Electrical Engineering in Vermont

📊 Employment Overview

Vermont employs 380 electrical engineering professionals, representing approximately 0.2% of the national workforce in this field. Vermont ranks #49 nationally for electrical engineering employment.

💰 Salary Information

Electrical Engineering professionals in Vermont earn competitive salaries across all experience levels, with an average annual salary of $108,000.

Note: Salaries are adjusted for cost of living and local market conditions. Data based on BLS statistics and industry surveys (2024-2025).

🎓 Schools Offering Electrical Engineering

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🚀 Career Insights

Key information for electrical engineering professionals in Vermont.

🏢 Industry Landscape & Top Employers

Vermont's electrical engineering market — 380 engineers earning an average of $108,000 — is anchored by one of the most advanced semiconductor fabrication facilities in the United States: GlobalFoundries' Essex Junction fab, which manufactures cutting-edge RF semiconductors for 5G base stations, automotive radar, and satellite communications. For a state with fewer than 650,000 residents, Vermont's EE community punches extraordinarily above its weight — the GlobalFoundries plant alone makes Vermont a genuine player in global semiconductor manufacturing, and the state's defense electronics presence at General Dynamics adds strategic depth to an otherwise small but technically sophisticated market.

Major Employers: GlobalFoundries (Essex Junction) is Vermont's defining employer for electrical engineers — operating one of the most advanced specialty semiconductor fabs in the Western Hemisphere. Originally built by IBM as its semiconductor division (IBM fabricated chips here for decades before selling to GlobalFoundries in 2015), the Essex Junction facility specializes in advanced RF and analog semiconductor processes — including the Silicon-Germanium (SiGe) BiCMOS and GaN-on-silicon processes used in 5G mmWave transceivers, automotive radar chips, and satellite communication front-end modules. The fab's specialty process expertise makes it strategically important as a domestic source of RF semiconductors that are critical to US telecommunications and defense infrastructure. General Dynamics Mission Systems (Burlington) develops secure communications, tactical networking, and electronic warfare systems for the US military — employing EEs for RF hardware design, secure communications electronics, and systems integration. Green Mountain Power (Colchester) employs power systems engineers for Vermont's utility infrastructure — including one of the most progressive battery storage programs of any US utility, with customer-sited Tesla Powerwalls deployed as a distributed virtual power plant. The University of Vermont (Burlington) employs EE researchers and faculty. IDX Systems (now part of GE Healthcare) and MyWebGrocer (Winooski, now Inmar Intelligence) represent Vermont's smaller tech employer base.

GlobalFoundries Strategic Importance: As the US government and industry recognize the strategic vulnerability of semiconductor supply chain concentration in Taiwan, GlobalFoundries' Essex Junction fab — producing RF chips for military communications, 5G infrastructure, and automotive systems — has become an increasingly recognized national asset. CHIPS Act investments are supporting fab expansion, making Vermont an unlikely but genuine participant in the domestic semiconductor manufacturing renaissance.

📈 Career Growth & Pathways

Vermont's EE careers are defined almost entirely by two employers of genuinely global significance — GlobalFoundries for semiconductor process engineering and General Dynamics for secure defense communications — with a growing remote work community accessing broader national opportunities while living in Vermont's extraordinary natural environment.

Typical Career Trajectory:

• Junior Electrical Engineer (0–2 years): $72,000–$95,000 — Entry at GlobalFoundries or General Dynamics Burlington. University of Vermont's EE program has direct connections to both employers. The small market means junior engineers gain direct responsibility and visibility faster than in larger markets.
• Mid-Level Engineer (3–7 years): $95,000–$128,000 — GlobalFoundries process engineers developing SiGe BiCMOS expertise — used in the RF transceivers enabling 5G communications — command strong premiums in a global market that chronically undersupplies qualified SiGe engineers. General Dynamics cleared engineers with secure communications hardware design experience advance strongly.
• Senior Engineer (7–12 years): $128,000–$165,000 — Technical authority at GlobalFoundries on major process development programs or General Dynamics principal engineers leading secure communication system design. Remote senior engineers with out-of-state Boston or coastal employers represent the highest effective compensation available in Vermont.
• Principal/Distinguished Engineer (12+ years): $165,000–$225,000+ — GlobalFoundries senior technical staff with recognized SiGe or GaN process expertise and General Dynamics technical fellows represent Vermont's EE apex. Remote senior engineers with major tech or defense companies, living in Vermont for lifestyle reasons, represent an alternative compensation ceiling.

