PCB Designer
Impact: Product Development, Innovation
Designs and develops layouts for printed circuit boards (PCBs) used in electronic devices, ensuring functionality, reliability, and manufacturability.
What the day looks like
- People interaction
- Moderate
- Team vs solo
- 60% Team / 40% Solo
- Client facing
- Sometimes
- Impact visibility
- High
- Travel
- Minimal
- Schedule flexibility
- Moderate
- Remote work
- Hybrid
- Typical work hours
- 40 hours/week
- Stress level
- Moderate
At a glance
- Median salary
- $87,571
- Entry-level
- $75,000 - $90,000
- Senior
- $120,000+
- Growth by 2033
- 5% (average)
- Demand
- Growing
- Freelance potential
- Moderate
- Salary growth potential
- High to 60-80% growth from entry to senior
- Typical student debt
- $20,000 - $40,000
Skills you'll use
Hard skills
- Altium Designer
- KiCAD
- Eagle
- Circuit Design
- Signal Integrity
- EMC
- Manufacturing Processes
- IPC Standards
Soft skills
- Problem-solving
- Attention to Detail
- Communication
- Critical Thinking
- Adaptability
Technical complexity: High
How to get there
- Minimum education
- Bachelor's Degree
- Licensing
- No
- Years to mid-career
- 3-5 years
- Years to senior
- 7-10 years
- Career switching
- Moderate
Where this career leads
How people arrive here
Where you can go from here
Typical progression
- Junior PCB Designer
- PCB Designer
- Senior PCB Designer
- Lead PCB Designer/Manager
Future outlook
- Automation probability
- 10% to low risk due to creative problem-solving and specialized expertise
- AI disruption risk
- Low
- Demand trend
- Growing
How people feel about it
- Overall satisfaction
- 3.5/10
- Meaning
- 3.2/10
- Work-life balance
- 3.5/10
- Prestige
- 6.5/10
- Social perception
- Moderate