Electrical Controls Technician Career Guide 2025: PLC Programming, Industrial Automation, $65K-$100K Pay

Industry Overview: Programming Robots Without a CS Degree

I remember the first time someone explained what a controls technician does. I was working as an electrician's apprentice at a General Motors plant in Michigan, pulling wire for a conveyor system upgrade. The lead electrician pointed to a guy hunched over a laptop in the middle of the production floor, surrounded by cables and PLC hardware. "See him? He's writing the brain for this whole line. Makes twice what we do."

That guy was a controls technician, and watching him work changed my career trajectory completely. He spent part of his morning writing code in something called "ladder logic"—a visual programming language that looked like electrical schematics but behaved like software. Then he climbed inside the conveyor system to wire up proximity sensors, traced signal paths with a multimeter, and tested his code by actually running production parts through the line. When everything worked, the whole assembly system came alive—robots picking parts, conveyors moving in perfect sync, vision cameras inspecting welds. His code made that happen.

Electrical controls technicians are the bridge between electricians and software engineers in modern manufacturing. While traditional electricians wire circuits and install motors, controls technicians program the logic that makes machines think. We use Programmable Logic Controllers—industrial computers hardened for factory environments—to automate assembly lines, coordinate robotic arms, optimize production flows, and troubleshoot complex industrial systems. It's robot programming for people who like working with their hands, and manufacturers are absolutely desperate for people who can do both.

Think about a modern automotive assembly plant. A single production line might have fifty robots welding car frames, thirty conveyor sections moving parts between stations, vision cameras inspecting welds for defects, barcode scanners tracking components, and servo motors positioning parts with millimeter precision. Every single one of those devices is controlled by PLC code that a controls technician wrote. When something breaks—and in manufacturing, something always breaks—we're the ones climbing into the machinery at 3 AM, laptop in hand, diagnosing why robot number seven keeps faulting out or why the conveyor won't start.

The field is experiencing explosive growth, and the shortage of qualified controls technicians is reaching crisis levels. I've watched this unfold over the past decade as baby boomer controls techs retire faster than community colleges can graduate new technicians. Manufacturers are reshoring production from overseas, building smart factories packed with automation, and they literally cannot find enough people who know how to program PLCs. Job postings sit unfilled for months. Companies are hiring electricians with basic PLC exposure and training them internally because they have no other option.

The demand drivers are relentless. U.S. manufacturing is automating heavily to compete globally—smart factories need controls technicians to program, maintain, and optimize systems. Industry 4.0 initiatives mean factories are adding IoT sensors, data analytics, predictive maintenance systems, all of which require controls technicians who understand both electrical hardware and digital networks. Collaborative robots, automated guided vehicles, vision inspection systems—all require PLC integration and programming. Even food processing plants and pharmaceutical manufacturers need sophisticated automated controls for FDA compliance, traceability, temperature monitoring, and batch tracking.

The result is straightforward: salaries between sixty-five and a hundred thousand dollars, excellent job security, and the deep satisfaction of seeing your code control multi-million-dollar production systems. If you want a career that combines intellectual problem-solving with hands-on troubleshooting, where you're not stuck at a desk all day but still get to write code that matters, this is the path. And the best part? You don't need a four-year computer science degree or six-figure student loan debt. You need electrical fundamentals, logical thinking, a willingness to learn proprietary programming platforms, and the ability to stay calm when a production line goes down and everyone's looking at you to fix it.

Salary & Compensation: What Controls Technicians Earn

Let me give you the real numbers, not the sanitized HR versions. My first job as a junior controls technician at a packaging plant in Wisconsin paid fifty-two thousand dollars base salary. That was 2018, fresh out of a two-year automation program at Gateway Technical College, no prior electrical experience beyond the basic wiring we learned in school. Within three years, after I picked up Allen-Bradley and Siemens PLC platforms and could troubleshoot robot integrations, I was making seventy-eight thousand. By year five, when I became the go-to person for vision system installations and safety PLC programming, my base hit eighty-six thousand.

But here's what really matters: the overtime. Controls work pays time-and-a-half or double-time during plant shutdowns, new equipment installations, and emergency line-down situations. Last year, my total compensation topped one hundred and twelve thousand dollars because I worked three major shutdown weekends, commissioned two new production lines, and got called out for emergency troubleshooting maybe a dozen times. When a Coca-Cola bottling line goes down, they're losing twenty thousand dollars per hour. They will pay whatever it takes to get you there immediately.

