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We talk a lot about the rewarding and fulfilling aspects of working with robots in the manufacturing industry. It’s challenging, it’s exciting, it’s a life spent at the very edge of modern technology that’s continuously advancing. 

We decided to take a quick look at what kinds of salaries robotics workers can expect to make. After all, a fulfilling career is also one that pays the bills, and a robotics career will satisfy this requirement earlier than many careers. 

The good news is that robotics workers get paid well. The better news is that there’s also a lot of room for advancement. If you’re interested in the field of robotics, but you weren’t sure whether or not a robotics salary justifies the shift in your career, we’re happy to assure you that it’s a lucrative field with a relatively low barrier of entry for education. Training costs stay low, but your salary will stay high, relatively speaking.

What Do Robotics Workers Get Paid?

At RoboticsCareer.org, we break robotics into three basic robotics career paths. The foundational level, and the entry point for most people in the field, is the robotics technician. 

According to ZipRecruiter, robotics technicians are making, on average, $56,875 a year. That breaks down to about $27 per hour. What’s even more impressive is that this is a salary that’s attainable without the expense of a four year degree. Robotics technicians are most often able to enter their careers with an associate's degree or trade school certification, since the majority of their skills come from hands-on experience. 

As robotics technicians continue in their roles and earn seniority, they can reach $31-$34 an hour as top earners. 

The next tier up, the robotics specialists, will find a median robotics salary that’s hovering around the $70,000 per year mark. 

The top earners are close to or breaching the low 6-figure mark. A quick glimpse at job-seeking websites like Glassdoor shows robotics specialist positions at big-name companies like Tesla starting in the $100,000-$115,000 range, so it’s certainly possible to jump in as a higher earner in this role. 

Of course, specialist robotics jobs are also more demanding in terms of robotics education and skill, so their higher salaries are reflective of greater competency requirements. In many cases, specialists can also be in management-type positions that require leadership skills as well as mechanical, software, and robotics understanding. 

The highest tier of the robotics field, and also the most demanding, is the robotics integrator role. These folks are often working as contractors being brought in by manufacturers to help integrate and design robotics systems, but they’re more and more often being hired on as in-house staff. 

The average salary for a robotics integrator is $130,000 per year and up. 

So Does Working With Robots Pay Well?

That’s really up to you to decide. As with many career paths, where you end up on the pay-scale is essentially up to you. You can start out as a robotics technician and, through continuing education and job experience, work your way all the way up to becoming a master robotics integrator whose expertise is sought out by everyone. Robotics salaries tend, on average, to comfortably reach the median income in a manufacturing environment within a shorter timeframe than many similar industries.

Even if you look at the average salary for the robotics technician job, $57,000 per year, you’re still way ahead of the curve. The annual real median personal income of a full-time worker in 2019 was $35,977 per year. So even your base average pay for a technician role is considerably more than that. 

When you consider the room for career advancement in robotics, well, let’s just say that robotics salaries aren’t going to be holding you back at all. 

Why Now Is the Best Time to Get Into Robotics

Now is the perfect time to begin your robotics career!

As we’re (hopefully) winding down societal pandemic safety measures and people are trickling back to regular work, businesses are almost universally struggling to fill their roles with skilled workers. What that translates to for job seekers is both more available positions and more accommodating employers who are willing to start at higher rates of pay. 

This situation is compounded by the fact that the manufacturing industry will have hundreds of thousands of robotics-related jobs to fill in the coming years. Robots and automation are becoming an increasingly present reality in production lines all across the country, and the need for skilled robotics workers is growing steadily. 

Starting your journey in robotics today means that you’ll be more in demand than ever before when you’re ready to start job hunting. 

As it happens, you’re in the perfect place to do just that. On the RoboticsCareer.org homepage, you’ll find a search tool that will let you find robotics training and education programs anywhere in the US. That means you can begin learning at the most convenient location for you, and before you know it you could be a top earner in your field.