PLC Programmer Salary by Country (2026): A Free Salary Estimator

The average PLC programmer salary depends mostly on the country and on experience. In the United States it is about $91,000 a year (Indeed, September 2026). In the UK an automation engineer averages about £41,000 (PayScale), and in Germany about €58,500 (PayScale). In every market, senior engineers earn about one and a half to two times a first-year salary.

Every figure on this page was checked on 5 October 2026 against the source named beside it.

Most salary pages give you one average for one country. This one gives a range for eight countries, says where each number comes from and how old it is, and explains what moves you up the range. For a quick figure for your own market and level, use our free Salary Estimator.

How much does a PLC programmer earn in 2026?

There is no official statistic for "PLC programmer". Government surveys group the work under wider occupations: electrical engineers in the US, NOC 21310 (electrical and electronics engineers) in Canada. Commercial salary sites track the job titles people use: PLC programmer, controls engineer, automation engineer. So each figure below is labelled with its source, and you should read the two kinds differently. Government data covers large samples but broad occupations. Salary sites match the job title more closely but rely on smaller, self-reported or advert-based samples.

United States

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics put the median annual wage for electrical engineers at $120,630 in May 2025. The lowest 10% earned less than $76,550 and the highest 10% more than $184,300. That occupation includes many controls engineers, but also power and design engineers with degrees and licences, so it sits above PLC-specific figures.

For the job title itself, Indeed put the average PLC programmer at $90,854 a year (updated 28 September 2026, from adverts posted over the previous 36 months), with most reported salaries between about $64,000 and $129,000. PayScale's controls engineer data agrees: an average base of $88,752, a 10th to 90th percentile range of $68,000 to $121,000, and about $74,000 total pay for someone with under a year's experience (updated 8 July 2026).

Canada

The government's Job Bank publishes wages for control systems engineers under NOC 21310: C$33.65 an hour at the low end, C$50.67 median and C$79.23 at the high end nationally (2023-2024 data, updated November 2025). At 37.5 hours a week for 52 weeks, the median works out at about C$98,800 a year. Saskatchewan (C$56.00) and Quebec (C$53.85) had the highest provincial medians.

United Kingdom

Prospects, the UK graduate careers service, puts control and instrumentation engineer starting salaries at £25,000 to £30,000, rising to £35,000 to £50,000 with several years' experience and up to £75,000 at senior, chartered level (November 2024). PayScale's automation engineer average is £40,830, with a 10th to 90th percentile range of £25,000 to £55,000 (80 profiles, September 2025).

Germany and the Netherlands

PayScale puts the average automation engineer in Germany at €58,503 (base range €44,000 to €75,000, 73 profiles, March 2026), with entry level at about €47,800. In the Netherlands the average is €47,453 (range €37,000 to €73,000, May 2025), with entry level at about €32,700. German pay is highest in the south: Munich, Stuttgart and the automotive and machine-building regions.

Australia, South Africa and the Gulf

• Australia: PayScale average AU$88,510, range AU$61,000 to AU$137,000 (55 profiles, May 2026). PayScale lists SCADA and PLC skills among those linked to higher pay.
• South Africa: PayScale average R434,593, range R249,000 to R966,000 (47 profiles, May 2026). Mining, power and water utilities are the large employers.
• United Arab Emirates: PayScale's sample is small (30 profiles, February 2025): an average of AED 100,057, about AED 92,000 early in a career and AED 110,580 mid-career. Gulf salaries are not taxed, and packages often add housing and flights, so compare the whole package.

How does pay grow with experience?

PayScale publishes how far each experience band sits from the national average, and the spread is wide:

A worked example with the UK figures: the average is £40,830, so an entry-level automation engineer is near £25,700 (63% of the average) and an experienced one near £49,800 (122%). That is close to Prospects' independent figures of £25,000 to £30,000 at the start and £35,000 to £50,000 with several years' experience, which is a good sign that both are describing the same market. The steepest climbs, in Australia and South Africa, come from the mining, energy and process sectors, where senior controls engineers carry commissioning and safety responsibility.

