Updated April 6, 2023

Design Engineer Salary Estimate

$77,134

$37.08 hourly

Entry level Salary
$57,000 yearly

How much does a Design Engineer make?

The average salary for a design engineer in the United States is $77,134. Design engineer salaries typically range between $57,000 and $102,000 a year. The average hourly rate for design engineers is $37.08 per hour.

Location, education, and experience impacts how much a design engineer can expect to make. Design engineers make the most in California, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Oregon, and New Hampshire.

Research Summary.
  • The average salary for a design engineer is $77,134 in the US.
  • The average design engineer salary ranges between $57,000 and $102,000 in the US.
  • Hourly rates for design engineers in the US typically range between $27 and $49 an hour.
  • The average design engineer salary is $100,682 in California, $86,990 in Massachusetts, and $85,362 in New Mexico. These are the three highest-paying states for design engineers in the US.
  • Meta has the highest average salary for design engineers.
  • Technology is the highest-paying industry for design engineers in the US.

Highest Paying States For Design Engineers

Throughout the U.S., the average salary for a design engineer is roughly $77,134 per year, which boils down to $37.08 per hour. Interestingly enough, design engineers have the highest salaries in San Francisco, CA at about $107,737 per year. For those who are just starting out, the average entry-level salary in San Francisco, CA is $78,000. Additionally, design engineers make more than the average salary in Plymouth, MA, Hillsboro, OR, Austin, TX, Peoria, AZ, and Seattle, WA. On a more broad level, design engineer salaries are highest in California, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Oregon, New Hampshire, Texas, and Arizona. On the contrary, Wisconsin, Mississippi, and South Dakota offer the lowest design engineer salaries.
  • State View
  • County View
Average Salary:

Design Engineer average salary by State

RankStateAvg. SalaryHourly RateJob Count
1California$100,682$48.407,817
2Oregon$85,262$40.99805
3Massachusetts$86,990$41.821,781
4Arizona$81,198$39.041,120
5Texas$81,288$39.082,653
6New Hampshire$81,810$39.33218
7New Mexico$85,362$41.04201
8Idaho$81,144$39.01200
9Washington$79,959$38.441,320
10Connecticut$77,858$37.43515
11District of Columbia$83,443$40.12295
12Virginia$77,691$37.351,447
13Alaska$78,713$37.8495
14Colorado$75,482$36.291,042
15Michigan$70,216$33.761,240
16Alabama$71,826$34.53601
17Delaware$73,406$35.29194
18Utah$70,582$33.93482
19Nevada$76,541$36.80176
20Louisiana$76,131$36.60173
21Rhode Island$72,530$34.87137
22Maryland$74,470$35.80886
23West Virginia$73,051$35.1292
24Illinois$71,786$34.511,423
25Wyoming$67,365$32.3977
26Maine$71,971$34.60115
27New York$73,123$35.161,569
28Indiana$66,630$32.03777
29Tennessee$70,090$33.70403
30New Jersey$74,743$35.93688
31North Carolina$67,358$32.381,108
32Pennsylvania$67,744$32.571,116
33Georgia$67,906$32.651,205
34North Dakota$66,340$31.8994
35Florida$68,732$33.041,774
36Ohio$65,175$31.331,028
37Vermont$65,405$31.44101
38Oklahoma$66,749$32.09199
39Iowa$64,555$31.04427
40Minnesota$64,223$30.88926
41South Carolina$65,675$31.57423
42Kansas$63,864$30.70341
43Kentucky$64,947$31.22288
44Missouri$65,409$31.45537
45Wisconsin$62,077$29.84680
46Nebraska$63,044$30.31213
47South Dakota$60,737$29.2076
48Montana$59,754$28.73112
49Mississippi$61,561$29.60130
50Hawaii$55,097$26.4984
51Arkansas$57,588$27.69221

Highest Paying Cities For Design Engineers

RankCityAvg. SalaryHourly RateJob Count
1San Francisco, CA$107,737$51.808
2Plymouth, MA$87,589$42.111
3Hillsboro, OR$84,893$40.819
4Austin, TX$82,565$39.69101
5Peoria, AZ$81,816$39.33
6Seattle, WA$80,393$38.6512
7East Hartford, CT$78,064$37.536
8Reston, VA$77,811$37.41
9Fort Collins, CO$75,225$36.173
10New York, NY$73,259$35.2217
11Chicago, IL$71,865$34.5520
12Warren, MI$70,265$33.782
13Orlando, FL$69,223$33.2810
14Atlanta, GA$68,030$32.7131
15Greensboro, NC$67,497$32.4511

Here Are The Five Most In Demand Cities Right Now:

  1. San Francisco, CA
  2. Plymouth, MA
  3. Hillsboro, OR
  4. Austin, TX
  5. Peoria, AZ

Design Engineer Salary by Years of Experience

The salary for a design engineer can vary depending on the years of experience that a person has, from entry level to senior level. An accountant with 0-2 years of experience earns an average salary of $59,321, a mid-career professional with 3-6 years of experience makes $77,134 a year on average, and a senior level accountant with 7-12 years of experience enjoys an average annual salary of $114,307. Data on how experience level affects total compensation is provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) as part of their National Compensation Survey, which is based on factors such as knowledge, complexity, contacts, and environment.

