Hiring an electrical and electronics drafter in San Jose, CA

Employers in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA area pay electrical and electronics drafters a median of $115,530, with the middle half of the market between $75,320 and $172,200. San Jose residents working in architecture and engineering occupations report a median of $150,745, which is 30% above what the metro pays for this role.

What does an electrical and electronics drafter earn here?

Place of work

What employers pay

Annual wages paid by employers in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA area. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
25th percentile	$75,320
Median	$115,530
75th percentile	$172,200

Half of electrical and electronics drafters in this area earn between $75,320 and $172,200. A band set below $75,320 competes for the bottom quarter of the market.

Place of residence

What San Jose residents earn

$150,745

Median earnings of San Jose residents working in architecture and engineering occupations, 38,454 people. Census ACS 5-year 2023, tables S2401 and B24011. Where people live, not where they work, so it is not the same measurement as the wages beside it.

The 30% figure is not a pay gap. ACS counts the civilian employed population 16 and over, part-time and part-year work included; OEWS counts wage-and-salary jobs only. The two populations differ, so read this number against other cities rather than as a shortfall: the same definitional difference applies to every city equally, which is what makes a city-to-city reading sound.

Residents here already earn more than this role pays, so your offer is competing with whatever they currently commute to.

What does the role actually involve?

Core tasks

Draft detail and assembly drawings of design components, circuitry or printed circuit boards, using computer-assisted equipment or standard drafting techniques and devices.
Draft working drawings, wiring diagrams, wiring connection specifications, or cross-sections of underground cables, as required for instructions to installation crew.
Assemble documentation packages and produce drawing sets to be checked by an engineer or an architect.
Review completed construction drawings and cost estimates for accuracy and conformity to standards and regulations.
Consult with engineers to discuss or interpret design concepts, or determine requirements of detailed working drawings.

O*NET 29.1, task statements for SOC 17-3012.

Tools and technologies in demand

Autodesk AutoCAD, Autodesk Revit, Bentley MicroStation, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office software, Microsoft Outlook, NavisWorks Jetstream, Adobe Illustrator.

O*NET 29.1, flagged in demand or hot for this occupation. Useful as a screen, not as a checklist.

Is the talent actually in San Jose?

This is a job zone three: medium preparation needed occupation. Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

It does not require a degree, which widens the pool considerably. For context, 46.5% of San Jose adults hold one. Census ACS 5-year 2023, table S1501.

The average San Jose commute runs 28.1 minutes, which is roughly how far your catchment reaches before candidates start saying no. 18.5% already work from home, so a fully onsite requirement here is competing against that.

How often do these jobs turn over?

In Santa Clara County, architectural, engineering and related services employs 15,027 and turns over 6.4% a quarter, with 984 hires against 1,222 separations. Average earnings in that industry run $17,601 a month. Census LEHD Quarterly Workforce Indicators, 2024 Q1, NAICS 5413.

That figure covers every occupation in the industry, not this role alone, so read it as the local churn rate rather than as a number about electrical and electronics drafters. It still tells you what you are hiring into: a low-churn market, where people do not move often and passive candidates are the whole game.

What does the search cost?

The fee is set by the seniority of the role, never by salary and never by location. Across all six tiers it runs $6,240 to $54,340 per search. A contingency firm hiring at this role's median would bill roughly $23,106 to $34,659 on the first year salary alone.

One owner runs the search from market map to signed offer. Searches typically fill in 23 to 35 days, which is a typical window rather than a promise, and the replacement guarantee runs 45 days at 50% off.

Price this search

Eight questions about the role. Your tier range appears on screen.

Hiring an electrical and electronics drafter somewhere else?

Same role, different market. The wage band moves with the metro.

Other architecture and engineering roles in San Jose

San Jose is the 3th largest of 21 California cities in this dataset.