Talent Maps / Greenville-Spartanburg / Controls Engineers

Greenville-Spartanburg Controls Engineer Talent Map (2026)

What controls engineers earn in Greenville-Spartanburg, who employs them, where in the Upstate they work, and the turbine, battery, aerospace and power plant projects competing for them.

Hiring controls engineers in Greenville-Spartanburg?

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 engineers in Greenville-Spartanburg. BLS reports it as two metro areas: Greenville-Anderson-Greer, which spans Anderson, Greenville, Laurens and Pickens counties, and Spartanburg, which spans Spartanburg and Union counties. Pay figures come from the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey (May 2025), and the demand picture uses project and company data published from 2025 to 2026. Our controls engineering recruiters update it as new data comes out. See also our Greenville-Spartanburg electrical, mechanical and data center engineer talent maps.

$101,620Median electrical engineer pay in metro Greenville, the main code for controls engineersBLS, May 2025

$165,270+What the top 10% of Greenville electrical engineers earnBLS, May 2025

650+New factory and engineering jobs planned at GE Vernova’s Greenville gas turbine plantGE Vernova, 2025

250Robots at BMW Plant Woodruff, which starts series battery production in December 2026BMW Group, 2026

1.4 GWSize of Duke Energy’s planned Anderson County gas plant, nearly 1.4 gigawatts, approved in March 2026Post and Courier, 2026

$27.5MMicrogrid project at GSP airport, with up to 4 MW of backup power, due in fall 2027Greenville Journal, 2026

Controls engineer salaries in Greenville-Spartanburg

BLS has no separate code for controls engineers. Most are counted as electrical engineers (SOC 17-2071), so the table below uses that code as the main benchmark. The median in the Greenville-Anderson-Greer metro is $101,620 a year. That is $3,180 above the South Carolina median of $98,440 and $19,010 below the national median of $120,630. The hourly median is $48.85. The Spartanburg metro median is $103,390, which is $1,770 higher than Greenville’s.

Annual pay percentile	Greenville metro	Spartanburg metro	South Carolina	United States
10th percentile	$73,800	$72,800	$69,260	$76,550
25th percentile	$83,300	$87,360	$75,540	$92,830
Median	$101,620	$103,390	$98,440	$120,630
75th percentile	$128,650	$127,000	$128,060	$152,950
90th percentile	$165,270	$147,170	$156,330	$184,300

Electrical Engineers (SOC 17-2071), the main BLS code for controls engineers. Greenville metro is Greenville-Anderson-Greer. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS, May 2025, via O*NET OnLine. Wage surveys run about a year behind current offers.

Two nearby codes give context. Electronics engineers (SOC 17-2072) earn a median of $101,710 in Greenville and $118,760 in Spartanburg, against $113,720 for South Carolina and $130,220 nationally. Industrial engineers (SOC 17-2112), common on automation and plant floors, earn a median of $101,300 in Greenville, against $101,060 for the state and $102,440 nationally.

Charlotte is close at the median. Its electrical engineer median is $103,360, which is $1,740 above Greenville’s. The gap opens at the top. Charlotte’s 90th percentile is $213,210, which is $47,940 above Greenville’s $165,270. See our Charlotte controls engineer talent map.

Where Greenville-Spartanburg’s controls engineers work

Gas turbines and power

GE Vernova has built gas turbines in Greenville since 1968 and has more than 2,500 workers in South Carolina. Its January 2025 plan adds more than $160 million of investment, more than 650 factory and engineering jobs and new hydrogen fuel testing.

Automotive and battery plants

BMW Plant Spartanburg employs more than 11,000 people and runs AI-based quality checks at 63 inspection stations. Plant Woodruff pairs more than 300 employees with 250 robots, and AI agents analyze inline data from every production step.

Isuzu’s 1 million square foot truck plant in Piedmont is due to start production in 2027.

Aerospace controls

Woodward is building a 300,000-square-foot plant in Greer for servo-hydraulic flight control actuation. Its CEO said the site will be vertically integrated and highly automated. It is due online in summer 2027.

In September 2026 Woodward said it will also move military flight control actuation production there from California.

Airports and infrastructure

GSP airport started a $27.5 million microgrid project in June 2026. It will let the airport generate its own power and store up to 4 megawatts of backup power, with completion in fall 2027.

Where the talent sits: Greenville-Spartanburg submarkets

Greenville

TurbinesEngineering

GE Vernova’s Greenville factory spans 1.55 million square feet and is the county’s second largest manufacturing employer, behind Michelin.

