Robotics Engineer Jobs: Which AI Degree Gets You Hired

Robotics engineer jobs center on designing, building, testing and programming robots, and an AI degree prepares you for the software and perception half of that work. O*NET lists a bachelor’s degree as the usual entry level. BLS counts robotics engineers with a wider group of engineers, and that group’s May 2025 median pay is $122,930 a year.

What Does a Robotics Engineer Do Day to Day?

A robotics engineer makes machines sense their surroundings and act on them. O*NET describes the work through a list of tasks, and the list reads like a week on the job.

• Design robotic systems, such as autonomous vehicles, advanced sensing, robotic platforms, computer vision or telematics systems.
• Write software that controls robots for uses such as military defense or manufacturing.
• Build, configure and test robots or robotic applications.
• Process and interpret signals and sensor data.
• Debug robotics programs.
• Connect robots to peripherals, such as welders, controllers or other equipment.
• Research robotic technology to create new systems or new capabilities.

You will not do all of that in one role. A company that builds robots may hand you a single subsystem, such as the camera pipeline or the motion planner. A factory that buys robots may hand you the integration, which means getting a robot arm to work with the line around it.

Does BLS Track Robotics Engineer Jobs?

Not under that title. BLS counts robotics engineers with Engineers, All Other (SOC 17-2199), so these figures cover that wider group. It is a catch-all for engineering jobs that do not fit a named category.

That matters when you read pay. A median of $122,930 describes the whole group, which includes engineers who never touch a robot. Treat it as a reasonable guide to engineering pay in your state, not as an exact robotics number.

For duties and outlook, we use O*NET’s page for robotics engineers (17-2199.08), because BLS has no Occupational Outlook Handbook page for the job. Our pay page, robotics engineer salary, breaks the same group’s wages down by state.

Which AI Degree Level Do Robotics Employers Expect?

O*NET puts robotics engineers in Job Zone Four, where most workers have a four-year bachelor’s degree. In its survey, 50 percent of respondents say a bachelor’s is required. So the safe answer is a bachelor’s degree, and a master’s is optional depth.

That shapes how you should read our degree data.

• Bachelor’s degree. The usual entry point. Online bachelor’s programs in AI exist, and a few name robotics or computer vision in their curriculum. Our AI engineering degrees ranking includes bachelor’s options next to master’s programs.
• Master’s degree. The most common online AI credential on our list. It suits you if you already hold an engineering, computer science, math or physics bachelor’s and want perception, learning and control skills. See our online master’s in artificial intelligence ranking.
• Certificate. A shorter way to add skills to a degree you already have. Our applied AI degrees ranking lists certificates alongside degrees.

No online program on our list is titled robotics. You get there through an AI or AI engineering degree that includes robotics content, then add hardware experience yourself.

Which Online AI Programs Touch Robotics?

A handful of programs on our list name robotics in their curriculum, electives or focus areas. Here is what each says, and what it costs.

Johns Hopkins University offers five optional focus areas in its online MS in Artificial Intelligence, and Robotics and Assured Autonomy are two of them. It costs $56,200 for ten courses, expects calculus, linear algebra, probability and statistics, and Python, and gives you five years to finish.

George Washington University lists Autonomous Systems and Robotics and Introduction to Computer Vision among the courses in its online MS in AI and Machine Learning. It costs $37,500 for 30 credits. Applicants need a bachelor’s in engineering, computer science, information technology, mathematics, physics or a closely related field, and the GRE is optional.

The University of Bridgeport lists Advanced Robotics, Computer Vision and Deep Learning in its online MS in AI, and its school runs a robotics, sensing and control lab. It costs $33,000 at $1,100 per credit and accepts a bachelor’s from any field.

Texas A&M University prescribes ten AI electives, including deep reinforcement learning, robotics and computer vision, in its online MS in AI. It takes 1.5 to 2.5 years depending on your course load.

The University of Washington trains engineers in manufacturing, chemical processes and robotics in its online MS in AI and Machine Learning for Engineering. It builds toward a two-quarter applied capstone, and the GRE is not required.

Grand Canyon University builds its online BS in Artificial Intelligence on four pillars, machine learning, computer vision, robotics and natural language processing. It totals $58,800 for 120 credits and accepts up to 90 transfer credits.

Tuition changes, so confirm it with the school. The rankings above show current prices and admission rules for every program.

What Skills and Tools Does the Job Use?

The duties list tells you which skills to build. Each one maps to something you can practice before anyone hires you.

• Programming. Robots run on code, and debugging is on O*NET’s task list. Python is a prerequisite at Johns Hopkins and a course at Bridgeport. C++ is also common in robotics, and job postings will tell you which language an employer wants.
• Sensor data. Cameras, lidar and other sensors produce noisy signals. Processing and interpreting them is a named duty, and computer vision courses train it.
• Machine learning. Deep learning and reinforcement learning are how many modern robots learn to perceive and decide. Several programs above teach both.
• Math. Linear algebra, probability and calculus show up in program prerequisites, and they sit under motion planning and state estimation.
• Frameworks and simulators. The Robot Operating System (ROS) is a widely used open-source framework, and simulators let you test code without hardware. Check postings for the tools each employer names.
• Hardware basics. Wiring, motors, controllers and mounting a sensor are learned by doing. An AI degree will not teach them for you.

