Sales Engineers vs Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products: $125K vs $105K Median Pay

Sales Engineers vs Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, 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, Technical and Scientific Products if you would rather sell goods for wholesalers or manufacturers where technical or scientific knowledge is required in such areas as biology, engineering, chemistry, and electronics, normally obtained from at least 2 years of…. Both list bachelor's degree; compare training and prior experience separately.

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

National median pay (2025): $104,920
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: Negotiate prices or terms of sales or service agreements.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 23,600

Know before you choose

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

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

How the national numbers differ

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

Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products is at 23,600 annual openings, compared with 3,800 annual openings for Sales Engineers.

Sales Engineers has the edge on projected growth

Sales Engineers is at 2.8% projected growth, compared with 1.2% projected growth for Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products.

Sales Engineers has the edge on median pay

Sales Engineers is at $124,900, compared with $104,920 for Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products.

57.6/ 100

Sales Engineers

62.4/ 100

Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, 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