National pay breakdown: every percentile, annual & hourly
The BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey is the most authoritative wage dataset in the US, it covers roughly 1.2 million establishments and is mandatory for sampled employers. The May 2025 release was published 2026-04-30. Here is the full national distribution for SOC 17-2199 (the closest BLS mapping for controls engineer):
| Percentile | Annual wage | Hourly wage | Typical profile |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10th | $66,810 | $32.12/hr | Entry controls engineer, smaller plant, lower-cost market |
| 25th | $90,970 | $43.73/hr | 2-4 years post-degree, single platform, one industry vertical |
| 50th (median) | $122,930 | $59.10/hr | 5-10 years, multi-platform fluency, owns plant or unit-level scope |
| 75th | $158,090 | $76.01/hr | Senior, lead, or DCS specialist; systems integrator with travel premium |
| 90th | $189,950 | $91.32/hr | Principal, DCS migration lead, defense / aerospace, FANG-adjacent automation |
| Mean | $125,330 | $60.26/hr | Pulled above median by long upper tail (defense, semis, big-tech automation) |
Source: BLS OEWS May 2025, national cross-industry estimate for SOC 17-2199 (national_M2025_dl.xlsx, released 2026-04-30).
The annual figures assume 2,080 hours of paid work per year. Most controls engineer roles run salaried-exempt and do not pay overtime, but field-service and SI roles typically pay travel-day premiums, on-call differentials, and per diem that can add $15K-$30K to cash compensation. Add another 12-18% for benefits load (employer-side health, 401k match, RSU or bonus at larger employers) when comparing total compensation to a 1099 consulting alternative.
Why the BLS number runs above posted-wage averages: SOC 17-2199 includes high-paid robotics, biomedical-controls, defense systems, and aerospace engineering roles. ZipRecruiter and Indeed averages for the exact title "Controls Engineer" tend to cluster around $95K-$110K base. Both numbers are real, the BLS captures the full distribution of work that gets classified into this bucket on employer payroll tax filings; the posting averages reflect what's typically advertised for the bare title at small-to-midsize manufacturers.
By experience level: entry, mid-career, and late-career
The BLS OEWS doesn't publish wages by years-of-experience, so the percentile-to-experience mapping below is an interpolation that combines:
- The BLS OEWS percentile distribution above, authoritative for "what gets paid," not "by whom."
- Salary.com and Glassdoor self-reported tiered data for the title "Controls Engineer," informative but not authoritative.
- Posted-wage observation from active Indeed and ZipRecruiter listings sampled during this update.
| Tier | Typical base | BLS percentile match | What changes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry (0-2 yr post-BS) | $72K-$88K | ~10-25th | One platform exposure, supervised programming, no commissioning lead |
| Mid (3-5 yr) | $92K-$115K | ~25-50th | First vendor cert, leads commissioning on small projects, multi-platform |
| Senior (6-10 yr) | $115K-$140K | ~50-75th | DCS or specialty platform depth, owns end-to-end project, mentors juniors |
| Lead / Principal (10+ yr) | $130K-$170K+ | ~75-90th | Architecture decisions, vendor selection, controls standards owner |
| Engineering Manager | $140K-$190K+ | ~75-90th+ | People-management track; total comp adds equity at larger employers |
Tier ranges aggregated from Salary.com, Glassdoor, and ZipRecruiter "Controls Engineer" tiered data; BLS percentiles from OEWS May 2025 SOC 17-2199.
Honest note on the entry tier: Entry controls engineer postings in low-cost states (rural Texas refining, Mississippi auto-plant, Alabama auto-plant) routinely start at $68K-$78K. Entry roles at coastal tech-adjacent employers (Tesla Fremont, semiconductor fabs, Bay Area biotech) start at $90K-$105K. The geography and the employer compound at every tier, not just the entry.
By state: where the wages run highest and where the jobs concentrate
Two different "best state" lists matter depending on what you're optimizing for. The top-paying states for SOC 17-2199 are dominated by defense and federal-contractor weight (DC, Virginia, Alabama via Huntsville, Maryland via the DC metro). The top-employment states are the traditional manufacturing and oil-and-gas heavyweights (California, Texas, Florida, Michigan, Ohio, Louisiana).
