Engineering Technical Writer Salary

Q: How much does an Engineering Technical Writer make?

Engineering technical writers make $64,966 per year on average, or $31.23 per hour, in the United States. Engineering technical writers on the lower end of that spectrum, the bottom 10% to be exact, make roughly $47,000 a year, while the top 10% makes $89,000. Location impacts how much an engineering technical writer can expect to make. Engineering technical writers make the most in Virginia, Arizona, Massachusetts, California, and New Jersey.

Updated February 6, 2023

Average Engineering Technical Writer Salary

$64,966yearly

$31.23 hourly

Entry level Salary

$47,000 yearly

$47,00010%

$64,966Median

$89,00090%

How much does an Engineering Technical Writer make?

Engineering technical writers make $64,966 per year on average, or $31.23 per hour, in the United States. Engineering technical writers on the lower end of that spectrum, the bottom 10% to be exact, make roughly $47,000 a year, while the top 10% makes $89,000.

Location impacts how much an engineering technical writer can expect to make. Engineering technical writers make the most in Virginia, Arizona, Massachusetts, California, and New Jersey.

Highest Paying States For Engineering Technical Writers

If both location and money are important to you, then you might want to check out moving to Virginia, Arizona and Massachusetts, as these three states offer the highest salaries throughout the U.S. for engineering technical writers. Quite opposite of that list is the lowest paying states, which are South Dakota, West Virginia, and Iowa.

State View
County View

Average Salary:

Engineering Technical Writer average salary by State

Rank	State	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Count
1	District of Columbia	$89,384	$42.97	415
2	Michigan	$65,303	$31.40	1,613
3	North Dakota	$63,070	$30.32	240
4	Connecticut	$65,260	$31.38	828
5	Wyoming	$61,867	$29.74	195
6	Massachusetts	$72,572	$34.89	1,396
7	Virginia	$75,981	$36.53	1,370
8	Arizona	$74,169	$35.66	661
9	Minnesota	$62,393	$30.00	1,493
10	Washington	$65,663	$31.57	1,181
11	Nevada	$58,642	$28.19	449
12	Illinois	$60,329	$29.00	2,660
13	New Hampshire	$63,374	$30.47	215
14	Pennsylvania	$59,078	$28.40	1,982
15	California	$71,958	$34.60	1,274
16	Alaska	$59,004	$28.37	231
17	New Jersey	$66,149	$31.80	799
18	North Carolina	$62,182	$29.90	1,061
19	Maryland	$65,377	$31.43	964
20	New York	$60,143	$28.91	3,313
21	Vermont	$63,564	$30.56	28
22	Delaware	$57,545	$27.67	314
23	Colorado	$58,251	$28.01	1,562
24	Oregon	$63,742	$30.65	200
25	Wisconsin	$56,292	$27.06	1,102
26	Ohio	$57,425	$27.61	1,589
27	Texas	$55,215	$26.55	3,927
28	Missouri	$56,326	$27.08	1,071
29	Kansas	$53,939	$25.93	604
30	Georgia	$55,206	$26.54	1,965
31	Arkansas	$52,015	$25.01	535
32	Rhode Island	$57,681	$27.73	169
33	Tennessee	$54,188	$26.05	842
34	Florida	$55,134	$26.51	2,934
35	New Mexico	$52,308	$25.15	415
36	Montana	$55,929	$26.89	157
37	Louisiana	$54,243	$26.08	484
38	Nebraska	$50,867	$24.46	487
39	Alabama	$52,045	$25.02	709
40	Utah	$54,081	$26.00	481
41	West Virginia	$49,798	$23.94	273
42	South Dakota	$49,904	$23.99	198
43	Maine	$49,666	$23.88	276
44	Kentucky	$50,156	$24.11	604
45	Hawaii	$55,665	$26.76	120
46	Iowa	$49,712	$23.90	649
47	South Carolina	$51,056	$24.55	673
48	Mississippi	$48,710	$23.42	344
49	Indiana	$47,670	$22.92	1,247
50	Idaho	$49,923	$24.00	243
51	Oklahoma	$50,143	$24.11	403

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Highest Paying Cities For Engineering Technical Writers

Rank	City	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Count
1	San Francisco, CA	$77,746	$37.38
2	Arlington, VA	$76,857	$36.95
3	Natick, MA	$72,604	$34.91
4	Seattle, WA	$66,373	$31.91	1
5	Annapolis, MD	$65,389	$31.44
6	East Hartford, CT	$65,041	$31.27
7	Portland, OR	$63,517	$30.54
8	Concord, NH	$63,137	$30.35
9	Bismarck, ND	$62,872	$30.23
10	Minneapolis, MN	$62,445	$30.02
11	Carson City, NV	$62,035	$29.82
12	Cheyenne, WY	$61,696	$29.66
13	Chicago, IL	$60,484	$29.08
14	New York, NY	$60,168	$28.93
15	Lakewood, CO	$58,236	$28.00

Engineering Technical Writer Salary by Years of Experience

The salary for an engineering technical writer 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 $44,074, a mid-career professional with 3-6 years of experience makes $64,966 a year on average, and a senior level accountant with 7-12 years of experience enjoys an average annual salary of $96,423. 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.

