Talent Maps / Dallas-Fort Worth / Controls Engineers

Dallas-Fort Worth Controls Engineer Talent Map (2026)

What controls and automation engineers earn in Dallas-Fort Worth, which integrators, manufacturers and building automation companies employ them, and the new AI hardware and chip plants competing for them.

Hiring controls engineers in DFW?

A talent map shows where a group of professionals works, what they are paid and who else is trying to hire them. This one covers controls, automation, PLC and building automation engineers in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metro area. BLS has no single code for controls engineers, so we show the occupations they are counted in, using May 2025 wage data, alongside real pay ranges from DFW postings in 2026. Our controls engineering recruiters update it as new data comes out. See also our DFW electrical, industrial and manufacturing and data center talent maps.

$124,390Median electrical engineer pay in DFW, the code many controls engineers fall underBLS, May 2025

$110,010Median pay for other engineers in DFW, the group that includes mechatronics and robotics engineersBLS, May 2025

1,450Robotic welders at GM’s Arlington Assembly plantGM, 2024

1,000+Employees at Siemens’ Fort Worth electrical equipment plantFort Worth Report, 2026

15 milesOf automated overhead wafer delivery in TI’s Richardson fabsDallas Innovates

$1.25BMP Materials’ new rare earth magnet campus in NorthlakeMP Materials, 2026

Controls engineer salaries in Dallas-Fort Worth

Controls engineers are usually counted as electrical, industrial or other engineers, and the technicians who install and maintain control systems have their own codes. The table shows the DFW range for each.

Occupation (DFW metro)	10th percentile	Median	90th percentile
Electrical engineers	$76,720	$124,390	$205,040
Engineers, all other (includes mechatronics and robotics)	$60,540	$110,010	$170,360
Industrial engineers	$77,640	$105,640	$166,050
Industrial machinery mechanics	$44,310	$63,380	$93,210
Control and valve installers and repairers	$40,940	$56,080	$86,610
Electro-mechanical and mechatronics technicians	$43,870	$52,160	$93,340

Annual pay. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS, May 2025, via O*NET OnLine.

What DFW controls jobs are posting in 2026

Role	Location and type	Posted pay
Carrier, Automation Engineer (PLC, HMI, SCADA, robotics)	Fort Worth, full time	$79,000 to $158,000
Building automation field engineer (Automated Logic)	Dallas-Fort Worth, full time	$90,000 to $110,000
Senior BAS programmer, Texas building automation contractor	Dallas-Fort Worth, full time	$100,000 to $140,000
Controls engineer (PLC, HMI, panel design)	Fort Worth, contract-to-hire	$40 to $55 an hour
Senior automation and controls engineer (Allen-Bradley, Ignition)	Plano, contract	$60 to $75 an hour

Postings live in September 2026. Several were posted by staffing firms on behalf of unnamed employers.

What the numbers mean in practice: experienced controls engineers who can program Allen-Bradley or Siemens PLCs, build HMIs and commission systems in the field sit at the top of these ranges. Technician pay is lower, but good controls technicians are just as hard to find.

Where DFW’s controls engineers work

Integrators and building automation

E Tech Group, a national system integrator, has offices in Plano and Dallas. Trane’s Carrollton office offers controls and building automation, and Lennox is headquartered in Richardson.

Siemens runs Smart Infrastructure plants in Fort Worth, Grand Prairie and Carrollton, and its Digital Industries Software business has its global headquarters in Plano.

Manufacturers

GM Arlington Assembly runs 1,450 robotic welders and builds more than 1,350 vehicles a day. Lockheed Martin builds the F-35 at Air Force Plant 4 in Fort Worth, Bell is building a new parts plant at AllianceTexas and Peterbilt builds trucks in Denton.

Siemens opened a $190 million plant in Fort Worth in 2025 and is adding a $19 million, 160-job site in Grand Prairie.

Semiconductors

Texas Instruments’ Richardson fabs have more than 630,000 square feet of cleanroom and 15 miles of automated overhead wafer delivery. Its first Sherman fab began production in December 2025.

GlobalWafers opened its Sherman wafer plant in 2025. Fabs hire controls engineers for tools, facilities and automated material handling.