Greer and the I-85 corridor

AutomotiveAerospace

BMW Plant Spartanburg sits near the I-85 and SC 101 interchange, close to GSP airport. Woodward is building in Smith Farms Industrial Park in Greer.

Woodruff

BatteriesCooling

BMW’s battery plant sits 15 miles from Plant Spartanburg. Airsys, a maker of cooling systems for data centers, moved its global headquarters to a 60-acre Woodruff campus in 2026.

Anderson County

Power

Duke Energy’s plant will sit at SC 81 and True Temper Road in southern Anderson County. Construction is expected to start in summer 2027, with service by early 2031.

Piedmont

Trucks

Isuzu’s plant is on 200 acres in Greenville County and is planned to reach 50,000 trucks a year by 2030.

What’s driving demand for controls engineers in Greenville-Spartanburg

Turbine output. GE Vernova plans to triple the Greenville plant’s output to 80 gas turbines a year for power plants, data centers and gas export terminals. The investment adds more than 500 pieces of new equipment there.
Battery assembly. Woodruff begins series production of Gen6 batteries in December 2026. Every step is monitored inline and logged in real time.
Vehicle assembly. BMW finished its $1.7 billion South Carolina investment in 2026. Plant Spartanburg can now build one vehicle with five drivetrain types on a single line.
Flight controls. Woodward’s nearly $200 million plant will create about 275 jobs in manufacturing, engineering and business operations.
Power plants. Duke Energy’s nearly 1.4-gigawatt Anderson County plant is its first new generating plant in South Carolina in a decade. State regulators approved it on March 26, 2026.

Controls specialties tied to these projects

PLC and robotics engineers for vehicle assembly lines and battery plants.
Turbine controls and test engineers for gas turbine manufacturing and hydrogen fuel testing.
Power plant and substation controls engineers for utility gas generation and airport microgrids.
Machine vision and quality automation engineers for inline inspection systems.
Hydraulic and flight control systems engineers for aerospace actuation.

The talent pipeline

Clemson University. Clemson’s Department of Mechanical Engineering is one of the largest academic departments in South Carolina, and its graduates work for employers such as Michelin, GE Power and Duke Energy.
Greenville Technical College. Its new Center for Welding and Automation Excellence opened on the Brashier Campus on August 20, 2026, and includes a robotics welding lab. KUKA Robotics runs its training school inside Greenville Tech.
Spartanburg Community College. SCC’s 28-credit Mechatronics Technology Certificate covers motor controls, DC circuits and an introduction to robotics.
What the role involves. See our controls engineer guide and how to hire a controls engineer.
Licensing. Utility and public work often needs a PE license from the South Carolina Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Surveyors. Firms that offer engineering services in the state also need a certificate of authorization from the board.

What this means if you’re hiring

Benchmark against electrical pay. Controls roles are counted with electrical engineers, so use the $101,620 median and $128,650 at the 75th percentile as your guide.
Expect Spartanburg and Charlotte to compete. Spartanburg’s median is $1,770 higher than Greenville’s, and Charlotte’s 90th percentile is $47,940 higher.
Know the rival buyers. GE Vernova, BMW, Woodward, Isuzu and Duke Energy are all adding automation and power work in 2026 and 2027.
Watch BMW. FITSNews reported in August 2026 that BMW had warned state officials it may cut jobs. BMW has announced no cuts.

Need controls engineers in Greenville-Spartanburg?

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

Call 803.832.4646 or see our Greenville engineering recruiters and Spartanburg engineering recruiters pages.

Hire controls engineers

Frequently asked questions

How much do controls engineers make in Greenville-Spartanburg?

BLS has no controls engineer code. The median electrical engineer salary in the Greenville-Anderson-Greer metro, the main benchmark, is $101,620 a year, according to May 2025 data. The middle half earn between $83,300 and $128,650, and the top 10% earn $165,270 or more. The Spartanburg median is $103,390.

Do controls engineers earn more in Greenville-Spartanburg or Charlotte?

Charlotte, by a small margin at the median and by a wide margin at the top. Its electrical engineer median is $103,360, against $101,620 in Greenville, and its 90th percentile is $213,210 against $165,270. See our Charlotte controls engineer talent map.

Who hires controls engineers in Greenville-Spartanburg?

Manufacturers such as GE Vernova, BMW, Michelin, Isuzu and Woodward, utilities such as Duke Energy, and public owners such as GSP airport.

Sources (23)