Design Engineers Salary Details

Average Design Engineer Salary Graph
Average Design Engineer Salary Graph, Trends, and Summary

What is a Design Engineer's Salary?

PercentileAnnual SalaryMonthly SalaryHourly Rate
90th Percentile$102,000$8,500$49
75th Percentile$89,000$7,417$43
Average$77,134$6,428$37
25th Percentile$66,000$5,500$32
10th Percentile$57,000$4,750$27

Highest Paying Types of Design Engineers

Job TitleAnnual SalaryMonthly SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
Research And Development Engineer$100,169$8,347$48.16187,910
Product Development Engineer$86,075$7,173$41.38202,155
Product Engineer$89,645$7,470$43.10157,888
Manufacturing Engineer$78,522$6,543$37.75115,384
Staff Engineer$107,530$8,961$51.70277,011
Tool Engineer$101,135$8,428$48.6298,936

Here are the five companies hiring the most now:

  1. Apple Jobs (351)
  2. Texas Instruments Jobs (218)
  3. Cirrus Logic Jobs (369)
  4. Micron Technology Jobs (360)
  5. Caterpillar Jobs (374)

Which Companies Pay Design Engineers The Most?

The highest paying companies for design engineers are Meta and Apple according to our most recent salary estimates. In addition, companies like Google and PayPal report highly competitive wages for design engineers.
RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1Meta$152,424$73.28495
2Apple$139,116$66.88578
3Google$136,285$65.5280
4PayPal$136,136$65.4519
5Fungible$135,130$64.97
6ByteDance$132,825$63.86
7Microsoft$131,936$63.4346
8Waymo$130,532$62.768
9eBay$125,198$60.1912
10Brocade Services Corporation$123,055$59.16
11Magnum Semiconductor$122,815$59.05
12NVIDIA$122,600$58.9495
13Bloomberg$118,530$56.9911
14Palo Alto Networks$117,463$56.4725
15Cornerstone Research$117,215$56.358
16Applied Materials$117,152$56.3251
17RealSelf$117,035$56.27
18Amazon$116,889$56.20105
19SiFive$115,514$55.54
20Cisco$114,419$55.0129

How Much Do Design Engineers Make In Different Industries?

Here are some examples of how much a design engineer salaries can based on different industries:

  1. The technology industry pays design engineers an average salary of $86,213

  2. The automotive industry pay $82,146

  3. The lowest paying industry for design engineers is the professional industry. Design engineers in this industry earn an average salary of $79,386

Highest Paying Industries For Design Engineers

RankIndustryAverage SalaryHourly Rate
1Technology$86,213$41.45
2Automotive$82,146$39.49
3Manufacturing$80,930$38.91
4Construction$80,191$38.55
5Professional$79,386$38.17

High Paying Design Engineer Jobs

Design Engineer Pay Trends

Average Design Engineer Salary Over Time

Compare salaries for individual cities or states with the national average.

    Design Engineer Salary By Year

    YearAvg. SalaryHourly Rate% Change
    2023$77,100$37.08+1.9%
    2022$75,700$36.37+1.2%
    2021$74,700$35.94+1.7%
    2020$73,500$35.32+2.0%
    2019$72,000$34.63+0.7%

    Recently Added Design Engineer Salaries

    CompanyJobLocationDate AddedSalary
    Advance EmploymentMold Design EngineerShelbyville, IN05/03/2023$65,000
    PG&E CorporationDesign EngineerOakland, CA05/03/2023$86,652
    Akraya Inc.Endpoint Design Engineer-IntuneDallas, TX05/02/2023$50,088
    Lamb Weston Holdings Inc.Engineer DesignerKennewick, WA05/01/2023$63,140
    Lattice Semiconductor CorporationDesign EngineerSan Jose, CA05/01/2023$76,435
    LeidosTransmission Design Engineer (Pls-Cadd)Tucson, AZ05/01/2023$66,300
    LeidosTransmission Design Engineer (Pls-Cadd)Irving, TX05/01/2023$66,300
    LeidosTransmission Design Engineer (Pls-Cadd)Albuquerque, NM05/01/2023$66,300
    Power IntegrationsIC Design EngineerSan Jose, CA05/01/2023$85,000
    ErgOn-Site Design EngineerIndian Head, MD05/01/2023$100,000

    Design Engineer Salaries FAQs

    What State Pays Design Engineers The Most?

    California pays Design Engineers the most in the United States, with an average salary of $100,682 per year, or $48.40 per hour.

    How Do I Know If I'm Being Paid Fairly As A Design Engineer?

    You know if you are being paid fairly as a Design Engineer if your pay is close to the average pay for the state you live in. For example, if you live in Massachusetts you should be paid close to $86,990 per year.

    What Is A Good Starting Salary For An Engineer?

    A good starting salary for an engineer is $58,000 or more. That's the average starting salary for entry-level positions. As most jobs go, location, industry, and experience affect pay.

    You may be paid more for an entry-level position in Fremont, California, where they are most in demand. You might be paid more in San Francisco, where quality engineers have the highest annual average wage in the United States. Technology is the highest paid, so entry-level positions for technological companies might be than those offered to other industries like automotive.

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