Research Summary. After extensive research by the Zippia data science team, we identified these details of engineering internship salary by state for the United States:
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California has the highest engineering internship salary of $57,753
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Montana has the lowest engineering internship salary of $32,636
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The national average salary for engineering interns is $41,918
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The national hourly pay for engineering interns is $20.15
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 engineering interns 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 engineering internship 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 engineering interns after this adjustment? That would be California.
Here’s a quick snapshot of the top ten states for engineering internship salaries:
Let’s take a look at how we got here and a full ranking of all the states.
Highest-Paid Engineering Interns By State
| Rank | State | Average Engineering Internship Salary | 10th Percentile | 90th Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | $57,753 | $35,000 | $94,000 |
| 2 | Oklahoma | $51,985 | $31,000 | $84,000 |
| 3 | Alaska | $51,509 | $29,000 | $90,000 |
| 4 | Arizona | $50,102 | $31,000 | $80,000 |
| 5 | Hawaii | $49,735 | $40,000 | $61,000 |
| 6 | Idaho | $49,654 | $28,000 | $87,000 |
| 7 | Louisiana | $48,939 | $29,000 | $80,000 |
| 8 | Mississippi | $48,603 | $29,000 | $80,000 |
| 9 | New Jersey | $48,168 | $28,000 | $82,000 |
| 10 | Oregon | $47,392 | $26,000 | $84,000 |
| 11 | Washington | $46,925 | $25,000 | $85,000 |
| 12 | Alabama | $46,728 | $28,000 | $77,000 |
| 13 | Ohio | $45,643 | $26,000 | $78,000 |
| 14 | North Carolina | $45,585 | $27,000 | $76,000 |
| 15 | New Mexico | $45,044 | $27,000 | $72,000 |
| 16 | Nevada | $44,609 | $26,000 | $74,000 |
| 17 | Florida | $44,591 | $27,000 | $71,000 |
| 18 | Illinois | $44,532 | $25,000 | $76,000 |
| 19 | Connecticut | $44,369 | $26,000 | $74,000 |
| 20 | West Virginia | $44,053 | $25,000 | $75,000 |
| 21 | Maryland | $43,481 | $25,000 | $74,000 |
| 22 | Pennsylvania | $43,401 | $25,000 | $74,000 |
| 23 | Vermont | $42,938 | $26,000 | $70,000 |
| 24 | New York | $42,592 | $24,000 | $72,000 |
| 25 | Arkansas | $42,257 | $25,000 | $69,000 |
| 26 | Colorado | $42,132 | $25,000 | $68,000 |
| 27 | Missouri | $41,609 | $24,000 | $69,000 |
| 28 | Iowa | $41,556 | $24,000 | $70,000 |
| 29 | Virginia | $41,478 | $24,000 | $70,000 |
| 30 | New Hampshire | $40,995 | $24,000 | $67,000 |
| 31 | Kansas | $40,108 | $24,000 | $66,000 |
| 32 | North Dakota | $39,094 | $22,000 | $68,000 |
| 33 | Texas | $38,917 | $23,000 | $63,000 |
| 34 | Georgia | $38,796 | $23,000 | $64,000 |
| 35 | Massachusetts | $38,469 | $23,000 | $63,000 |
| 36 | Utah | $38,084 | $22,000 | $64,000 |
| 37 | Delaware | $37,671 | $21,000 | $64,000 |
| 38 | Kentucky | $37,077 | $21,000 | $63,000 |
| 39 | Wyoming | $36,964 | $21,000 | $62,000 |
| 40 | South Carolina | $36,736 | $22,000 | $61,000 |
| 41 | Nebraska | $36,444 | $21,000 | $61,000 |
| 42 | Michigan | $36,316 | $20,000 | $62,000 |
| 43 | South Dakota | $36,197 | $21,000 | $61,000 |
| 44 | Minnesota | $35,827 | $20,000 | $62,000 |
| 45 | Wisconsin | $35,789 | $20,000 | $61,000 |
| 46 | Maine | $35,484 | $22,000 | $57,000 |
| 47 | Indiana | $34,749 | $20,000 | $59,000 |
| 48 | Rhode Island | $34,697 | $20,000 | $57,000 |
| 49 | Tennessee | $33,420 | $19,000 | $55,000 |
| 50 | Montana | $32,636 | $18,000 | $57,000 |
Methodology: Engineering Internship Salary By State
To better understand engineering internship 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 engineering interns by state.
We took the average annual salary data for engineering interns from these estimates and ranked every state on this criteria with the state with the highest salary ranking as highest average salary for engineering interns.
Engineering Internship Salary By State FAQs
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What is the highest-paid state for engineering interns?
The highest-paid state for engineering interns is California with an average salary of $57,753 per year.
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What city pays engineering interns the most?
Washington, DC pays engineering interns the most with an average salary of $60,496 per year.
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What is the worst state for engineering interns?
The worst state for engineering interns is Montana with an average salary of $32,636 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.
