Sales Engineers vs Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products: $125K vs $72K Median Pay

Sales Engineers vs Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products: what changes?

Consider Sales Engineers if you want to sell business goods or services, the selling of which requires a technical background equivalent to a baccalaureate degree in engineering. Consider Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products if you would rather sell goods for wholesalers or manufacturers to businesses or groups of individuals. Entry credentials differ: Sales Engineers, bachelor's degree; Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products, high school diploma or equivalent.

Try this next: Compare three local entry-level postings for Sales Engineers and Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products. 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

Sales Engineers

National median pay (2025): $124,900
Route into the job: Bachelor's degree; More than one month and up to 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing
Prior related experience: No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing: More than one month and up to 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.
Work to investigate: Develop, present, or respond to proposals for specific customer requirements, including request for proposal responses and industry-specific solutions.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 3,800

Know before you choose

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

See the full Sales Engineers brief

Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products

National median pay (2025): $72,080
Route into the job: High school diploma or equivalent; More than one month and up to 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing
Prior related experience: No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing: More than one month and up to 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.
Work to investigate: Answer customers' questions about products, prices, availability, product uses, and credit terms.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 99,800

Know before you choose

BLS projects employment to shrink 0.9% from 2025 to 2035. Openings can still occur when existing workers leave.

See the full Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products brief

How the national numbers differ

Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products has the edge on annual openings

Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products is at 99,800 annual openings, compared with 3,800 annual openings for Sales Engineers.

Sales Engineers has the edge on median pay

Sales Engineers is at $124,900, compared with $72,080 for Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products.

Sales Engineers has the edge on projected growth

Sales Engineers is at 2.8% projected growth, compared with -0.9% projected growth for Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products.

57.6/ 100

Sales Engineers

56.9/ 100

Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products

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