We left Singapore and Brazil out of the table: the public samples we could find were too small or too old to quote with confidence.

What is an entry-level PLC programmer salary?

The honest answer is: the bottom of each range above, not the average. Averages include engineers with ten or twenty years behind them. From the same sources, a first job pays roughly $65,000 to $75,000 in the US, £25,000 to £30,000 in the UK and €45,000 to €48,000 in Germany. If you are negotiating a first offer, quote an entry band. Quoting the national average is the fastest way to end a conversation with a hiring manager.

The quickest way to move from the bottom of the band is time on real plant. Our guide to becoming a commissioning engineer explains why site work is the step most engineers point to when their pay jumped.

Which skills raise a controls engineer's salary?

Four things show up again and again in adverts that pay above the median:

1. Commissioning. Engineers who have started up a line, a pump station or a process unit are paid for the risk they remove. Travel and rotation allowances often add to the base.
2. Named platforms. "PLC experience" is generic. "Siemens TIA Portal and S7-1500" or "Studio 5000 and ControlLogix" matches the filter a recruiter is running. Our guide to an ATS-friendly CV for automation engineers shows how to list them.
3. Safety. Safety instrumented systems, SIL verification and IEC 61511 work is specialised and well paid. Our explainer on safety PLCs, SIL and SIS is a good starting point.
4. OT security. Since CISA's advisory AA26-097A (first published 7 April 2026, updated 22 July 2026) described attacks on internet-exposed Rockwell, Schneider and Siemens PLCs, plant owners want controls engineers who understand ISA/IEC 62443. See our post on free IEC 62443 training.

Do SCADA engineers earn more? In the published bands behind our estimator, SCADA and HMI engineers sit within a few thousand of PLC and controls engineers in every market. DCS and process roles, and oil and gas commissioning, are where the larger jumps are. Our guide on how to become a SCADA engineer covers that route.

How to use the free salary estimator

The Salary Estimator shows a published market range for a controls role. You choose a market (it covers the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and the Gulf, among others), a role (PLC or controls engineer, SCADA and HMI engineer, instrumentation and control, automation engineer, or DCS engineer for process plants) and a level. Entry means 0 to 2 years; experienced means roughly 5 years and up. Under the result, cards show the same role in the other markets, so you can compare them side by side.

The bands were gathered in August 2026 from PayScale, Glassdoor, Indeed, ZipRecruiter and ERI SalaryExpert. They are gross, before tax, except where a market is marked tax-free. They are market data, not a promise about any offer, and the tool says so.

How to compare salaries between countries fairly

• Tax and deductions. A UAE salary is untaxed; a German one loses a large share to tax and social insurance. Compare net pay.
• Hours and overtime. North American and Gulf site roles often pay overtime or rotation premiums; many European contracts include it in the salary.
• Cost of living. Rent in Munich, London or San Jose takes a much larger bite than in smaller industrial towns.
• Work permits. The highest figures are the hardest to reach from abroad. Our guide to automation jobs by country covers visas and where employers hire internationally.
• Contracting. Day rates look high because they cover gaps, holidays and pensions. Our freelance automation engineer guide explains how to compare them with a salary.

Raise your number, free

The skills that move pay can all be learned free. Start with Siemens TIA Portal or Allen-Bradley Studio 5000 for the platform names, then add Safety Instrumented Systems and SIL to IEC 61511 or OT and ICS Cybersecurity with ISA/IEC 62443. Practise for the interview with our PLC interview questions and answers, and see who is hiring on the free job board. If you want to work from home, our guide to remote PLC programming jobs explains which roles are hybrid. Every course is free in full; an optional EDWartens Certificate of Completion, from US$2.99, can be checked by anyone at edwartens.com/verification. It is not a vendor certification and is not accredited.

Take the free course

PLC programming · Beginner · Free

Siemens TIA Portal

PLC programming · Beginner · Free

Allen-Bradley Studio 5000

Safety · Advanced · Free

Safety Instrumented Systems and SIL to IEC 61511

Cybersecurity · Intermediate · Free

OT and ICS Cybersecurity with ISA/IEC 62443