Talent Maps / Orlando / Electrical Engineers

Orlando Electrical Engineer Talent Map (2026)

What electrical engineers earn in metro Orlando, which utilities and manufacturers employ them, where in the metro they work, and the power, defense and data center projects competing for them.

Hiring electrical engineers in Orlando?

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 electrical engineers in the Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford metro area (Lake, Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties). Pay figures come from the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey (May 2025), and the demand picture uses utility, project and policy data published from 2025 to 2026. Our electrical engineering recruiters update it as new data comes out. See also our Orlando civil, data center and controls engineer talent maps.

$119,080Median electrical engineer pay in metro OrlandoBLS, May 2025

$133,390Median pay for electronics engineers in metro OrlandoBLS, May 2025

1,565 to 1,776 MWOrlando Utilities Commission summer peak demand forecast, 2026 to 2035OUC, 2026

6,725 MWUtility-scale solar Duke Energy Florida expects online by 2035Duke Energy Florida, 2026

242,000 sq ftSiemens Energy’s new Lake Nona building for about 3,000 employees, due by 2027Spectrum News 13, 2025

100,000 sq ftHostDime’s seven-story Eatonville data center, expected to open in September 2026Central Florida Public Media, 2026

Electrical engineer salaries in Orlando

The median electrical engineer in metro Orlando earns $119,080 a year, $14,300 above the Florida median of $104,780 and $1,550 below the national median of $120,630. The hourly median is $57.25. Orlando’s pay curve is flat above the median. Its 75th percentile of $128,490 is below the Florida figure of $131,550, and its 90th percentile of $159,060 is below Florida’s $164,210.

Annual pay percentile	Orlando metro	Florida	United States
10th percentile	$75,810	$65,090	$76,550
25th percentile	$80,730	$80,860	$92,830
Median	$119,080	$104,780	$120,630
75th percentile	$128,490	$131,550	$152,950
90th percentile	$159,060	$164,210	$184,300

Electrical Engineers (SOC 17-2071). Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS, May 2025, via O*NET OnLine. Wage surveys run about a year behind current offers.

Electronics engineers (SOC 17-2072), who design circuits, sensors and communications hardware, earn more. Their median in Orlando is $133,390, against $116,860 in Florida and $130,220 nationally. Pay runs from $84,340 at the 10th percentile to $179,490 at the 90th.

What the spread means in practice: Orlando pays well above Tampa, where the electrical engineer median is $102,110, a gap of $16,970. Tampa’s 90th percentile of $162,490 is slightly higher than Orlando’s, so the gap is at the middle of the market and not at the top. Jacksonville’s median is $116,480.

Where Orlando’s electrical engineers work

Utilities

The Orlando Utilities Commission serves Orlando and St. Cloud with about 2,593 MW of summer capacity as of January 2026, including 341.5 MWac of solar contracts. Duke Energy Florida serves about 2.0 million customers in west-central Florida, including densely populated areas around Orlando.

Power equipment and energy

Siemens Energy is moving its regional headquarters from East Orlando to Lake Nona Town Center by 2027. It has used its current campus for about four decades and operates 10 offices across Central Florida.

Defense and photonics

Lockheed Martin has operated in Orlando for more than 60 years and announced a 500-job expansion of its Missiles and Fire Control site in 2018. L3Harris and Northrop Grumman also operate locally, alongside optics firms such as LightPath Technologies, Ocean Insight and Luminar.

Data centers

HostDime is finishing a 100,000-square-foot facility in Eatonville next to I-4, and CoreSite applied in May 2026 to add a 76,280-square-foot second building at its campus at 9701 South John Young Parkway.

Where the talent sits: Orlando submarkets

East Orlando and Central Florida Research Park

Power equipmentPhotonics

Siemens Energy’s current campus is in East Orlando, and Ocean Insight has its headquarters and manufacturing in Central Florida Research Park.

Lake Nona

Corporate campusMedical

Siemens Energy’s new 242,000-square-foot building at Lake Nona Town Center is planned for about 3,000 employees by 2027.

Southwest Orlando

Data centersTransmission

CoreSite’s campus sits near John Young Parkway and State Road 528 and is served by Duke Energy Florida.