SiGe BiCMOS Premium: GlobalFoundries' Silicon-Germanium BiCMOS process technology — enabling transistor operating frequencies above 300 GHz needed for 5G mmWave and automotive radar — is among the most specialized semiconductor process knowledge available. Engineers who develop SiGe process integration expertise at Essex Junction build credentials that are globally valued by every 5G infrastructure manufacturer, automotive radar supplier, and satellite communications company on earth. This specialization commands premiums of 20–30% above general semiconductor process engineering.

💰 Salary vs. Cost of Living

Vermont's $108,000 average EE salary — the highest of any state without a major metro area — reflects the GlobalFoundries semiconductor premium. The state's cost of living is moderate but has risen in popular areas with remote worker migration.

Burlington Metro / Essex Junction: Vermont's primary employment center, with cost of living roughly 10–20% above the national average — elevated by its desirability as a lifestyle destination and limited housing supply in the urban core. Median home prices of $380,000–$520,000 in Burlington proper, with more affordable options in Williston, Colchester, and Essex. GlobalFoundries engineers sometimes live in New York's Lake Champlain corridor (Plattsburgh area) for lower housing costs while maintaining manageable commutes to Essex Junction.

Rural Vermont: Outside Burlington, Vermont offers dramatically more affordable housing — $220,000–$340,000 in smaller communities — for engineers willing to commute to Burlington or work remotely. Engineers who work fully remotely for coastal employers while living in rural Vermont achieve exceptional purchasing power and lifestyle quality simultaneously.

Tax Note: Vermont has a progressive income tax with rates reaching 8.75% at higher income levels — one of the higher state tax burdens in New England. Engineers comparing Vermont to New Hampshire (no income tax, 50 miles south) should carefully model the after-tax financial picture, as the difference at $108,000+ salary levels is meaningful.

Boston Access: Burlington is 3.5 hours from Boston — too far for daily commuting but accessible for occasional in-person meetings for remote workers. The growing reliability of Vermont's remote work infrastructure (Green Mountain Power's grid investments include broadband fiber priorities) makes Vermont viable for engineers with Boston-area employers who need only occasional in-person presence.

📜 Licensing & Professional Development

Vermont's small but sophisticated EE community places high value on the specialized process engineering credentials developed at GlobalFoundries and the defense electronics clearances required at General Dynamics.

The Vermont Secretary of State's Office oversees PE licensure via the standard FE → 4 Years Experience → PE Exam pathway. Vermont has reciprocity with New England states, useful for engineers who may work across the region.

High-Value Credentials in Vermont:

• SiGe BiCMOS / GaN-on-Si Process Engineering (GlobalFoundries): The most career-differentiated credential available in Vermont — expertise in silicon-germanium heterostructure device physics, BiCMOS process integration, and high-frequency transistor characterization is developed exclusively through active fab program work. Engineers who contribute to process node advances at Essex Junction build expertise that positions them uniquely in the global RF semiconductor industry.
• SEMI Equipment Standards / Advanced Metrology: For GlobalFoundries process engineers, SEMI equipment standards familiarity, thin-film metrology (ellipsometry, XRD, SIMS), and statistical process control methodology are the practical technical competencies required for day-to-day fab engineering effectiveness.
• DOD Secret Clearances (General Dynamics): For General Dynamics Mission Systems Burlington engineers developing secure military communications hardware, clearances are mandatory. Vermont's small cleared community means cleared engineers face essentially no involuntary unemployment risk.
• Green Mountain Power Virtual Power Plant / Battery Storage: For Vermont utility engineers, expertise in customer-sited battery storage management, virtual power plant aggregation, and demand response program design is a nationally pioneering specialization — Green Mountain Power's innovative programs have made Vermont's utility engineering community a reference point for the future of distributed energy resource management globally.

Education: The University of Vermont (Burlington) is the state's primary EE program, with growing connections to GlobalFoundries through research partnerships and alumni placements. Vermont Technical College provides applied engineering pathways directly relevant to the fab's technician and associate-engineer needs.

