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Updated May 2026 · BLS OEWS 2025

Electrical Engineer Salary in Albany, NY

Engineering · SOC 17-2071 · COL Index 100.7

Electrical Engineers in Albany, NY earn a median salary of $105,910 as of 2025, with a 10th-to-90th percentile range of $70,890 to $170,020. The mean is $115,360 across approximately 720 workers. Adjusted for Albany, NY's cost-of-living index of 100.7, the median equates to $105,174 of purchasing power in an average-cost U.S. metro.

Electrical Engineer in Albany, NY pays below the national median: $105,910 locally versus $117,606. The discount usually reflects either lower cost-of-living, smaller local industry concentration, or weaker labor demand.

Cost-of-living in Albany, NY sits near the national baseline (index 100.7), so the unadjusted $105,910 median is reasonably comparable to wages in other near-baseline cities. Wage distribution at the 25th, 50th, 75th, and 90th percentiles: $84,898, $105,910, $137,965, $170,020. 720 Electrical Engineer workers are documented in Albany, NY per the BLS OEWS survey. The percentile spread is the most useful framing — entry-level pay clusters near p25, mid-career near p50, senior-level near p75-p90.

$105,910
Median Salary
$115,360
Mean Salary
$105,174
COL-Adjusted
720
Employment

Salary Distribution

Percentile Breakdown

PercentileSalaryCOL-Adjusted
10th Percentile (Entry Level)$70,890$70,397
25th Percentile$84,898$84,308
50th Percentile (Median)$105,910$105,174
75th Percentile$137,965$137,006
90th Percentile (Top Earners)$170,020$168,838

What These Numbers Tell You

The 10th-to-90th percentile band for Electrical Engineers in Albany, NY is moderately wide — the 90th-percentile worker earns about 2.4× the 10th-percentile worker. That is typical for a professional role with standard career progression: experience, scope, and employer size all matter, but the spread is not so extreme that the role bifurcates into separate sub-markets.

Albany, NY's cost-of-living index of 100.7 sits close to the U.S. average — $105,910 here has roughly the same purchasing power as the same salary in the typical U.S. metro. That makes this market a clean baseline for comparing offers across cities.

Albany, NY ranks #49 of 69 BLS-tracked metros for Electrical Engineer pay — in the lower half nationally (71th percentile). Lower nominal pay here is often offset by a lower cost of living; check the COL-adjusted figure on this page for an apples-to-apples comparison.

How to Use This in Negotiation

The classic negotiation move is to anchor your ask on the 75th percentile of the BLS band — $137,965 for Electrical Engineers in Albany, NY — when you have meaningful experience, then bring evidence (years on the job, scope of past work, relevant certifications, comparable offers) to justify why you sit at that point in the distribution. Anchoring on the median when you have 5+ years of experience leaves money on the table; anchoring on the 90th percentile ($170,020) without strong evidence undercuts credibility.

For new entrants, the 25th-to-50th percentile band ($84,898$105,910) is the realistic target. For mid-career workers, the median-to-75th band ($105,910$137,965) is the right anchor. Senior specialists and managers should be benchmarking against the 75th-to-90th band ($137,965$170,020).

For specific scripts and a full negotiation framework, see the data-driven salary negotiation guide. To benchmark your current pay, the salary percentile calculator places any number into the BLS distribution for this role and metro.

How This Salary Is Calculated

Wage figures come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program — a federal survey of about 1.2 million U.S. establishments, published once per year by Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) and Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code. The Albany, NY percentile bands above (10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, 90th) and the mean are pulled directly from the BLS data file for SOC code 17-2071 in this MSA. The COL-adjusted figure rebases salary to a U.S. national average COL of 100, using a composite index derived from public housing, food, and transportation data. Read the full methodology for details.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the average Electrical Engineer salary in Albany, NY?

Electrical Engineers in Albany, NY earn a median salary of $105,910 as of 2025, based on Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS data. The mean (employment-weighted average) is $115,360 across roughly 720 workers in this metro.

What is the salary range for Electrical Engineers in Albany, NY?

Pay ranges from $70,890 at the 10th percentile to $170,020 at the 90th percentile — a $99,130 spread. The 25th-to-75th percentile band ($84,898 to $137,965) is the typical anchor for salary negotiation.

Is $105,910 a good Electrical Engineer salary in Albany, NY?

$105,910 is the BLS median — half of Electrical Engineers in Albany, NY earn more, half earn less. Whether it is "good" depends on your experience: new entrants typically land near the 25th percentile ($84,898), mid-career workers near the median, and senior specialists near or above the 75th percentile ($137,965). Cost-of-living-adjusted to a national average baseline, the median equates to $105,174.

How does Electrical Engineer pay in Albany, NY compare to other metros?

Albany, NY ranks #49 of 69 BLS-tracked metros for Electrical Engineer median pay. Nominal pay is in the lower half of U.S. metros, though the cost of living usually offsets at least part of that gap.

Where does this Electrical Engineer salary data come from?

Every wage figure comes from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program at bls.gov/oes — public domain federal data covering 1.2 million U.S. employers. The same data feeds the U.S. Department of Labor's prevailing wage system used for H-1B and federal contracting wage determinations.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, Albany, NY MSA, SOC 17-2071, 2025 release. Public domain. See bls.gov/oes. Cite as: "SalaryTruth, BLS OEWS 2025."

Last refreshed 2026-05-21 · 720 Electrical Engineers tracked in Albany, NY.