Top 10 states by mean annual wage
| Rank | State | Mean wage | Median wage | Employment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Mexico | $151,130 | $162,070 | 2,190 |
| 2 | District of Columbia | $146,600 | $151,920 | 3,560 |
| 3 | Alabama | $146,450 | $152,550 | 3,460 |
| 4 | Virginia | $145,830 | $148,160 | 5,060 |
| 5 | Alaska | $144,180 | $142,390 | 200 |
| 6 | California | $139,670 | $130,850 | 28,610 |
| 7 | Washington | $138,660 | $134,570 | 3,580 |
| 8 | Colorado | $134,930 | $132,590 | 2,540 |
| 9 | Massachusetts | $134,140 | $131,260 | 2,850 |
| 10 | New Jersey | $133,380 | $132,450 | 4,540 |
Top 10 states by total employment
| Rank | State | Employment | Mean wage | Median wage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | 28,610 | $139,670 | $130,850 |
| 2 | Texas | 10,820 | $121,890 | $115,810 |
| 3 | Florida | 8,600 | $110,430 | $105,410 |
| 4 | Michigan | 7,700 | $118,500 | $121,000 |
| 5 | Maryland | 7,340 | $129,030 | $129,770 |
| 6 | Ohio | 7,000 | $121,590 | $120,470 |
| 7 | Louisiana | 6,310 | $108,750 | $99,070 |
| 8 | New York | 5,760 | $124,360 | $117,600 |
| 9 | Virginia | 5,060 | $145,830 | $148,160 |
| 10 | New Jersey | 4,540 | $133,380 | $132,450 |
Source: BLS OEWS state estimates (May 2025), state_M2025_dl.xlsx. Total US employment for SOC 17-2199 is 154,070 per the national release.
Read these lists with the SOC caveat in mind. SOC 17-2199 includes defense systems engineers, so states with heavy DoD contractor presence (Virginia, Alabama via Huntsville's Redstone Arsenal corridor, Maryland via the DC metro, DC itself) sit at the top of the wage list largely on that weight, not on controls-engineer-titled roles. For controls-engineer-titled postings specifically, the practical high-wage states are California (Bay Area semis, automotive, biotech), Texas (refining, automotive, semis), Washington (Boeing, fab work), and the Great Lakes auto belt (Michigan, Ohio, Indiana).
Louisiana is the underrated state for controls engineers. 6,310 workers in SOC 17-2199 at a $108,750 mean, driven by Gulf Coast refining and petrochemical plants (ExxonMobil Baton Rouge, Shell Geismar, Dow Plaquemine, Phillips 66 Lake Charles) that run Emerson DeltaV and Honeywell Experion DCS at scale. The cost of living is roughly 90% of the US average, so the real-wage number outperforms the headline. The trade-off is heavy industrial environments and frequent turnaround-driven schedule volatility.
By metro: top-paying metro areas in the US
Metro-level data narrows further than state averages. The top-paying SOC 17-2199 metros are dominated by tech-adjacent automation (San Jose, San Francisco) and defense / federal corridors (DC metro, Huntsville, Albuquerque). For controls-engineer-titled roles specifically, the Bay Area and the petrochemical / refining metros (Houston, Baton Rouge, Lake Charles) are the practical high-wage targets.
| Rank | Metro | Mean wage | Employment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | $171,140 | 4,970 |
| 2 | San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | $162,570 | 4,850 |
| 3 | Charlottesville, VA | $151,940 | 50 |
| 4 | Albuquerque, NM | $151,910 | 1,110 |
| 5 | Lexington Park, MD | $151,780 | 1,020 |
| 6 | Huntsville, AL | $150,490 | 3,110 |
| 7 | Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ | $147,020 | 230 |
| 8 | Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA | $146,850 | 150 |
| 9 | Boulder, CO | $145,860 | 580 |
| 10 | Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | $145,090 | 9,230 |
Source: BLS OEWS metropolitan area estimates (May 2025), MSA_M2025_dl.xlsx.