How Do You Get Hired as a Robotics Engineer?

There is no single path. These steps fit most people who start with some technical background.

1. Read ten postings. Search for robotics engineer jobs in your state and note the degree, languages and tools each lists. That tells you what your target employers actually ask for.
2. Pick your degree level. If you hold a bachelor’s in engineering or computer science, a master’s with robotics electives adds depth. If you hold a degree in another field, start with a program that accepts any bachelor’s, or a bachelor’s in AI.
3. Learn the math and Python first. Many programs expect them on day one, and catching up before you enroll saves money.
4. Build something that moves. A simulated arm, a small wheeled robot or a camera that tracks an object proves more than a transcript. Put the code on a public repository and write down what went wrong and how you fixed it.
5. Get hardware time. Join a local makerspace or a robotics club, or look for an internship. Some online programs on our list include internships or capstone projects, so ask.
6. Aim at employers that use robots. O*NET’s task list names defense and manufacturing. Factories, labs and companies that build autonomous vehicles all hire for the same skills.
7. Apply with a short portfolio. One page with two or three projects, what you built and what you learned, beats a long list of course names.

Our guide to becoming an AI engineer covers the software-side steps in more detail, and the AI degree requirements guide explains what programs ask of applicants.

What Do Robotics Engineers Earn?

BLS has no separate wage line for robotics engineers, so these May 2025 figures cover Engineers, All Other, the wider group that includes them. Pay for any one robotics job may sit above or below them.

• Median: $122,930 a year, or $59.10 an hour.
• Mean: $125,330 a year.
• 10th percentile: $66,810.
• 25th percentile: $90,970.
• 75th percentile: $158,090.
• 90th percentile: $189,950.

About 154,070 people hold jobs in this group. The distance between the 25th and 75th percentiles is a useful way to think about experience. Early-career workers tend to sit lower in that spread and experienced ones higher, but BLS does not report pay by years on the job, so we do not put a number on it.

Where Are Robotics Engineer Jobs?

Employment and pay both vary by state. Among states with at least 2,000 workers in this group, the highest medians are New Mexico at $162,070, Alabama at $152,550, the District of Columbia at $151,920 and Virginia at $148,160.

The biggest job markets are different. California has 28,610 workers and a median of $130,850. Texas has 10,820 and a median of $115,810. Florida has 8,600 and Michigan has 7,700, with medians of $105,410 and $121,000.

Pay and job counts do not always rise together, and cost of living changes what a salary buys. The salary page lists more states, with worker counts beside each wage.

What Should You Ask Before Taking a Robotics Job?

Because the title covers so many kinds of work, a few questions save you from a mismatch. Ask which robots the team works on and whether you will touch hardware or only code. Ask what share of the week goes to testing and debugging, since O*NET lists both as core tasks.

Ask which tools the team uses, so you know whether your projects match. Ask where the work happens, because on-site expectations vary by employer and the federal data cannot tell you. Finally, ask what the team did after its last failed test. The answer tells you how the group handles the hard part of this job.

What Is the Job Outlook?

O*NET projects slower than average growth for robotics engineers, 1 percent to 2 percent from 2024 to 2034. It expects about 9,300 openings over that period.

Most openings come from workers who retire or move to other jobs, not from new positions. A slow projection does not mean the work is going away. It means competition for open roles can be steady, and a portfolio and hands-on experience help you stand out from other applicants.

Projections are estimates and get revised. They also cover robotics engineers as a whole, so a growing local employer can hire faster than the national average suggests.

Can You Do Robotics Engineer Jobs Remotely?

Partly. Writing code, training models and running simulations can be done from a home office. Mounting a sensor, wiring a controller or watching a robot fail in front of you cannot.

We have no federal data on how many robotics engineers work remotely, and employers set their own policies. Software-heavy roles, such as perception or motion planning, lean more remote than integration roles at a factory. Read the on-site expectations in each posting before you plan around a city.

Can You Learn Robotics With an Online Degree?

You can learn the software, math and machine learning online, and the programs above show how. The weak spot is hardware. A virtual lab is not the same as holding a robot arm, and none of our data shows a program that ships you one.

Plan around it. Choose a program with a capstone or applied project, build a small robot at home, and look for an internship near you. Prices run from $9,990 for The University of Texas at Austin’s online MS in AI to much more at private schools, and the cheapest online AI degrees list sorts them by cost.

Whether the degree pays back depends on your starting pay and the jobs near you. Our page on whether an AI degree is worth it walks through that comparison.