# Sales Engineers

US SOC code 41-9031. Markdown version of https://futurehistory.earth/timeline/41-9031

Also called: Solutions engineer, Pre-sales engineer, Pre-sales solutions engineer, Solutions architect pre-sales, Technical sales engineer.

## In brief

In May 2025, [BLS](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip) counted **51,790** US sales engineers, with median pay of **$124,900** a year. Of the BLS counts since 2003, the highest was **78,030**, in May 2008. The earliest figure here is [an estimate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlow_S._Person) of **25,000** from 1922, not measured the same way as today's count. The last full technology era for sales engineers: Revenue intelligence platforms, 2015 to 2022.

## What the sources say

### Official outlook

BLS projects employment to grow 2.8% from 2025 to 2035. Source: [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=41-9031&ioType=o).

### AI exposure studies

- **53.4%** of this job's tasks are exposed to large language models. Not a forecast of job losses. [Eloundou and others, 2023](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv)

Data as of BLS OEWS May 2025; BLS Employment Projections 2025-35. BLS publishes these counts as yearly survey snapshots and cautions against reading them as a precise trend. In May 2021 BLS changed how it estimates these counts (a model-based method using three years of survey data) and moved fully to the 2018 occupation codes, so part of a change across 2021 can come from the method rather than the work.

## Sales Engineers employment and pay by year

- On record since: 1890
- Latest US employment: 51,790 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [5]
- Latest US median pay: $124,900 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [8]
- Outlook: +2.8% by 2035. Source: BLS Employment Projections 2025-35 [23]

### All 28 years of cited US data

| Year | US employment | Annual pay (median unless marked) | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1922 | 25,000 (estimate) | n/a | Est., Harlow S. Person [1] |
| 1956 | n/a | $6,200 (estimate) | Est., University of Missouri Libraries [6] |
| 1960 | 70,000 (estimate) | n/a | Est., IBM in the Computer Era [2] |
| 1990 | 45,000 (estimate) | n/a | Est., O\*NET 41-9031.00 [3] |
| 2000 | 88,240 | $56,520 | BLS OEWS 2000 [4] |
| 2003 | 73,200 | $67,790 | BLS OEWS May 2003 [5] |
| 2004 | 71,690 | $70,620 | BLS OEWS May 2004 [5] |
| 2005 | 69,790 | $74,200 | BLS OEWS May 2005 [5] |
| 2006 | 75,150 | $77,720 | BLS OEWS May 2006 [5] |
| 2007 | 75,940 | $80,270 | BLS OEWS May 2007 [5] |
| 2008 | 78,030 | $83,100 | BLS OEWS May 2008 [5] |
| 2009 | 71,640 | $83,190 | BLS OEWS May 2009 [5] |
| 2010 | 66,060 | $87,390 | BLS OEWS May 2010 [5] |
| 2011 | 65,580 | $89,330 | BLS OEWS May 2011 [5] |
| 2012 | 65,410 | $91,830 | BLS OEWS May 2012 [5] |
| 2013 | 65,730 | $93,900 | BLS OEWS May 2013 [5] |
| 2014 | 68,080 | $96,340 | BLS OEWS May 2014 [5] |
| 2015 | 72,200 | $97,650 | BLS OEWS May 2015 [5] |
| 2016 | 74,330 | $100,000 | BLS OEWS May 2016 [5] |
| 2017 | 70,820 | $98,720 | BLS OEWS May 2017 [5] |
| 2018 | 65,720 | $101,420 | BLS OEWS May 2018 [5] |
| 2019 | 63,550 | $103,900 | BLS OEWS May 2019 [5] |
| 2020 | 63,780 | $108,830 | BLS OEWS May 2020 [5] |
| 2021 | 59,550 | $103,710 | BLS OEWS May 2021 [5] |
| 2022 | 59,700 | $108,530 | BLS OEWS May 2022 [5] |
| 2023 | 59,340 | $116,950 | BLS OEWS May 2023 [5] |
| 2024 | 56,690 | $121,520 | BLS OEWS May 2024 [5] |
| 2025 | 51,790 | $124,900 | BLS OEWS May 2025 [5] |