Eatonville and the I-4 corridor

Data centers

HostDime’s seven-story data center is near I-4 and Lee Road. It was reported in June 2026 as a $100 million, 30 MW project with 50 jobs, and it missed a July 2025 opening deadline.

Osceola County and St. Cloud

UtilitiesHyperscale

OUC’s St. Cloud substation hosts a 4 MW, 8 MWh battery. A 2,200-acre Kenansville site is listed for a hyperscale data center, with Duke energization projected for early 2028.

What’s driving demand for electrical engineers in Orlando

OUC load growth. OUC’s 2026 ten-year plan projects summer peak demand rising from 1,565 MW to 1,776 MW and annual energy from 7,795 GWh to 9,556 GWh by 2035.
Generation change. OUC planned to put Stanton Unit 1 (453 MW of coal) into cold shutdown by May 2026 and to convert Unit 2 to natural gas only by the end of 2027. The US Department of Energy ordered Unit 1 to stay available from June 4 to September 1, 2026.
Duke Energy Florida solar and storage. Duke plans more than 900 MW of solar from 2025 to 2028, 6,725 MW of utility-scale solar by 2035, and battery projects including a 100 MW unit and a 225 MW facility at Bartow.
Data center requests. Duke Energy Florida said in June 2026 that it is fielding a lot of data center requests and does not currently serve any large AI data centers in Florida. In September 2025 it asked state regulators to create a large-load customer class.
Data center pushback. Lake County approved a one-year moratorium on new data centers on June 23, 2026. Orange County commissioners backed a temporary moratorium on September 15, 2026, and a final decision is possible in early December.
Siemens Energy relocation. The move to Lake Nona by 2027 keeps about 3,000 employees in the metro and adds a new building to fit out.

Electrical specialties tied to these projects

Power systems and utility engineers for OUC and Duke Energy Florida generation, transmission and substations.
Protection and relay engineers for substation and battery storage projects.
Power equipment design and test engineers for Siemens Energy’s Central Florida teams.
Electronics, RF and photonics engineers for defense contractors and optics firms.
Data center electrical engineers for UPS, switchgear and generator design. See our electrical engineer role guide.

The talent pipeline

University of Central Florida. UCF’s electrical engineering graduate program ranked No. 57 and its computer engineering program No. 54 in U.S. News’ 2026 listing. UCF’s CREOL college of optics and photonics is ranked among the top three public universities for optics in the US.
Data centers. Orlando’s moratorium debate may slow new sites, but existing campuses still need electrical staff. See our US data center map.
Licensing. Senior roles, especially utility and building design, usually require a Florida PE license from the Florida Board of Professional Engineers. Florida does not offer reciprocity.

What this means if you’re hiring

Price at the median, not the top. Orlando’s median of $119,080 is far above Tampa’s $102,110, but its 75th percentile of $128,490 is only $9,410 higher. Offers above $128,490 sit in the top quarter of the market.
Pay more for electronics skills. Electronics engineers in Orlando have a $133,390 median, which matters for defense and photonics roles.
Watch the data center calendar. Moratoria in Lake and Orange counties could delay projects, so plan data center electrical hiring around local votes.
Hire early for utility work. OUC and Duke both have solar, storage and generation changes in their ten-year plans, so utility engineers have options.

Need electrical engineers in Orlando?

Apollo Technical has recruited engineers since 2010. Our recruiting teams place electrical, power systems, electronics and data center engineers on a contract, contract-to-hire and direct hire basis.

Call 813.701.2797 or see our Orlando engineering recruiters page.

Hire electrical engineers

Frequently asked questions

How much do electrical engineers make in Orlando?

The median electrical engineer salary in metro Orlando is $119,080 a year, according to May 2025 BLS data. The middle half earn between $80,730 and $128,490, and the top 10% earn $159,060 or more.

Do electrical engineers earn more in Orlando or Tampa?

Orlando, by a wide margin at the median. Its median is $119,080, against $102,110 in Tampa. See our Tampa electrical engineer talent map.

Who hires electrical engineers in Orlando?

Utilities such as the Orlando Utilities Commission and Duke Energy Florida, Siemens Energy, defense and photonics firms such as Lockheed Martin, L3Harris, Northrop Grumman and LightPath Technologies, and data center operators such as HostDime and CoreSite.

Sources (18)