📊 Job Market Outlook

Vermont's EE market is expected to grow modestly, with GlobalFoundries' strategic importance driving CHIPS Act investment, General Dynamics' secure communications programs sustaining defense demand, and the state's remote work community continuing to import coastal-caliber compensation.

CHIPS Act Investment in Essex Junction: GlobalFoundries has received significant CHIPS Act funding to expand and modernize its Essex Junction facility. The fab's strategic importance as a domestic source of RF semiconductors for defense and telecommunications — combined with federal investment priorities for domestic chip manufacturing — positions the Essex Junction site for sustained capital investment and potential workforce expansion. Any announcement of additional capacity or new process node development at the Vermont site would represent a meaningful growth catalyst for the state's EE employment.

5G and Automotive Radar Demand: The global rollout of 5G infrastructure and the proliferation of automotive radar in ADAS safety systems are the primary commercial demand drivers for GlobalFoundries' SiGe and GaN processes. As 5G deployment continues globally and autonomous driving systems become standard equipment, the demand for Vermont-manufactured RF chips is expected to grow — sustaining and potentially expanding the Essex Junction engineering workforce.

General Dynamics Secure Communications: US military investment in next-generation tactical communications — including the Army's PACE communication systems and classified electronic warfare programs — sustains General Dynamics Burlington's engineering workforce. Vermont's clearance community is expected to remain stable as long as GD's Vermont programs continue receiving contract awards.

Offshore Wind Transmission: Vermont's grid will need to absorb significant renewable generation from offshore wind projects in the Gulf of Maine as New England develops its offshore wind portfolio. Green Mountain Power's grid modernization for this integration will create sustained power systems engineering demand in the state.

🕐 Day in the Life

Electrical engineering in Vermont means developing the RF transistor technology that enables 5G connectivity for billions of people, designing secure military communications hardware, or pioneering the distributed battery storage systems that will define the grid of the future — within a state whose covered bridges, dairy farms, maple syrup culture, and world-class skiing create one of the most distinctive and beautiful living environments in the United States.

At GlobalFoundries (Essex Junction): Process engineers at one of the most specialized semiconductor fabs in the Western Hemisphere work on silicon-germanium transistor fabrication — the technology that enables the mmWave 5G radio chips in base stations connecting hundreds of millions of users. A day might involve analyzing transistor f_T and f_MAX data from a new SiGe HBT process variant, designing a temperature stress experiment to characterize bipolar transistor hot-electron reliability, or troubleshooting a yield anomaly in the SiGe base epitaxy step. The work requires deep semiconductor physics knowledge and careful experimental design — the transistors being fabricated operate at frequencies approaching the limits of what silicon-based materials can support, and each process improvement requires genuine innovation to achieve.

At General Dynamics Burlington: Secure communications engineers work on hardware that keeps military communications private in contested electromagnetic environments. Daily work might involve designing an encryption module for a new software-defined radio platform, testing a frequency-hopping spread-spectrum system's performance under jamming conditions, or reviewing the RF shielding effectiveness of a new tactical radio chassis. The classified nature of the work creates an operational security consciousness that permeates the engineering culture — and a professional responsibility that engineers consistently describe as genuinely motivating.

Lifestyle: Vermont's lifestyle is among the most distinctive and satisfying in the nation for engineers who genuinely value natural beauty and seasonal variety. Stowe, Sugarbush, Mad River Glen, and Killington provide ski terrain ranging from family-friendly to genuinely challenging — all within 90 minutes of Burlington. The fall foliage season transforms Vermont's hills into a landscape that draws visitors from across the world. Farm-to-table food culture is not a restaurant marketing concept in Vermont — it is a genuine agricultural reality, with more farms per capita than any other state. Burlington's Church Street pedestrian mall, the Flynn Center for the Performing Arts, and the Lake Champlain waterfront create urban amenities that, while smaller in scale than coastal cities, are genuinely rich in character. The winters are demanding — Vermont's climate rewards those who embrace it with skiing, snowshoeing, and ice fishing — and the short, glorious summers are celebrated with the kind of intensity that comes from knowing their brevity.

🔄 Compare with Other States

See how Vermont compares to other top states for electrical engineering: