Research Summary. After extensive research by the Zippia data science team, we identified these details of design engineer salary by state for the United States:
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California has the highest design engineer salary of $100,682
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Hawaii has the lowest design engineer salary of $55,097
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The national average salary for design engineers is $77,134
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The national hourly pay for design engineers is $37.08
You can read more on the specific methodology.
Background
Without fail, in surveys across basically every demographic, the number one most important aspect of a job for most people is the salary — how much do design engineers get paid where I live?
And while there are many things to go into how much you, specifically, can expect to make, there’s really good data for average salaries for design engineer by state across America broken down by seniority level. So while your city may be slightly different than the state average, these averages give you a rough sense of what to expect for your salary.
The state with the best salary for design engineers after this adjustment? That would be California.
Here’s a quick snapshot of the top ten states for design engineer salaries:
Let’s take a look at how we got here and a full ranking of all the states.
Highest-Paid Design Engineers By State
| Rank | State | Average Design Engineer Salary | 10th Percentile | 90th Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | $100,682 | $72,000 | $139,000 |
| 2 | Massachusetts | $86,990 | $66,000 | $113,000 |
| 3 | New Mexico | $85,362 | $63,000 | $114,000 |
| 4 | Oregon | $85,262 | $63,000 | $114,000 |
| 5 | New Hampshire | $81,810 | $62,000 | $107,000 |
| 6 | Texas | $81,288 | $60,000 | $108,000 |
| 7 | Arizona | $81,198 | $60,000 | $109,000 |
| 8 | Idaho | $81,144 | $60,000 | $109,000 |
| 9 | Washington | $79,959 | $59,000 | $107,000 |
| 10 | Alaska | $78,713 | $63,000 | $97,000 |
| 11 | Connecticut | $77,858 | $59,000 | $101,000 |
| 12 | Virginia | $77,691 | $61,000 | $98,000 |
| 13 | Nevada | $76,541 | $55,000 | $105,000 |
| 14 | Louisiana | $76,131 | $57,000 | $100,000 |
| 15 | Colorado | $75,482 | $57,000 | $98,000 |
| 16 | New Jersey | $74,743 | $57,000 | $96,000 |
| 17 | Maryland | $74,470 | $58,000 | $95,000 |
| 18 | Delaware | $73,406 | $57,000 | $93,000 |
| 19 | New York | $73,123 | $56,000 | $94,000 |
| 20 | West Virginia | $73,051 | $57,000 | $92,000 |
| 21 | Rhode Island | $72,530 | $55,000 | $95,000 |
| 22 | Maine | $71,971 | $54,000 | $94,000 |
| 23 | Alabama | $71,826 | $56,000 | $91,000 |
| 24 | Illinois | $71,786 | $56,000 | $90,000 |
| 25 | Utah | $70,582 | $52,000 | $95,000 |
| 26 | Michigan | $70,216 | $55,000 | $89,000 |
| 27 | Tennessee | $70,090 | $55,000 | $88,000 |
| 28 | Florida | $68,732 | $50,000 | $92,000 |
| 29 | Georgia | $67,906 | $53,000 | $86,000 |
| 30 | Pennsylvania | $67,744 | $52,000 | $86,000 |
| 31 | Wyoming | $67,365 | $51,000 | $88,000 |
| 32 | North Carolina | $67,358 | $53,000 | $85,000 |
| 33 | Oklahoma | $66,749 | $52,000 | $84,000 |
| 34 | Indiana | $66,630 | $52,000 | $84,000 |
| 35 | North Dakota | $66,340 | $52,000 | $84,000 |
| 36 | South Carolina | $65,675 | $51,000 | $83,000 |
| 37 | Missouri | $65,409 | $51,000 | $83,000 |
| 38 | Vermont | $65,405 | $49,000 | $85,000 |
| 39 | Ohio | $65,175 | $51,000 | $82,000 |
| 40 | Kentucky | $64,947 | $51,000 | $82,000 |
| 41 | Iowa | $64,555 | $50,000 | $81,000 |
| 42 | Minnesota | $64,223 | $50,000 | $81,000 |
| 43 | Kansas | $63,864 | $50,000 | $81,000 |
| 44 | Nebraska | $63,044 | $49,000 | $80,000 |
| 45 | Wisconsin | $62,077 | $48,000 | $78,000 |
| 46 | Mississippi | $61,561 | $47,000 | $79,000 |
| 47 | South Dakota | $60,737 | $47,000 | $77,000 |
| 48 | Montana | $59,754 | $45,000 | $79,000 |
| 49 | Arkansas | $57,588 | $45,000 | $73,000 |
| 50 | Hawaii | $55,097 | $44,000 | $68,000 |
Methodology: Design Engineer Salary By State
To better understand design engineer pay by state, Zippia has aggregated data across a multitude of channels including the BLS, FLC, and OPM. We then supplement that data with actual listed salaries from job posts. Finally, the data science team calculates a weighted average of these inputs to create an average pay for design engineers by state.
We took the average annual salary data for design engineers from these estimates and ranked every state on this criteria with the state with the highest salary ranking as highest average salary for design engineers.
Design Engineer Salary By State FAQs
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What is the highest-paid state for design engineers?
The highest-paid state for design engineers is California with an average salary of $100,682 per year.
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What city pays design engineers the most?
San Francisco, CA pays design engineers the most with an average salary of $107,737 per year.
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What is the worst state for design engineers?
The worst state for design engineers is Hawaii with an average salary of $55,097 per year.
Author
Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.
