Research Summary. After extensive research by the Zippia data science team, we identified these details of engineer salary by state for the United States:
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New Hampshire has the highest engineer salary of $97,046
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Michigan has the lowest engineer salary of $61,400
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The national average salary for engineers is $92,077
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The national hourly pay for engineers is $44.27
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 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 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 engineers after this adjustment? That would be New Hampshire.
Here’s a quick snapshot of the top ten states for engineer salaries:
Let’s take a look at how we got here and a full ranking of all the states.
Highest-Paid Engineers By State
| Rank | State | Average Engineer Salary | 10th Percentile | 90th Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Hampshire | $97,046 | $69,000 | $134,000 |
| 2 | Massachusetts | $94,651 | $68,000 | $131,000 |
| 3 | Oregon | $94,286 | $66,000 | $133,000 |
| 4 | Pennsylvania | $93,864 | $67,000 | $130,000 |
| 5 | New York | $93,391 | $67,000 | $129,000 |
| 6 | Maryland | $92,244 | $66,000 | $127,000 |
| 7 | West Virginia | $90,701 | $66,000 | $124,000 |
| 8 | Texas | $89,407 | $63,000 | $125,000 |
| 9 | Vermont | $89,074 | $64,000 | $123,000 |
| 10 | Nevada | $88,635 | $61,000 | $126,000 |
| 11 | California | $87,957 | $61,000 | $126,000 |
| 12 | North Dakota | $87,795 | $65,000 | $118,000 |
| 13 | Virginia | $86,648 | $62,000 | $119,000 |
| 14 | Maine | $86,128 | $62,000 | $118,000 |
| 15 | Wisconsin | $85,718 | $62,000 | $116,000 |
| 16 | Delaware | $85,112 | $61,000 | $117,000 |
| 17 | New Mexico | $84,814 | $60,000 | $118,000 |
| 18 | Kansas | $84,508 | $61,000 | $115,000 |
| 19 | Oklahoma | $84,153 | $61,000 | $115,000 |
| 20 | Washington | $83,605 | $59,000 | $118,000 |
| 21 | Arizona | $83,199 | $59,000 | $116,000 |
| 22 | Tennessee | $82,354 | $60,000 | $112,000 |
| 23 | Idaho | $82,316 | $58,000 | $116,000 |
| 24 | Mississippi | $80,873 | $58,000 | $111,000 |
| 25 | Arkansas | $79,907 | $58,000 | $109,000 |
| 26 | Kentucky | $78,545 | $57,000 | $107,000 |
| 27 | South Carolina | $78,256 | $56,000 | $107,000 |
| 28 | Wyoming | $77,540 | $55,000 | $107,000 |
| 29 | Utah | $77,455 | $54,000 | $109,000 |
| 30 | Alabama | $76,867 | $55,000 | $105,000 |
| 31 | Rhode Island | $76,628 | $54,000 | $106,000 |
| 32 | Georgia | $76,574 | $55,000 | $105,000 |
| 33 | Illinois | $76,205 | $55,000 | $103,000 |
| 34 | Minnesota | $75,504 | $55,000 | $102,000 |
| 35 | Montana | $75,309 | $53,000 | $105,000 |
| 36 | New Jersey | $74,480 | $53,000 | $103,000 |
| 37 | Indiana | $73,188 | $53,000 | $100,000 |
| 38 | Iowa | $72,526 | $53,000 | $98,000 |
| 39 | Connecticut | $72,447 | $52,000 | $100,000 |
| 40 | North Carolina | $71,590 | $52,000 | $98,000 |
| 41 | Colorado | $71,342 | $51,000 | $98,000 |
| 42 | Missouri | $70,645 | $51,000 | $96,000 |
| 43 | Florida | $70,393 | $48,000 | $101,000 |
| 44 | Ohio | $68,590 | $50,000 | $93,000 |
| 45 | Hawaii | $67,412 | $54,000 | $83,000 |
| 46 | Louisiana | $67,027 | $47,000 | $94,000 |
| 47 | Alaska | $65,498 | $52,000 | $81,000 |
| 48 | Nebraska | $65,123 | $47,000 | $89,000 |
| 49 | South Dakota | $62,823 | $46,000 | $85,000 |
| 50 | Michigan | $61,400 | $44,000 | $84,000 |
Methodology: Engineer Salary By State
To better understand 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 engineers by state.
We took the average annual salary data for engineers from these estimates and ranked every state on this criteria with the state with the highest salary ranking as highest average salary for engineers.
Engineer Salary By State FAQs
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What is the highest-paid state for engineers?
The highest-paid state for engineers is New Hampshire with an average salary of $97,046 per year.
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What city pays engineers the most?
Huntsville, AL pays engineers the most with an average salary of $77,034 per year.
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What is the worst state for engineers?
The worst state for engineers is Michigan with an average salary of $61,400 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.