## Sources (87)

### Employment series

1. [Harlow S. Person — "Sales Engineering" lecture series, Taylor Society (1922); secondary estimate based on industrial sector employment histories](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlow_S._Person), Wikipedia / Taylor Society archive
2. [IBM in the Computer Era -- Minnesota Computing History (IBM Systems Engineer corps description, 1960s)](https://mncomputinghistory.com/ibm-in-the-computer-era/), Minnesota Computing History
3. [O\*NET 41-9031.00 -- BLS-sourced background on occupation history and SOC code formation](https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/41-9031.00), O\*NET / BLS
4. [BLS OES 2000 national estimates (flat file)](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oes00nat.zip), Bureau of Labor Statistics
5. BLS OEWS, national cross-industry estimates (flat file), Bureau of Labor Statistics. Editions: [2003](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm03nat.zip), [2004](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm04nat.zip), [2005](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm05nat.zip), [2006](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm06nat.zip), [2007](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm07nat.zip), [2008](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm08nat.zip), [2009](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm09nat.zip), [2010](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm10nat.zip), [2011](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm11nat.zip), [2012](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm12nat.zip), [2013](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm13nat.zip), [2014](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm14nat.zip), [2015](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm15nat.zip), [2016](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm16nat.zip), [2017](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm17nat.zip), [2018](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm18nat.zip), [2019](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm19nat.zip), [2020](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm20nat.zip), [2021](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21nat.zip), [2022](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm22nat.zip), [2023](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm23nat.zip), [2024](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24nat.zip), [2025](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip)

### Wage series

6. [University of Missouri Libraries -- "Prices and Wages by Decade: 1950-1959" (BLS wage survey historical reference, 1956 context)](https://libraryguides.missouri.edu/pricesandwages/1950-1959), University of Missouri Libraries / BLS historical sources
7. [BLS OES 2000 national estimates (flat file)](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oes00nat.zip), Bureau of Labor Statistics
8. BLS OEWS, national cross-industry estimates (flat file), Bureau of Labor Statistics. Editions: [2003](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm03nat.zip), [2004](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm04nat.zip), [2005](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm05nat.zip), [2006](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm06nat.zip), [2007](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm07nat.zip), [2008](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm08nat.zip), [2009](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm09nat.zip), [2010](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm10nat.zip), [2011](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm11nat.zip), [2012](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm12nat.zip), [2013](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm13nat.zip), [2014](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm14nat.zip), [2015](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm15nat.zip), [2016](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm16nat.zip), [2017](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm17nat.zip), [2018](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm18nat.zip), [2019](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm19nat.zip), [2020](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm20nat.zip), [2021](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21nat.zip), [2022](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm22nat.zip), [2023](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm23nat.zip), [2025](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip)
9. [BLS OEWS May 2024, national cross-industry estimates (flat file)](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24nat.zip), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

### Tool eras

10. [Wikipedia -- John Henry Patterson (NCR owner): founded the first formal sales training school in American business, 1893; Patterson's methods carried forward by Watson to IBM](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Henry_Patterson_%28NCR_owner%29), Wikipedia
11. [IBM History -- Thomas Watson Sr. (NCR background, IBM sales culture formation)](https://www.ibm.com/history/thomas-watson-sr), IBM
12. [Wikipedia -- Harlow S. Person (1875-1955), dean of Amos Tuck School, Taylor Society; coined "sales engineering" in 1922)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlow_S._Person), Wikipedia
13. [Wikipedia -- Sales process engineering (Person's "sales engineering" framework as predecessor to modern sales engineering)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sales_process_engineering), Wikipedia
14. [Minnesota Computing History -- IBM in the Computer Era (IBM Systems Engineer corps and branch office structure)](https://mncomputinghistory.com/ibm-in-the-computer-era/), Minnesota Computing History
15. [IEEE Annals of the History of Computing -- "Inside IBM's Sales School, 1970s-1980s" (MUSE abstract)](https://muse.jhu.edu/verify?url=%2Farticle%2F577818%2Fsummary&r=2793396), IEEE / Johns Hopkins University Press
16. [Wikipedia -- Sales engineering (enterprise software and B2B context)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sales_engineering), Wikipedia
17. [BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook -- Sales Engineers (enterprise software context for SE demand)](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/sales/sales-engineers.htm), Bureau of Labor Statistics
18. [Consensus -- "What Is a Sales Engineer? Breaking Down the Evolving Role of Presales" (SaaS-era SE role evolution)](https://goconsensus.com/blog/sales-engineer), Consensus
19. [Gong -- The State of Revenue 2025 (call intelligence, AI adoption, and SE deal-cycle data; 4,000+ customers globally)](https://www.gong.io/resources/guides/the-state-of-revenue-2025), Gong
20. [Highspot -- State of Sales Enablement Report 2025 (AI content recommendation, RFP automation, and rep productivity data; 11th annual edition)](https://www.highspot.com/resource/state-of-sales-enablement-report-2025/), Highspot
21. [Consensus -- 2025 Sales Engineering Compensation and Workload Report (demo automation adoption and presales productivity benchmarks; 600+ presales professionals surveyed)](https://goconsensus.com/research/2025-sales-engineering-compensation-workload-report), Consensus
22. [GitHub -- "Research: quantifying GitHub Copilot's impact on developer productivity" (developers complete coding tasks up to 55% faster with AI coding assistance; 2023 study)](https://github.blog/news-insights/research/research-quantifying-github-copilots-impact-on-developer-productivity-and-happiness/), GitHub

