Electrical Engineer vs Software Engineer Salary

Pay range, not just the median

The medians hide most of what matters. Electrical Engineer pay runs from roughly $66,000 at the low end to $152,000 at the high end; Software Engineer runs $76,000 to $208,000. The title sets the band; specialization, employer size, and location decide where inside it you actually sit.

Where each field is heading

The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects Electrical Engineer employment to grow 9% over the decade to 2034 — growing faster than average — against growth of 15% for Software Engineer.

Growth rate is not the same thing as opportunity. Electrical Engineer roles see roughly 22,700 openings a year and Software Engineer roles about 140,100, counting replacements for people who retire or leave. Software Engineer has the larger raw number, which is usually what you feel when actually job hunting — a small field growing fast can still be harder to break into than a large flat one.

What the work is actually like

Electrical Engineer: Offices, electronics/power labs, and manufacturing test facilities. Software Engineer: Office or remote, writing/testing code at a computer most of the day.

Moving between the two

These two barely touch. Engineering and Tech draw on separate training pipelines, and employers in one rarely read experience in the other as relevant. Budget for a real reset. Electronics and computer engineers overlap heavily and move between roles easily; power-systems specialists need additional training to shift into semiconductor or RF design. Adjacent fields (data engineering, DevOps, QA automation) transfer easily since the core skill is programming; switching in from a non-technical field usually requires 6-12 months of self-study plus shipped projects to pass interviews.

If you are entering rather than switching: Electrical Engineer — Earn an ABET-accredited bachelor's in electrical engineering, complete internships/co-ops, then enter industry — PE licensure only needed for public utility or consulting work. Software Engineer — CS bachelor's degree with internships during school is the dominant path; a smaller share enter via coding bootcamp plus a public GitHub portfolio and pass technical interviews without a CS degree.