Arizona·Architecture and Engineering Occupations·SOC 17-3012

Best Electrical programs in Arizona, ranked by enrollment

Prepare wiring diagrams, circuit board assembly diagrams, and layout drawings used for the manufacture, installation, or repair of electrical.

11 schools in Arizona run programs that feed this job, graduating 756 people a year. The job pays a median of $73,080 in Arizona across about 570 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledDrafterElectrical DesignerComputer-Aided Design OperatorStaking Technician (Staking Tech)DesignerLine StakerMask DesignerDesign Drafter
Graduates / yr
756
in Arizona
Median pay · Arizona
$73,080
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
570
people employed
Schools
11
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
36%
across those schools
Median net price
$26,791
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Arizona that lead to this job

Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.

6 programs in Arizona that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Arizona (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Arizona page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1
CIP 15.0403In Arizona
523
69.2%
3$60,286$15,383
2
CIP 15.1302In Arizona
88
11.6%
5$44,946$12,992
3
CIP 15.0303In Arizona
68
9.0%
5$59,859$15,372
4
CIP 15.1301In Arizona
63
8.3%
3$44,946$12,992
5
CIP 15.1305In Arizona
7
0.9%
2$44,946$12,992
6
CIP 15.1307In Arizona
7
0.9%
2$44,946$12,992

Top 11 schools in Arizona

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 2 of the 11 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Refrigeration School Inc
Phoenix, AZ Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
470Electromechanical/Electromechanical Engineering Technology/Technician$41,02276%$26,791
2Glendale Community College
Glendale, AZ Public · 1 feeder programs
71CAD/CADD Drafting and/or Design Technology/Technician16%
3Mesa Community College
Mesa, AZ Public · 4 feeder programs
71Electromechanical/Electromechanical Engineering Technology/Technician16%
4Arizona Western College
Yuma, AZ Public · 3 feeder programs
51Electrical, Electronic, and Communications Engineering Technology/Technician20%
5Eastern Arizona College
Thatcher, AZ Public · 1 feeder programs
30Drafting and Design Technology/Technician, General42%
6Pima Community College
Tucson, AZ Public · 4 feeder programs
30Drafting and Design Technology/Technician, General28%
7Yavapai College
Prescott, AZ Public · 2 feeder programs
14Electrical, Electronic, and Communications Engineering Technology/Technician34%
8Estrella Mountain Community College
Avondale, AZ Public · 1 feeder programs
13Electromechanical/Electromechanical Engineering Technology/Technician32%
9DeVry University - Arizona
Phoenix, AZ Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
3Electrical, Electronic, and Communications Engineering Technology/Technician$67,39567%
10Cochise County Community College District
Sierra Vista, AZ Public · 1 feeder programs
2CAD/CADD Drafting and/or Design Technology/Technician30%
11Chandler - Gilbert Community College
Chandler, AZ Public · 1 feeder programs
1Electrical, Electronic, and Communications Engineering Technology/Technician30%

All 11 schools in Arizona

Every school in Arizona with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.

All schools in Arizona that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Refrigeration School IncPhoenixPrivate for-profit4701
Glendale Community CollegeGlendalePublic711
Mesa Community CollegeMesaPublic714
Arizona Western CollegeYumaPublic513
Eastern Arizona CollegeThatcherPublic301
Pima Community CollegeTucsonPublic304
Yavapai CollegePrescottPublic142
Estrella Mountain Community CollegeAvondalePublic131
DeVry University - ArizonaPhoenixPrivate for-profit31
Cochise County Community College DistrictSierra VistaPublic21
Chandler - Gilbert Community CollegeChandlerPublic11

What electrical and electronics drafters earn in Arizona

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in Arizona
$73,080
Mean annual
$77,740
Jobs in state
570
What the range looks like
10th pct$48,860Median$73,08090th pct$123,520
Versus the national median
-4.9%

U.S. median $76,870. Arizona pays below the national figure.

Job concentration
1.53×

Concentrated here: Arizona employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.

Metro areas in Arizona

Tucson, AZ
$81,970median
80 jobs
Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ
$68,710median
480 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
-5.6%
Decline
Openings per year
1,700
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
-1,200
21,600 → 20,400
Typical entry education
Associate's degree

Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.

How to get in

The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Electrical and Electronics Drafters page.

How to become a Electrical

Job zone 3 of 5 · SVP 6.0 to < 7.0
Typical entry education
Associate's degree

Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.

Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.

Top skills

Active ListeningCritical ThinkingWritingReading ComprehensionActive LearningSpeaking

The same job in other states

Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.

Related careers in Arizona

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 7 majors mapped to Electrical and Electronics Drafters7 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 15.0303Electrical, Electronic, and Communications Engineering Technology/Technician
  • 15.0306Integrated Circuit Design Technology/Technician
  • 15.0403Electromechanical/Electromechanical Engineering Technology/Technician
  • 15.1301Drafting and Design Technology/Technician, General
  • 15.1302CAD/CADD Drafting and/or Design Technology/Technician
  • 15.1305Electrical/Electronics Drafting and Electrical/Electronics CAD/CADD
  • 15.13073-D Modeling and Design Technology/Technician

Common questions

Answers for people weighing electrical and electronics drafters programs in Arizona.

What degree do you need to become an Electrical?+

Associate's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Electromechanical/Electromechanical Engineering Technology/Technician, which awarded 523 degrees in Arizona in 2024-25, 69.2% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming an Electrical?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 6 programs to this occupation. The largest are Electromechanical Technologies/Technicians, Drafting/Design Engineering Technologies/Technicians, Electrical/Electronic Engineering Technologies/Technicians. Together they graduate about 756 people a year in Arizona.

How much do electrical and electronics drafters earn in Arizona?+

The median is $73,080 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 4.9% below the U.S. median of $76,870. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.

Is demand for electrical and electronics drafters growing?+

BLS projects a -5.6% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, decline, with roughly 1,700 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in Arizona?+

11 institutions in Arizona reported graduates from at least one of the 6 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.

What other job titles do electrical and electronics drafters work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Drafter, Electrical Designer, Computer-Aided Design Operator, Staking Technician (Staking Tech) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 17-3012.

Electrical and Electronics Drafters in other statesTexasIllinoisFloridaVirginiaCaliforniaOhioGeorgiaIndiana

About the data on this page

Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).

  • BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics

    May 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.

  • IPEDS Completions

    2024-25 (provisional)

    Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.

  • College Scorecard, Field of Study

    2020-21 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.

    Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA

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