Entry-level controls technicians—typically electrician apprentices with basic PLC training—start between fifty and sixty-five thousand dollars. That's someone who can read ladder logic, modify simple programs, wire I/O devices, and assist experienced techs during commissioning. You're learning on the job, probably working under a senior technician who reviews your code before it goes live. Still decent money for someone right out of a community college program or apprenticeship.

Experienced controls technicians with three to five years under their belts, fluency in multiple PLC platforms (usually Allen-Bradley plus either Siemens or Schneider), and HMI/SCADA design skills earn sixty-five to eighty-five thousand. This is where most controls techs land by their late twenties or early thirties. You can program complete production lines from scratch, integrate VFDs and robotics, troubleshoot complex network issues, and lead smaller projects. This is the sweet spot—great pay, interesting technical work, clear path to advancement.

Senior controls technicians—five to ten years of experience, specialized skills like motion control or safety systems, often project leads—make eighty to ninety-five thousand base. I know senior techs at automotive plants pulling over a hundred thousand with overtime during model changeovers. These are the people who design control system architectures, develop standardized code libraries, interface with IT for MES integration, and mentor junior techs. Some have engineering degrees; many came up through the trades and simply got very, very good at PLC programming and system design.

Controls engineers and automation engineers—either ten-plus years of experience or a four-year engineering degree—command eighty-five to one hundred twenty thousand or more. The title distinction matters at larger companies for career progression, but I've worked with "senior controls technicians" doing identical work to "controls engineers" and earning similar money. The engineering degree opens doors for project management and design authority, but a senior tech with a decade of hands-on PLC experience can absolutely match those salaries, especially with overtime factored in.

Pay by Industry (2025)

Pay by Region (2025)

Industry matters significantly for pay. Automotive manufacturing tops the list because assembly lines are automation-intensive and downtime is catastrophically expensive. An automotive parts plant might pay entry-level controls techs fifty-five to seventy thousand, experienced techs seventy to ninety thousand, and senior techs eighty-five to one hundred five thousand. Food and beverage processing pays slightly less but offers cleaner working environments and more stable hours—fifty-two to sixty-eight thousand entry-level, scaling up to eighty to ninety-eight thousand for senior positions.

Pharmaceuticals and medical device manufacturing command premium salaries because FDA validation requirements demand meticulous documentation and quality systems. Entry-level controls techs in pharma start at fifty-eight to seventy-two thousand; experienced techs earn seventy-two to ninety-two thousand; senior techs can hit eighty-eight to one hundred ten thousand. I've known controls techs at Pfizer and Merck plants clearing one hundred twenty thousand with overtime during compliance upgrades and facility validations.

Oil, gas, and petrochemical facilities pay the highest base salaries—sixty to seventy-five thousand entry-level, seventy-five to ninety-five thousand experienced, ninety to one hundred fifteen thousand senior—but the work involves hazardous locations, complex safety systems, and often remote locations. You're earning those extra dollars programming distributed control systems in refineries where a mistake could cause a major incident.

Geography plays a role too. Detroit and the Midwest auto corridor pay top dollar because automotive manufacturing dominates the region and controls talent is scarce. Gulf Coast petrochemical plants in Texas and Louisiana offer premium compensation to attract techs to remote facilities. California pays higher absolute salaries to account for cost of living—Bay Area controls techs might start at sixty-two to seventy-eight thousand and scale to ninety-five to one hundred eighteen thousand senior-level. Southeast manufacturing states like North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee pay somewhat less but offer significantly lower cost of living.

The overtime situation is what pushes total compensation well into six figures. Plant shutdowns—scheduled maintenance periods when production stops for equipment upgrades—pay time-and-a-half or double-time. I worked an automotive plant shutdown in Indiana where we ran twelve-hour shifts for two straight weeks replacing legacy PLCs with modern CompactLogix controllers. Base hourly rate of forty-two dollars became sixty-three dollars time-and-a-half after forty hours, plus weekend double-time. That single project added eighteen thousand dollars to my annual income.

Emergency troubleshooting pays even better. When a production line goes down unexpectedly, especially on second or third shift when the on-site controls tech has already gone home, companies activate emergency call-out procedures. I've been paged at midnight, driven to a food processing plant, diagnosed a VFD communication fault, and walked out four hours later with six hundred dollars in emergency pay. Some union plants have emergency call-out rates of one hundred to one hundred fifty dollars per hour regardless of how long the repair takes—minimum four hours pay even if you fix the problem in thirty minutes.

