Electrical Engineer vs Electrician: Which Field Is Better?

Dimension	Electrical Engineer	Electrician
Median pay	$111,910	$62,350
Projected growth (2024–34)	7.2%	9.5%
Annual openings	11,700	81,000
2024 employment	192,000	818,700
2034 projected employment	205,700	896,100
Self-employed share	1%	7.8%
Typical entry education	Bachelor's degree	High school diploma or equivalent
Related work experience	None	None
On-the-job training	None	Apprenticeship

Dimension

Electrical Engineer

Electrician

Median pay

$111,910

$62,350

Projected growth (2024–34)

7.2%

9.5%

Annual openings

11,700

81,000

2024 employment

192,000

818,700

2034 projected employment

205,700

896,100

Self-employed share

7.8%

Typical entry education

Bachelor's degree

High school diploma or equivalent

Related work experience

None

On-the-job training

None

Apprenticeship

Electrical Engineer: main tradeoff

Strong pay, broad physical-world applications, and growth tied to power systems, semiconductors, electrification, and infrastructure.

Electrician: main tradeoff

A strong non-college path with unusually robust employer demand, but the tradeoff is physical, on-site work and a long apprenticeship.

Which should you choose?

Electrical Engineer has the higher national median pay in the BLS data. Electrician has the higher projected 2024–2034 growth rate. The larger decision is whether you prefer the training path, work style, and occupation-specific tradeoffs of Electrical Engineer or Electrician.