PLC Programmer Salary 2026,
What PLC Programmers Actually Earn

How much do plc programmers make in 2026?

PLC programmers are counted here in the BLS electro-mechanical and mechatronics technologists and technicians series: OEWS May 2025 puts the SOC 17-3024 national median at $73,900 a year ($35.53 an hour), with the bottom 10% near $47,840 and the top 10% at $109,890. Two caveats matter. First, this is a small classified occupation of about 15,520 workers, so it is an indicator rather than a comprehensive measure. Second, and more importantly for this role, dedicated controls programmers and system integrators generally sit at the top of that band and frequently above it, because many are classified as controls engineers under engineering codes or work as contractors and integrators priced on day rates rather than salaries. The work itself is programming with physical consequences: developing and modifying ladder logic and structured text, designing human-machine interface screens, configuring drives and motion control, setting up industrial networks and safety systems, and commissioning equipment on live production. Platform matters commercially — Rockwell and Siemens dominate different segments of the market, and depth on both is valuable. What separates the top of the market is commissioning capability under pressure: writing code that works in a simulator is a different skill from making a line run at rate with production waiting. Employment is projected to grow 1.1% through 2034 with roughly 1,300 openings a year. → Full plc programmer career guide, career path, credentials & placement →

Note: $73,900 blends every experience level and every setting in this occupation. For pay by level alone, see Pay by Level below.

Published (BLS): BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 17-3024, United States national estimate. Public, methodologically rigorous, but sampled on a rolling 3-year basis and published ~10 months after collection — so it reflects wages that are already 1–2 years old by the time you read them.

Level and certification medians: distributed across the published BLS percentile range for this SOC code (P10 through P90) according to the credential tiers this occupation actually hires at. They are modeled reference points, not separately surveyed wages.

State and metro figures: modeled — the BLS national median multiplied by the GlobalCybers state wage index, and for metros by the published metro index for that state. They are estimates of local pay, not BLS state or metropolitan-area observations, and are labelled as modeled in the tables below.

No verified placement sample:GlobalCybers does not yet publish a placement median for this role, so no "verified" figure appears anywhere on this page.

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