New equipment commissioning often requires sixty to eighty-hour weeks at premium rates because installations happen during non-production periods. You're programming and testing systems on weekends and nights when the plant is idle, earning shift differentials on top of overtime rates. System integrator companies pay per diem plus travel time for on-site commissioning projects nationwide, so you're collecting hotel, meals, and mileage reimbursements on top of inflated overtime paychecks. It's exhausting work—I've done commissioning projects where I flew to a customer site Monday morning, worked twelve-hour days through Saturday, flew home Sunday, and cleared nine thousand dollars for the week—but the money is absolutely real.

PLC Platforms & Control Systems: The Tools You'll Master

The "programming languages" of industrial automation are PLC platforms—proprietary systems made by major automation vendors. Each platform has its own programming software, ladder logic syntax, and hardware ecosystem. Mastering 2-3 platforms makes you highly employable.

Major PLC Platforms (by Market Share)

Beyond PLCs: Related Technologies You'll Work With

Controls technicians don't just program PLCs—you integrate entire ecosystems of industrial automation technologies. Here's what else you'll master:

Career Progression: From Electrician to Automation Engineer

A Day in the Life: What Controls Technicians Actually Do

The best way to understand this work is to walk through a real day. This is Tuesday, January sixteenth, at an automotive parts plant in suburban Detroit where I'm working as an experienced controls technician. We make stamped metal brackets and assemblies for Ford and GM—five production lines running two shifts, maybe three hundred employees total. My shift starts at six in the morning.

I arrive fifteen minutes early because the maintenance supervisor texted me at five-thirty: "Line 3 down overnight, robot 4 keeps faulting, need you ASAP." This is typical. Production runs twenty-four-five on most lines, and when something breaks on second or third shift, the on-call maintenance crew does what they can, but complex controls issues wait for first shift when the controls techs arrive. I grab coffee from the break room, pull up FactoryTalk View on my laptop, and review the alarm history remotely before even walking onto the floor.

The HMI shows robot number four throwing "E-stop fault - Safety Circuit Open" intermittently—happened six times between midnight and four AM, each time requiring a manual reset from the operator. Intermittent faults are the worst because they're hard to reproduce. Something's wrong with the e-stop circuit wiring, probably a loose connection or damaged cable, but it's not failing consistently enough to stay faulted while you're looking at it.

I head to Line 3, which is currently running while they wait for me to diagnose the issue. The robot is a FANUC six-axis arm that picks stamped brackets from an outfeed conveyor and loads them into a quality inspection station. I watch it cycle through maybe ten parts—everything looks normal. Then I start tracing the e-stop circuit. There are three e-stop buttons in this cell: one at the operator station, one at the robot pendant, and one emergency pull-cord on the cell perimeter. All three are wired in series through a safety relay, which then sends a signal to the PLC and directly to the robot controller.

I find it thirty minutes later: a frayed cable at the safety relay terminal block. Someone probably caught it with a forklift or a maintenance cart months ago, damaged the insulation, and over time the vibration from the stamping presses nearby worked the wire loose. It's making intermittent contact—sometimes connected, sometimes open. When it opens, the safety relay drops out, the robot faults, the line stops. I replace the wire, heat-shrink the new connections, test the e-stop circuit with a multimeter, and cycle the robot through its home routine manually. Watch it run for another thirty minutes. No faults. Document the repair in the CMMS software and move on.

At eight o'clock I have a project kickoff meeting for Line 5—we're installing a new Cognex vision camera to inspect stamped parts for hairline cracks that human operators keep missing. The project team includes me, a mechanical engineer from the plant engineering group, a technician from the vision system vendor, and the Line 5 production supervisor who's understandably nervous about adding complexity to his line. My job is integrating the camera with the existing Allen-Bradley ControlLogix PLC. The camera communicates via Ethernet/IP, so I confirm the IP address, verify the network switch has an available port, and test a ping from the PLC to the camera. It responds. Good start.

From nine to ten-thirty I'm writing PLC code. Open Studio 5000 Logix Designer, navigate to the I/O configuration tree, add the Ethernet/IP module definition for the Cognex camera. Create a new program subroutine called "Vision_Inspection_L5" and start building the ladder logic. The sequence is straightforward: when a part arrives at the inspection station—detected by a proximity sensor—the PLC triggers the vision camera to capture an image and run its inspection algorithm. The camera analyzes the image and sends back a pass/fail bit to the PLC. If the part passes inspection, the PLC indexes the conveyor to the next station. If it fails, the PLC fires a pneumatic pusher to divert the part into a reject bin.

But I also have to program the interlocks—safety logic that prevents the system from doing something stupid. Don't trigger the camera if the conveyor is stopped. Don't trigger the camera if the upstream stamping press is faulted. Don't try to reject parts if the reject bin is full. Don't index the conveyor if the downstream station isn't ready. This is the difference between someone who took a weekend PLC course and someone who's been doing this for five years—you learn to anticipate every possible failure mode and program defensively.