### Forecasts and exposure studies

23. [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35, National Employment Matrix: 41-9031 Sales engineers (2025: 51.6 thousand; 2035: 53.0 thousand; +2.8%)](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=41-9031&ioType=o), Bureau of Labor Statistics
24. [Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin & Rock (2023), "GPTs are GPTs", occupation-level exposure data occ\_level.csv (O\*NET-SOC 41-9031.00, human-rated β 0.534)](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv), OpenAI

### Historical notes

25. [Wikipedia -- John Henry Patterson (NCR owner): NCR sales school founded 1893, Patterson's "N.C.R. Primer" the first sales training manual in American business history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Henry_Patterson_%28NCR_owner%29), Wikipedia
26. [Wikipedia -- Harlow S. Person (coined "sales engineering" in 1922 lectures to business audiences)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlow_S._Person), Wikipedia
27. [Minnesota Computing History -- IBM in the Computer Era (Systems/360 and the SE corps formation)](https://mncomputinghistory.com/ibm-in-the-computer-era/), Minnesota Computing History
28. [History of SaaS -- Salesforce as the first cloud-delivered CRM (1999 founding context)](https://www.cloudnuro.ai/blog/history-of-saas), CloudNuro
29. [O\*NET 41-9031.00 -- SOC definition and occupation description (Sales Engineers, 41-9031)](https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/41-9031.00), O\*NET / BLS
30. [Gong -- The State of Revenue 2025 (Gong platform history, 4,000+ customers globally, AI adoption in revenue teams)](https://www.gong.io/resources/guides/the-state-of-revenue-2025), Gong

### Predecessors & successors

31. [Wikipedia -- John Henry Patterson (NCR owner): built technical sales force from engineering-trained recruits; Watson carried the model to IBM](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Henry_Patterson_%28NCR_owner%29), Wikipedia
32. [Minnesota Computing History -- IBM in the Computer Era (Systems Engineer formation from engineering and programming backgrounds)](https://mncomputinghistory.com/ibm-in-the-computer-era/), Minnesota Computing History
33. [O\*NET 41-9031.00 -- Sales Engineers occupation description (technical background requirement)](https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/41-9031.00), O\*NET / BLS
34. [Consensus -- 2025 Sales Engineering Compensation and Workload Report (SE leadership path, OTE ranges, and career progression benchmarks; 600+ presales professionals surveyed)](https://goconsensus.com/research/2025-sales-engineering-compensation-workload-report), Consensus

### Present-day analysis

- [Eloundou et al. 2024 — GPTs are GPTs (Science)](https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130), accessed 2026-05-23
- [O\*NET 30.3 — Sales Engineers (41-9031.00)](https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/41-9031.00), accessed 2026-05-23
- [BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook — Sales Engineers (+5% growth 2023–2033, ~7,500 openings/yr)](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/sales/sales-engineers.htm), accessed 2026-05-23
- [Salesforce "State of Sales" 6th Edition — AI adoption in enterprise sales cycles (2024)](https://www.salesforce.com/sales/state-of-sales/), accessed 2026-05-23
- [Gong "State of Revenue AI 2026" — AI adoption data from 3,000+ revenue leaders and 7.1M opportunities in 2025](https://www.gong.io/resources/guides/state-of-revenue-ai-2026-report), accessed 2026-06-21
- [Forrester — "The Evolving Role of the Sales Engineer" (Jan 2026) — SE technical-win value in complex deals](https://www.forrester.com/report/the-evolving-role-of-the-sales-engineer/), accessed 2026-05-23
- [Consensus "2026 Sales Engineering Compensation & Workload Report" — median SE base $143,750, OTE approaching $192,750, from 423 presales professionals](https://goconsensus.com/research/2026-sales-engineering-compensation-workload-report), accessed 2026-06-21
- [Consensus "2026 B2B Buyer Behavior Report" — demo automation recovers 240,000+ presales hours and drives 8-10x higher close rates](https://goconsensus.com/research/2026-b2b-buyer-behavior-report), accessed 2026-06-21
- [Highspot "State of Sales Enablement 2025" — 11th edition, 350 GTM professionals across 61 industries, AI adoption in sales enablement](https://www.highspot.com/state-of-sales-enablement-2025/), accessed 2026-06-21
- [Gartner "Emerging Technologies: AI in B2B Sales" (Jan 2026) — AI vendor landscape for pre-sales functions](https://www.gartner.com/en/sales/trends/ai-in-b2b-sales), accessed 2026-05-23

How to read these figures: https://futurehistory.earth/methodology. Every figure links to its own source; gaps stay gaps.