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara tops the list at $171,140 mean, reflecting the semiconductor fab automation work at Lam Research, Applied Materials, and KLA, plus controls work at Tesla, Rivian, and the Bay Area biotech cluster. San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont follows at $162,570. Huntsville, AL ($150,490) is the defense-contractor anchor; Albuquerque, NM ($151,910) reflects Sandia National Labs and Intel Rio Rancho. The Washington-Arlington-Alexandria metro ($145,090) has the largest employment count in the top tier at 9,230, anchored by federal contractor work.
By industry: where the role pays the most
Industry assignment is the single largest non-geography lever for controls engineer pay. Per BLS OEWS May 2025 industry-level estimates for SOC 17-2199:
| Industry | Mean wage | Employment |
|---|---|---|
| Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services | $219,450 | 330 |
| Publishing Industries | $172,060 | 730 |
| Oil and Gas Extraction | $155,430 | 400 |
| Insurance Carriers and Related Activities | $143,220 | 520 |
| Federal, State, and Local Government, excluding State and Local Government Schools and Hospitals and the U.S. Postal Service (OEWS Designation) | $140,310 | 38,780 |
| Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | $123,120 | 42,750 |
| Federal, State, and Local Government, excluding State and Local Government Schools and Hospitals and the U.S. Postal Service (OEWS Designation) | $140,310 | 38,780 |
| Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing | $129,020 | 8,340 |
| Management of Companies and Enterprises | $130,650 | 8,330 |
| Transportation Equipment Manufacturing | $117,500 | 8,060 |
Top of table: top-paying industries. Bottom of table: largest-employing industries. Source: BLS OEWS industry-specific national estimates (May 2025).
The headline top-paying industries (Web Search Portals at $219,450 mean, Publishing at $172,060) reflect the FAANG-adjacent automation and ML-infrastructure engineering work classified into SOC 17-2199, not classical controls engineer roles. Strip those out and the practical top-paying industries for a controls engineer are Oil and Gas Extraction ($155,430 mean) and federal government work ($140,310 mean). Both are smaller employer bases, but they're where the highest controls-engineer-titled offers land.
For traditional controls engineer hiring, the four most active industry buckets are:
- Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services ($123,120 mean, 42,750 employment). This bucket captures most systems integrators (Maverick Technologies, Avanceon, JR Automation, Wood Group, Burns & McDonnell, Black & Veatch, MartinCSI, Concept Systems), plus consulting controls engineers.
- Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing ($129,020 mean, 8,340 employment). Semiconductor fab automation (Intel, TSMC, Samsung, Micron, GlobalFoundries) sits inside here. Pay clears the bucket average for fab equipment engineers.
- Transportation Equipment Manufacturing ($117,500 mean, 8,060 employment). Automotive (GM, Ford, Stellantis, Tesla, Toyota, BMW, Honda) and aerospace (Boeing, Lockheed, Raytheon). The bulk of "controls engineer" postings at OEMs live here.
- Management of Companies and Enterprises ($130,650 mean, 8,330 employment). This is corporate-engineering and centralized-controls-group work at large multi-plant manufacturers.
The process-industry premium is real. Refining, petrochemicals, pharma, and pulp & paper plants need Emerson DeltaV or Honeywell Experion DCS expertise. The combined effect of high downtime cost and thin specialist supply pushes pay $15K-$30K above the comparable discrete-manufacturing controls role.
By employer: what specific companies pay
The BLS does not publish employer-specific wages. The table below assembles posted-wage data from Glassdoor, Indeed, and Levels.fyi (where applicable) for controls-engineer-titled and equivalent automation-engineer roles. Numbers are ranges of typical base pay for mid-to-senior level (5-10 years of experience) and should be treated as orientation, not as an offer benchmark.