At ten-thirty I'm updating the HMI. FactoryTalk View is the HMI software for Allen-Bradley systems—I create a new screen called "Line 5 - Vision Inspection" where operators can see the camera status (green indicator when it's working, red when it's faulted), pass/fail counts for the shift, reject rate percentage, and a reset button to clear the counters. I test everything in runtime mode on my laptop before pushing it to the production HMI panel on the floor. Buttons work, data updates correctly. Done.

Lunch break at noon. I eat a sandwich in the break room while the electricians complain about the upcoming plant shutdown next month—we're migrating Line 2's ancient SLC-500 PLC to a modern CompactLogix controller, which means two weeks of overtime pulling wire, mounting new panels, and rewriting twenty-year-old legacy code. I'm already planning my vacation around the shutdown because the overtime money is too good to pass up.

At one o'clock the vision system vendor tech finishes teaching the camera—he's showing it what good parts and bad parts look like so the inspection algorithm can learn to differentiate. Production runs fifty test parts through the line. The camera catches three parts with hairline cracks and correctly rejects them. Perfect. But then it false-rejects one good part. We adjust the sensitivity threshold with the vendor tech's help, re-run fifty more parts, and get zero false rejects. The production supervisor signs off on the commissioning checklist. Line 5 is officially live with automated vision inspection.

At two-thirty my radio crackles: "Line 1 down, conveyor won't start, need controls now." This is the emergency troubleshooting part of the job that either energizes you or burns you out depending on your personality. I run to Line 1. The main conveyor drive—an Allen-Bradley PowerFlex VFD controlling a thirty-horsepower motor—is displaying "Motor Overload" on its front panel. I check the motor current draw with a clamp meter: thirty amps. Normal operating current for this motor is fifteen amps. Something is mechanically jamming the conveyor and forcing the motor to work twice as hard, which triggers the overload protection.

I call over a maintenance mechanic and we walk the conveyor line looking for the obstruction. He finds it—a metal bracket wedged between the conveyor rollers, probably fell off a transport cart. We remove the bracket, I reset the VFD fault, test the conveyor. Current draw drops back to fifteen amps. Line is running again. Total downtime: eighteen minutes. In an automotive plant, eighteen minutes of downtime costs about six thousand dollars in lost production, which is why they pay us well to minimize these incidents.

The rest of the afternoon is documentation and planning. I update the PLC program comments for the Line 5 vision integration, export the ladder logic to PDF for the maintenance records, update the electrical schematics to show the new camera, and revise the network diagram with the new Ethernet/IP device. At four o'clock I meet with the controls supervisor to plan next week's projects—we're installing a GuardLogix safety PLC on Line 4 to integrate new safety light curtains on the stamping press. I order the parts, coordinate with an electrician to pull new conduit, and schedule production downtime for Saturday morning. More overtime.

Before I leave at four-thirty, I do one final check on Lines 1, 3, and 5—all running smooth. I update the shift turnover log for the night shift controls tech: "Line 5 vision system commissioned and live, monitor for any issues. Line 3 e-stop circuit repaired, holding steady. Line 1 VFD overload resolved." Total overtime today: thirty minutes past my normal shift to finish the VFD troubleshooting. Tomorrow will be different problems, different emergencies, different code to write. That's why people either love this work or leave within two years—there's no middle ground.

How to Get Started: Training Paths and Certifications

Path 1: Electrical Apprenticeship + PLC Training (Most Common)

Path 2: Associate's Degree in Automation/Mechatronics (Faster)

Path 3: Bachelor's Degree in Engineering (For Engineering Roles)

Manufacturer Certifications (Optional but Valuable)

Top Employers & Industries Hiring Controls Technicians

By Industry

Top Metro Areas for Controls Jobs

• • Detroit, MI / Midwest Auto Corridor: Highest density of automotive automation jobs (MI, OH, IN, IL)
• • Houston / Gulf Coast, TX: Petrochemical, oil & gas, energy sector controls
• • Greenville / Spartanburg, SC: BMW, Michelin, auto suppliers, advanced manufacturing hub
• • Los Angeles / Orange County, CA: Aerospace, food processing, packaging, medical devices
• • Milwaukee / Chicago, IL: Diverse manufacturing, food processing, brewing, packaging
• • Charlotte, NC: Food processing (Nestle, Coca-Cola), pharmaceuticals, automotive
• • Phoenix, AZ: Semiconductor, aerospace, data centers (emerging)

Pros & Cons of Controls Technician Careers

Frequently Asked Questions