arizona1,000$131,8700.93
Arkansas30$130,7600.07
California6,310$139,1601.04
Colorado2,800$139,9902.93
Connecticut760$123,6601.34
Delaware80$167,2000.47
Florida2,410$125,5300.73
Georgia1,630$98,8401.00
Idaho360$128,0301.26
Illinois1,150$99,7100.57
Indiana980$74,9600.92
Iowa310$83,4500.61
Kansas220$98,0000.45
Kentucky380$90,1900.57
Louisiana$121,680
Maine140$95,1800.65
Maryland850$153,4100.93
Massachusetts3,150$136,2002.60
Michigan2,290$114,1801.56
Minnesota990$100,5701.00
Mississippi90Not available0.24
Missouri710$90,9600.73
Nebraska130$90,1400.39
Nevada320$99,0200.62
New Hampshire300$107,8501.31
New Jersey1,760$139,0101.24
New Mexico80$119,4200.27
New York3,150$137,4800.98
North Carolina2,530$121,5301.54
Ohio1,210$97,4200.65
Oklahoma290$114,5200.51
Oregon540$128,1700.83
Pennsylvania1,980$98,5000.98
Rhode Island30$149,7500.21
South Carolina770$114,2501.01
South Dakota100$119,1100.65
Tennessee530$111,5800.49
Texas6,800$130,6101.45
Utah480$117,6500.84
Vermont$116,790
Virginia1,260Not available0.92
Washington760$147,6200.64
West Virginia40$135,2600.15
Wisconsin1,300$117,9701.33

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
1Solar Sales Representatives and Assessors30.965
2Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products40.959
3Architectural and Engineering Managers50.958
4Information Technology Project Managers40.950
5General and Operations Managers40.950
6Marketing Managers40.948
7Online Merchants40.945
8Sales Managers40.942
9Project Management Specialists40.941
10Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel1-20.941

One skill away

Among the 50 occupations most similar to Sales 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
Petroleum EngineersScience2.000.940
Cost EstimatorsManagement of Financial Resources1.240.935
Management AnalystsOperations Analysis1.130.935
Solar Energy Systems EngineersScience1.880.932
Commercial and Industrial DesignersOperations Analysis1.130.931
Advertising and Promotions ManagersManagement of Personnel Resources0.880.928
Energy AuditorsOperations Monitoring1.250.927

Software to learn next

Software used by at least 3 of the 20 occupations most similar to Sales Engineers, excluding software Sales 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
Google Analytics9 of 2010.4x
HubSpot software7 of 2017.9x
Google Ads8 of 2012.3x
IBM Notes11 of 204.9x
JamBoard6 of 2016.3x
Marketo Marketing Automation7 of 2010.8x
NetSuite ERP8 of 207.7x
Oracle Hyperion8 of 207.2x
Salesforce.com Salesforce CRM5 of 2023.1x
LinkedIn8 of 207.0x