AI hardware and new plants

Wistron’s AllianceTexas plant, which assembles Nvidia AI supercomputers, opened in July 2026 with more than 800 jobs planned. Foxlink opened an Alliance plant the same month with about 900 jobs at full capacity.

LITEON is building a $919 million, 600-job campus in McKinney, and MP Materials a $1.25 billion magnet campus in Northlake.

Where the talent sits: DFW submarkets

AllianceTexas and north Fort Worth

AI hardwareAerospace

Wistron, Foxlink, Bell’s new plant and MP Materials in nearby Northlake. The fastest-growing pool of automation jobs in the metro.

Fort Worth, Arlington and Grand Prairie

AutomotiveElectrical equipment

GM Arlington, Lockheed Martin, Siemens’ Fort Worth and Grand Prairie plants and Carrier’s Fort Worth operation.

Richardson, Plano and Carrollton

SemiconductorsBuilding automation

TI’s Richardson fabs, Lennox headquarters, Siemens Digital Industries Software, E Tech Group and Trane.

McKinney and Collin County

Electronics

LITEON’s new campus at Core5 Logistics Center, close to the Telecom Corridor workforce.

Sherman-Denison

Semiconductors

TI’s Sherman fabs and GlobalWafers, about an hour north of Dallas.

What’s driving demand for controls engineers in DFW

Chip fabs. TI plans up to four Sherman fabs, a potential $40 billion investment and 3,000 jobs. GlobalWafers plans to grow from 180 jobs to up to 650 by the end of 2028.
AI hardware at Alliance. Wistron and Foxlink opened plants in July 2026, and the Fort Worth Report says Celestica is investing $876 million in a 1 million square foot Alliance campus with 1,700 jobs making AI data center and liquid cooling equipment.
New factories. MP Materials plans more than 1,500 manufacturing and engineering jobs in Northlake, with commissioning from 2028, and LITEON about 600 in McKinney. A $1.3 billion chip testing plant is also under consideration in Fort Worth.
Data centers. More than 765 MW of data center capacity is under construction in DFW, and every campus needs controls for power, cooling and building systems.

The talent pipeline

Dallas College. Robotics, electronics and automation certificates at Eastfield, Mountain View and Richland, with an associate degree at Mountain View and Richland.
Tarrant County College. An electronics technology associate degree in robotics and automation, plus a mechatronics technology certificate.
TSTC North Texas. Texas State Technical College’s Red Oak campus offers electrical power and controls and, from fall 2026, advanced manufacturing.
UT Arlington Research Institute. UTARI runs automation and intelligent systems and advanced controls and sensors research groups.
Engineering schools. UT Dallas, UT Arlington, SMU and UNT supply the electrical and mechanical engineers who move into controls. See our DFW electrical engineer talent map.

What this means if you’re hiring

Name the platform. Say which PLCs, HMIs, SCADA or BAS systems you use. Candidates screen jobs by platform.
Expect new plants to bid up pay. Alliance, McKinney, Northlake and Sherman are all staffing at once.
Be clear about travel. Integrator and field roles often travel heavily. State how much up front.
Grow technicians into engineers. College automation programs and plant maintenance teams are a steady source of future controls engineers.

Need controls engineers in Dallas-Fort Worth?

Apollo Technical has recruited engineers since 2010. Our recruiting teams place controls, automation, PLC and building automation engineers on a contract, contract-to-hire and direct hire basis.

Call 214.257.7733 or see our Dallas engineering recruiters page.

Hire controls engineers

Frequently asked questions

How much do controls engineers make in Dallas-Fort Worth?

Controls engineers are counted in several BLS codes. In DFW, electrical engineers earn a median of $124,390 and industrial engineers $105,640. Posted DFW automation engineer roles in 2026 ranged from $79,000 to $158,000, and contract roles paid $40 to $75 an hour.

Who hires controls engineers in DFW?

System integrators such as E Tech Group, building automation companies such as Trane and Siemens, manufacturers such as GM, Lockheed Martin, Bell and Carrier, and chipmakers such as Texas Instruments and GlobalWafers.

Where are the new automation jobs in DFW?

Mostly at AllianceTexas in north Fort Worth, where Wistron and Foxlink opened AI hardware plants in 2026, and in McKinney, Northlake and Sherman, where LITEON, MP Materials, TI and GlobalWafers are building or expanding.

Sources (15)