| Employer | Type | Typical base (mid-senior) | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tesla | OEM (auto) | $115K-$155K | Fremont, Austin, Sparks GA. Adds 15-25% in RSU at sign-on |
| Boeing | OEM (aerospace) | $105K-$140K | SPEEA-represented; clearance roles run higher |
| Lockheed Martin | Defense | $110K-$150K | Clearance required for most roles; +10-15% with Secret/TS |
| Intel | Semiconductor | $110K-$145K | Fab equipment engineer overlap; higher in AZ/OR |
| ExxonMobil | Refining | $120K-$160K | DCS (Honeywell Experion / Emerson DeltaV) heavy |
| Eli Lilly / Pfizer / Merck | Pharma | $115K-$155K | DeltaV and GAMP / 21 CFR Part 11 compliance work |
| BMW Spartanburg / Toyota MS | Auto OEM (low-COL state) | $85K-$110K | Below national posting average; cost-of-living-adjusted closer to peers |
| Rockwell Automation (field) | OEM field service | $115K-$140K | + per diem + travel-day premium. 50-70% travel typical |
| Siemens (field) | OEM field service | $110K-$140K | TIA Portal / PCS 7 depth required; similar travel pattern |
| Emerson (field, DeltaV) | OEM field service | $120K-$150K | DCS commissioning; refining and pharma customer base |
| Maverick Technologies (SI) | Systems integrator | $110K-$140K | Rockwell-anchored SI; project-based travel |
| Avanceon (SI) | Systems integrator | $105K-$135K | Pharma, food & bev, energy verticals |
| JR Automation (SI) | Systems integrator | $100K-$130K | Hitachi-owned; automotive and EV battery focus |
| Burns & McDonnell / Black & Veatch | EPC / utility consulting | $105K-$140K | Water/wastewater, power, energy controls |
| Wood Group / ATS Automation | SI / EPC | $110K-$145K | Oil & gas heavy at Wood; broad automation at ATS |
Ranges are typical base pay for controls-engineer-titled mid-to-senior (5-10 years) roles, assembled from active job postings, Glassdoor and Levels.fyi self-reported data, and public union scale where applicable. Treat as orientation, not an offer.
The pattern that matters: process-industry employers (refining, pharma, large-scale petrochemical) and tech-adjacent OEMs (Tesla, semiconductor fabs) pay 25-40% more than southeastern auto-OEM plants for the same controls engineer skill set. The platform you've invested time in determines which side of that split is open to you. Spending three years deep on Emerson DeltaV at a refining job opens the pharma and oil-and-gas doors; spending three years on Rockwell Studio 5000 at an auto plant opens the SI and discrete-manufacturing doors.
By platform & certification: what each credential is worth
Controls engineer pay is highly platform-dependent. The credential or demonstrated proficiency on a specific PLC or DCS platform tends to drive posted-wage ranges more than years of generic experience past the 3-year mark. Posted-wage observation from Indeed, ZipRecruiter, and Glassdoor:
- Rockwell Allen-Bradley generic (no Studio 5000 / ControlLogix depth): $85K-$105K base. Common floor for small-plant discrete-manufacturing roles.
- Rockwell ControlLogix + Studio 5000 expert (CCST or demonstrated): $110K-$140K base. The single highest-leverage discrete-manufacturing platform in the US.
- Siemens TIA Portal + S7 / S7-1500 expert: $105K-$135K base. Strong in European-OEM-influenced plants (BMW, VW, food and pharma); growing footprint in semis.
- Siemens PCS 7 (process DCS) expert: $110K-$140K base. Pharma and chemical plant work.
- Emerson DeltaV (process DCS) expert: $115K-$145K base. Refining, petrochemicals, pharma. Combined with safety-instrumented-system (TÜV FSE) certification, clears $150K.
- Honeywell Experion / TPS migration: $115K-$145K base. Refining and large petrochemical. Migration projects (TPS to Experion) command premium consulting rates.
- ABB 800xA expert: $110K-$140K base. Mining, pulp & paper, marine/offshore.
- Schneider Modicon / EcoStruxure + Foxboro DCS: $100K-$130K base. Power, water/wastewater, food and beverage.
- Ignition SCADA / Inductive Automation Gold Certified: $100K-$135K base. Cross-platform integrator role; pairs well with Rockwell or Siemens depth.
- TÜV Functional Safety Engineer (FSE): +$10K-$15K on top of base platform expertise. Hard requirement for SIS / safety-loop work in process industries.
- PE License (Electrical or Control Systems Engineering): +$5K-$15K. Often required for stamping drawings at consulting / EPC firms and water/wastewater utility work.
- ISA Certified Automation Professional (CAP): +$3K-$8K. Often a "nice-to-have" rather than a hard requirement; more valuable for SI and consulting roles than for in-house manufacturer roles.
See our full mechatronics and controls certification guide for the credential-by-credential cost, length, and employer-recognition breakdown.
Year-over-year wage trend
BLS OEWS releases roll one year at a time. Here's how SOC 17-2199 pay has moved across the last three releases:
| Data period | Median annual | YoY change | Context |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 2023 | $110,820 | n/a | Baseline |
| May 2024 | $117,750 | +6.3% | CHIPS Act and EV-plant buildout drives demand |
| May 2025 | $122,930 | +4.4% | Continued growth, slightly slower than 2024 |
Source: BLS OEWS May 2023, May 2024, and May 2025 national releases for SOC 17-2199.
For context: NAM's manufacturing wage index reported +4.5% growth across all production occupations in 2025. The +4.4% pace for SOC 17-2199 tracks the manufacturing average and runs about a point above the all-industry US wage growth of roughly +3.5%. Controls engineer demand specifically is being driven by three structural tailwinds: CHIPS Act-funded fab construction (Intel Ohio, TSMC Arizona, Samsung Texas, Micron New York), EV battery plant buildout (the auto-OEM joint ventures with LG, SK On, Panasonic), and process-industry digital-transformation projects (refinery DCS migrations, pharma continuous manufacturing).
How to push your controls engineer salary higher: three real levers
Lever 1: Go deep on one premium platform (Rockwell, Siemens, or Emerson DeltaV)
Generic "knows several PLCs" controls engineers cluster at the $95K-$110K posted-wage mark. The engineers who command $130K-$150K+ are nearly always platform specialists who can stand up an end-to-end system on Rockwell ControlLogix / Studio 5000, Siemens TIA Portal + PCS 7, or Emerson DeltaV, including I/O architecture, batch / sequence logic, alarming standards, HMI build, and commissioning. The fastest way to get there is to take a role at a plant or SI that uses your target platform exclusively, then stay 3-5 years and own at least two greenfield or major-migration projects on it.
The platform you choose maps to the industries open to you. Rockwell ControlLogix is the discrete-manufacturing standard (auto, packaging, food, water/wastewater). Siemens TIA Portal is European-OEM-influenced (BMW, VW, food and pharma) and growing in semis. Emerson DeltaV and Honeywell Experion are the refining, petrochemical, pharma, and pulp & paper DCS platforms, this is the highest-paid lane and the one most resilient to economic cycles.
Lever 2: Target a systems integrator role for the travel-premium total cash
The big SI firms (Maverick Technologies, Avanceon, JR Automation, Wood Group, Burns & McDonnell, Black & Veatch, MartinCSI, Concept Systems, ATS Automation, Dürr) typically post controls engineer roles at $105K-$140K base, plus per-diem (typically $50-$75/day on travel), lodging covered, and travel-day premiums. For an engineer running 50-70% travel, total cash compensation often clears $130K-$160K. The trade-off is the schedule: weeks at customer sites, occasional weekend commissioning windows, and accumulating airline miles you might not always want.
The clean SI play is 3-7 years right after a few years of in-house or fresh post-grad. The platform breadth you build at an SI (multiple Rockwell sites, Siemens projects, sometimes Emerson exposure) is portable, and senior SI engineers regularly move in-house to a major plant or corporate-engineering role in their 30s for the schedule, often at a 10-15% base cut that's roughly offset by the higher quality of life and clearer total-comp ceiling.