Skills

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

SkillTypeImportanceLevel
PersuasionTransferable skill 4.12 4.25
SpeakingEssential skill 4.12 4.25
Reading ComprehensionEssential skill 4.00 4.88
Active ListeningEssential skill 4.00 4.12
Critical ThinkingEssential skill 4.00 4.00
Judgment and Decision MakingTransferable skill 4.00 4.00
Social PerceptivenessTransferable skill 4.00 3.88
Complex Problem SolvingTransferable skill 3.88 4.00
NegotiationTransferable skill 3.88 4.00
Active LearningEssential skill 3.75 4.12
WritingEssential skill 3.75 4.00
Service OrientationTransferable skill 3.75 3.88
Systems AnalysisTransferable skill 3.62 3.88
Systems EvaluationTransferable skill 3.50 3.75
Time ManagementTransferable skill 3.50 3.12
InstructingTransferable skill 3.38 3.75
CoordinationTransferable skill 3.38 3.62
MathematicsEssential skill 3.00 3.62
Learning StrategiesEssential skill 3.00 3.38
MonitoringEssential skill 2.88 3.50
Technology DesignTransferable skill 2.75 2.88
Operations AnalysisTransferable skill 2.75 2.75
Management of Personnel ResourcesTransferable skill 2.62 3.00
Management of Financial ResourcesTransferable skill 2.38 2.38
Management of Material ResourcesTransferable skill 2.25 2.38
ScienceEssential skill 2.12 2.00
Operations MonitoringTransferable skill 1.88 1.75
Quality Control AnalysisTransferable skill 1.88 1.75
ProgrammingTransferable skill 1.88 1.38
Equipment SelectionTransferable skill 1.88 1.00
TroubleshootingTransferable skill 1.75 1.50
Operation and ControlTransferable skill 1.62 1.00
Equipment MaintenanceTransferable skill 1.00not rated
InstallationTransferable skill 1.00not rated
RepairingTransferable skill 1.00not rated
Knowledge (33) and abilities (52)
Knowledge
NameImportanceLevel
Customer and Personal Service 4.54 5.51
Sales and Marketing 4.34 5.05
Engineering and Technology 4.30 5.55
English Language 4.28 4.63
Mathematics 3.79 5.10
Administration and Management 3.67 4.89
Design 3.37 4.25
Administrative 3.21 3.95
Mechanical 2.99 3.57
Computers and Electronics 2.93 4.24
Economics and Accounting 2.90 3.55
Physics 2.86 3.40
Personnel and Human Resources 2.85 3.31
Education and Training 2.74 3.26
Production and Processing 2.53 2.44
Communications and Media 2.38 2.50
Psychology 1.91 1.50
Chemistry 1.81 1.39
Telecommunications 1.72 1.34
Transportation 1.69 1.49
Law and Government 1.66 1.30
Geography 1.60 1.22
Public Safety and Security 1.51 0.83
Building and Construction 1.47 0.82
Foreign Language 1.38 0.85
Philosophy and Theology 1.27not rated
Sociology and Anthropology 1.25not rated
Therapy and Counseling 1.19not rated
Biology 1.17not rated
Food Production 1.11not rated
Medicine and Dentistry 1.09not rated
History and Archeology 1.07not rated
Fine Arts 1.03not rated
Abilities
NameImportanceLevel
Oral Expression 4.12 5.00
Speech Clarity 4.12 4.12
Oral Comprehension 4.00 4.88
Written Comprehension 4.00 4.62
Deductive Reasoning 4.00 4.00
Inductive Reasoning 4.00 4.00
Speech Recognition 4.00 4.00
Written Expression 3.88 4.12
Information Ordering 3.75 4.00
Problem Sensitivity 3.75 4.00
Category Flexibility 3.62 4.00
Fluency of Ideas 3.62 4.00
Near Vision 3.62 3.88
Originality 3.38 3.75
Number Facility 3.25 3.88
Mathematical Reasoning 3.12 3.62
Memorization 3.00 3.12
Speed of Closure 3.00 3.00
Visualization 2.88 3.12
Flexibility of Closure 2.88 2.88
Selective Attention 2.88 2.88
Far Vision 2.75 3.25
Perceptual Speed 2.75 2.88
Time Sharing 2.62 2.62
Visual Color Discrimination 2.50 2.50
Depth Perception 2.12 2.00
Finger Dexterity 2.12 2.00
Auditory Attention 2.00 1.50
Manual Dexterity 1.88 1.50
Arm-Hand Steadiness 1.88 1.38
Hearing Sensitivity 1.88 1.38
Control Precision 1.75 1.25
Trunk Strength 1.75 1.25
Wrist-Finger Speed 1.50 0.62
Multilimb Coordination 1.38 0.50
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
Rate Control 1.00not rated
Reaction Time 1.00not rated
Response Orientation 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 95
  • Microsoft Teams hot
  • Microsoft Visio hot
  • Microsoft Windows Server hot
  • Microsoft Word hot
  • Oracle Database hot
  • Oracle Java hot
  • Oracle PeopleSoft hot
  • PHP hot
  • Perl hot
  • R hot
  • React hot
  • Ruby hot
  • SAP software hot
  • Shell script hot
  • Splunk Enterprise hot
  • Structured query language SQL hot
  • Teradata Database hot
  • UNIX hot
  • Ab Initio
  • Apache HBase
  • Apache Pig
  • Apache Struts
  • Cisco Systems CiscoWorks
  • Cisco Systems VPN Client
  • Citrix cloud computing software
  • Database management software
  • Enterprise JavaBeans
  • Enterprise application integration EAI software
  • Extensible hypertext markup language XHTML
  • Firewall software
  • Google Cloud software
  • Graphics software
  • Hewlett Packard HP-UX
  • Hyperion Solutions Hyperion System 9 Bi+
  • IBM Cognos Business Intelligence
  • IBM Cognos Impromptu
  • IBM Domino
  • Informatica Corporation PowerCenter
  • Management information systems MIS
  • MapReduce big data software
  • McAfee
  • MicroStrategy
  • MicroStrategy Desktop
  • Microsoft Dynamics
  • Microsoft Exchange
  • Microsoft Office Live Meeting
  • Network directory services software
  • NortonLifeLock cybersecurity software
  • Oracle Solaris
  • Platform as a service PaaS
  • RESTful API
  • SAP Adaptive Server Enterprise
  • SAP Business Objects
  • SAP Business One
  • SAP BusinessObjects Crystal Reports
  • Sales analysis software
  • Scheduling software
  • Security assertion markup language SAML
  • Single sign-on SSO
  • Software as a service SaaS
  • Virtual private networking VPN software
  • Voice over internet protocol VoIP system software
  • Web browser software
  • WebEx Sales Center
  • Wireshark

Where it concentrates

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
Boulder, CO3505.45$138,720
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA1,6004.24$177,490
Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO2,0103.75$139,990
Durham-Chapel Hill, NC3302.88$175,310
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX1,2302.86$137,960
Worcester, MA3202.71$125,800
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH2,4102.67$136,620
Rockford, IL1102.49$75,320
Raleigh-Cary, NC5702.29$129,520
Waterbury-Shelton, CT1102.11$123,830

More metros, other thresholds