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Aerospace Engineers vs Electrical Engineer: what changes?

Consider Aerospace Engineers if you want to perform engineering duties in designing, constructing, and testing aircraft, missiles, and spacecraft. Consider Electrical Engineer if you would rather research, design, develop, test, or supervise the manufacturing and installation of electrical equipment, components, or systems for commercial, industrial, military, or scientific use. Both list bachelor's degree; compare training and prior experience separately.

Try this next: Compare three local entry-level postings for Aerospace Engineers and Electrical Engineer. List the duties, credentials, prior experience, and paid training each employer actually asks for. Try a supervised class or sample project from each field before choosing a program.

BLS 2025 wages and 2025–2035 projections. National medians are not starting offers. Occupation size is not a count of vacancies. View the BLS data.

Compare the practical differences
What this means in practice

The facts most likely to affect your decision

Start with earnings, the route into the job, training, available openings, and a day-to-day reality.

Aerospace Engineers

National median pay (2025)
$134,960
Route into the job
Bachelor's degree
Prior related experience
No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing
BLS does not list a separate on-the-job training requirement. Employers may still provide orientation and role-specific training.
Work to investigate
Formulate mathematical models or other methods of computer analysis to develop, evaluate, or modify design, according to customer engineering requirements.
Annual openings (2025–2035)
3,800
Know before you choose

Review the full career brief for day-to-day working conditions.

See the full Aerospace Engineers brief

Electrical Engineer

National median pay (2025)
$120,630
Route into the job
Bachelor's degree
Prior related experience
No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing
BLS does not list a separate on-the-job training requirement. Employers may still provide orientation and role-specific training.
Work to investigate
Design, implement, maintain, or improve electrical instruments, equipment, facilities, components, products, or systems for commercial, industrial, or domestic purposes.
Annual openings (2025–2035)
11,400
Know before you choose

Review the full career brief for day-to-day working conditions.

See the full Electrical Engineer brief
See scores, detailed data, and how the comparison works

How the national numbers differ

1

Electrical Engineer has the edge on annual openings

Electrical Engineer is at 11,400 annual openings, compared with 3,800 annual openings for Aerospace Engineers.

2

Aerospace Engineers has the edge on median pay

Aerospace Engineers is at $134,960, compared with $120,630 for Electrical Engineer.

3

Electrical Engineer has the edge on projected growth

Electrical Engineer is at 9.9% projected growth, compared with 8.3% projected growth for Aerospace Engineers.

67.9/ 100

Aerospace Engineers

vs
74/ 100

Electrical Engineer

Each available metric is ranked from 0 to 100 against the careers on ChooseField. The weighted average uses this profile: pay 30%, growth 25%, openings 30%, preparation level 15%. Missing values are not scored as zero; their weights are redistributed across available metrics. Occupation size has zero weight: employment is not accessible vacancies. Preparation categories do not measure admission difficulty or years without earnings. The score summarizes national measures; local opportunities and personal fit still need separate consideration.

Detailed evidence

Aerospace Engineers vs Electrical Engineer

DimensionAerospace EngineersElectrical Engineer
Median pay (2025)$134,960$120,630
Pay percentile93.2 percentile89.6 percentile
Projected growth (2025–2035)8.3%9.9%
Annual openings (2025–2035)3,80011,400
2025 employment68,700199,700
How you qualifyBachelor's degreeBachelor's degree
O*NET preparation groupJob Zone 4Job Zone 4
Related work experienceNo prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
On-the-job trainingBLS does not list a separate on-the-job training requirement. Employers may still provide orientation and role-specific training.BLS does not list a separate on-the-job training requirement. Employers may still provide orientation and role-specific training.

The table reports national benchmarks and reviewed work descriptions. It does not rate personal suitability, job security, or physical safety.

Read Aerospace Engineers briefRead Electrical Engineer brief

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Aerospace Engineers
$134,960 · 8.3% growth
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$120,630 · 9.9% growth
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ChooseField compares fields using public labor-market and professional sources.