North Carolina·Architecture and Engineering Occupations·SOC 17-2072

Best Electronics Engineer programs in North Carolina, ranked by enrollment

Research, design, develop, or test electronic components and systems for commercial, industrial, military, or scientific use employing knowledge of electronic theory and materials properties.

6 schools in North Carolina run programs that feed this job, graduating 621 people a year. The job pays a median of $115,920 in North Carolina across about 2,090 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledTest EngineerDesign EngineerProduct EngineerDeployment EngineerTechnical Support EngineerIntegrated Circuit Design Engineer (IC Design Engineer)RFID Engineer (Radio Frequency Identification Device Engineer)RFID Systems Engineer (Radio Frequency Identification Device Systems Engineer)
Graduates / yr
621
in North Carolina
Median pay · North Carolina
$115,920
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
2,090
people employed
Schools
6
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
65%
across those schools
Median net price
$19,450
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in North Carolina that lead to this job

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

2 programs in North Carolina that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in North Carolina (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 North Carolina page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1620
99.8%
6$77,636$25,000
21
0.2%
1$77,636$25,000

Top 6 schools in North Carolina

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 4 of the 6 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1North Carolina State University at Raleigh
Raleigh, NC Public · 1 feeder programs
336Electrical and Electronics Engineering$77,68785%42%
2Duke University
Durham, NC Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
110Electrical and Electronics Engineering97%$16,2606%
3University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Charlotte, NC Public · 1 feeder programs
95Electrical and Electronics Engineering$72,16769%80%
4North Carolina A & T State University
Greensboro, NC Public · 2 feeder programs
58Electrical and Electronics Engineering$81,21357%50%
5Western Carolina University
Cullowhee, NC Public · 1 feeder programs
20Electrical and Electronics Engineering$69,06760%82%
6Carolina University
Winston-Salem, NC Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
2Electrical and Electronics Engineering22%$19,45040%

All 6 schools in North Carolina

Every school in North Carolina 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 North Carolina that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
North Carolina State University at RaleighRaleighPublic3361
Duke UniversityDurhamPrivate not-for-profit1101
University of North Carolina at CharlotteCharlottePublic951
North Carolina A & T State UniversityGreensboroPublic582
Western Carolina UniversityCullowheePublic201
Carolina UniversityWinston-SalemPrivate not-for-profit21

What electronics engineers earn in North Carolina

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

Median annual in North Carolina
$115,920
Mean annual
$124,670
Jobs in state
2,090
What the range looks like
10th pct$79,420Median$115,92090th pct$171,540
Versus the national median
-11.0%

U.S. median $130,220. North Carolina pays below the national figure.

Job concentration
0.68×

1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.

Metro areas in North Carolina

Durham-Chapel Hill, NC
$155,680median
290 jobs
Raleigh-Cary, NC
$162,800median
510 jobs
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC
$107,630median
380 jobs
Greensboro-High Point, NC
$101,200median
70 jobs
Winston-Salem, NC
$113,840median
40 jobs
Wilmington, NC
$92,650median
40 jobs
Asheville, NC
$91,240median
110 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+6.2%
Faster than average
Openings per year
5,700
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
6,000
95,900 → 101,800
Typical entry education
Bachelor'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 Electronics Engineers page.

How to become a Electronics Engineer

Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree

Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.

Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.

Top skills

Critical ThinkingSpeakingReading ComprehensionActive ListeningWritingMonitoring

The same job in other states

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

Related careers in North Carolina

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 3 majors mapped to Electronics Engineers3 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 14.1001Electrical and Electronics Engineering
  • 14.1004Telecommunications Engineering
  • 14.1099Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering, Other

Common questions

Answers for people weighing electronics engineers programs in North Carolina.

What degree do you need to become an Electronics Engineer?+

Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Electrical and Electronics Engineering, which awarded 620 degrees in North Carolina in 2024-25, 99.8% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming an Electronics Engineer?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 2 programs to this occupation. The largest are Electrical. Together they graduate about 621 people a year in North Carolina.

How much do electronics engineers earn in North Carolina?+

The median is $115,920 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 11.0% below the U.S. median of $130,220. 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 electronics engineers growing?+

BLS projects a +6.2% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, faster than average, with roughly 5,700 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in North Carolina?+

6 institutions in North Carolina reported graduates from at least one of the 2 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 electronics engineers work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Test Engineer, Design Engineer, Product Engineer, Deployment Engineer, Technical Support Engineer, Integrated Circuit Design Engineer (IC Design Engineer) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 17-2072.

Programs in North CarolinaElectrical and Electronics Engineering

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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