Lever 3: Move into process industries (refining, pharma, semiconductor) for the DCS premium
Same skill bucket, very different pay ceiling. A controls engineer at a Tier-2 auto supplier in the Midwest with 5-8 years of experience runs $95K-$115K. The same engineer with retraining onto Emerson DeltaV at a Gulf Coast refinery runs $120K-$150K base. The premium reflects the cost of downtime per hour (a stopped refinery loses tens to hundreds of thousands per hour of throughput, compared to a stopped auto line at thousands per hour) and the thin specialist supply.
The bridge is usually one of two paths: (1) take a junior or mid-level role at a process-industry plant explicitly to learn the DCS platform, accepting a modest pay cut for 12-24 months in exchange for the platform credential, or (2) join an SI that specializes in process-industry work (Wood Group, Maverick, Avanceon's pharma and energy groups) and rotate onto DCS projects intentionally. Pharma is the most accessible process-industry entry point for a discrete-manufacturing engineer because the GAMP / 21 CFR Part 11 compliance overlay rewards methodical engineers and the platforms (typically DeltaV) are similar in architecture to large discrete systems.
Controls engineer salary vs adjacent roles
Useful for orienting your next career move:
| Role | SOC | BLS median | Education to get there |
|---|---|---|---|
| Controls Engineer (you) | 17-2199 | $122,930 | ABET-EAC or ETAC BS + PLC platform depth |
| Automation Engineer | 17-2199 | $122,930 | Same SOC; broader scope, often 5-10% higher posting average |
| Robotics Engineer | 17-2199 | $122,930 | Same SOC; robotics specialization, posting avg $115K-$130K |
| Electrical Engineer | 17-2071 | $120,630 | ABET-EAC BS + FE / PE pathway |
| Mechanical Engineer | 17-2141 | $104,110 | ABET-EAC BS + FE |
| Mechatronics Technician | 17-3024 | $73,900 | AAS or industry certs (no engineer title) |
| Industrial Engineer | 17-2112 | $101,140 | ABET-EAC BS in IE |
All BLS medians from OEWS May 2025. Controls, automation, and robotics engineer all classify into SOC 17-2199, so the BLS median is shared, the posted-wage averages differ by title.
Two clean adjacencies: (1) cross into automation or robotics engineer titles for a modest posting-average bump without leaving the 17-2199 bucket, or (2) bridge into pure electrical engineer if you want the higher-formality EE-PE pathway. See our controls engineer career guide for the technician-to-engineer bridge and the recommended degree paths.
Frequently asked questions
What is the average controls engineer salary in 2026?
What's the difference between a controls engineer and an automation engineer?
How much of a pay jump should I expect going from technician to controls engineer?
Do systems integrators pay more than in-house manufacturer roles?
Which control platform pays the highest premium?
Do I need a bachelor's degree to be a controls engineer?
How does field service engineer pay compare to plant controls engineer?
Sources & methodology
All wage and employment data on this page is sourced from primary US government publications and disclosed compensation data, retrieved 2026-05-28:
- BLS OEWS, 17-2199 Engineers, All Other, May 2025 national release.
- BLS OEWS state-level estimates (oesm25st.zip), used for all state tables.
- BLS OEWS metropolitan area estimates (oesm25ma.zip), used for metro tables.
- BLS OEWS industry-level estimates (oesm25in4.zip), used for industry tables.
- BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, for 2024-2034 engineering employment projections.
- BEA Regional Price Parities, used for cost-of-living context in the Louisiana process-industry and New Mexico discussion.
- Salary.com, Controls Engineer, used for experience-tiered self-reported benchmarks.
- ZipRecruiter, Controls Engineer, used for posted-wage averages and state-level ranges.
- Glassdoor, Controls Engineer, used for employer-specific posted-wage triangulation.
- National Association of Manufacturers, for 2025 manufacturing-wide wage growth (+4.5%).
Employer-specific figures are posted-wage ranges assembled from active job listings, Glassdoor and Levels.fyi self-reported data, and public union scale where applicable. Treat them as orientation, not as an offer benchmark. The BLS SOC 17-2199 caveat applies throughout: the bucket includes robotics, biomedical-controls, defense systems, and other miscellaneous engineering titles in addition to controls engineer roles, so the headline median is wider than a clean controls-only sample would produce.