Engineering Technical Writer Salary By Experience Level

Experience Level	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate
Entry Level	$44,100	$21.19
Mid Level	$70,200	$33.77
Senior Level	$96,400	$46.36

Engineering Technical Writers Salary Details

Average Engineering Technical Writer Salary Graph, Trends, and Summary

What is an Engineering Technical Writer's Salary?

Percentile	Annual Salary	Monthly Salary	Hourly Rate
90th Percentile	$89,000	$7,417	$43
75th Percentile	$76,000	$6,333	$37
Average	$64,966	$5,414	$31
25th Percentile	$54,000	$4,500	$26
10th Percentile	$47,000	$3,917	$23

Highest Paying Types of Engineering Technical Writers

Job Title	Annual Salary	Monthly Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Openings
Editor	$52,107	$4,342	$25.05	15,115
Writer	$66,143	$5,512	$31.80	13,931
Grant Writer	$52,719	$4,393	$25.35	16,708
Staff Writer	$44,844	$3,737	$21.56	80,547
Managing Editor	$89,060	$7,422	$42.82	16,781
Content Writer	$58,918	$4,910	$28.33	19,621

Here are the five companies hiring the most now:

Which Companies Pay Engineering Technical Writers The Most?

The highest paying companies for engineering technical writers are Meta and Amazon according to our most recent salary estimates. In addition, companies like Google and Intuitive Surgical report highly competitive wages for engineering technical writers.

Rank	Company	Average Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Openings
1	Meta	$119,607	$57.50	251
2	Amazon	$113,291	$54.47	101
3	Google	$107,357	$51.61	114
4	Intuitive Surgical	$104,100	$50.05	16
5	MathWorks	$93,031	$44.73	31
6	Carl Zeiss Meditec, Inc.	$86,063	$41.38	20
7	U.S. Bank	$67,405	$32.41	195
8	Lt Engineering	$66,211	$31.83	1
9	Polaris	$65,360	$31.42	5
10	Northrop Grumman	$65,270	$31.38	483
11	Eaton	$64,662	$31.09	191
12	Raytheon Technologies	$64,373	$30.95	263
13	Clario	$63,735	$30.64	2
14	General Dynamics	$63,007	$30.29	225
15	BAE Systems	$62,326	$29.96	153
16	Blue Origin	$62,303	$29.95	30
17	Volt Information Sciences	$60,918	$29.29
18	Kelly Services	$60,760	$29.21	59
19	Glidewell	$58,559	$28.15	10
20	Veolia Environmental Services North America	$58,487	$28.12	7

How Much Do Engineering Technical Writers Make In Different Industries?

Here are some examples of how much an engineering technical writer salaries can based on different industries:

The energy industry pays engineering technical writers an average salary of $62,656
The manufacturing industry pay $61,623
The lowest paying industry for engineering technical writers is the professional industry. Engineering technical writers in this industry earn an average salary of $56,934

Highest Paying Industries For Engineering Technical Writers

Rank	Industry	Average Salary	Hourly Rate
1	Energy	$62,656	$30.12
2	Manufacturing	$61,623	$29.63
3	Technology	$59,673	$28.69
4	Professional	$56,934	$27.37

High Paying Engineering Technical Writer Jobs

Engineering Technical Writer Pay Trends

Average Engineering Technical Writer Salary Over Time

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

Engineering Technical Writer Salary By Year

Year	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate	% Change
2023	$65,000	$31.23	+2.4%
2022	$63,400	$30.48	+1.4%
2021	$62,500	$30.06	+1.3%
2020	$61,700	$29.68	+1.5%
2019	$60,800	$29.23	-0.6%

Recently Added Engineering Technical Writer Salaries

Company	Job	Location	Date Added	Salary
Amazon.com, Inc.	Technical Writer, Data Center Engineering	Herndon, VA	09/05/2022	$83,300
Amazon Web Services	Technical Writer, Data Center Engineering	Denver, CO	08/23/2022	$86,300
Phantom Auto	Engineering Technical Writer (NW Denver or Remote U.S.)	Louisville, CO	05/27/2022	$80,000
Us Bank	Software Engineer-Technical Writer-Minneapolis, MN or Remote	Minneapolis, MN	05/22/2022	$95,540
Us Bank	Software Engineer-Technical Writer-Minneapolis, MN or Remote	Portland, OR	05/22/2022	$95,540
U.S. Bank	Software Engineer-Technical Writer-Minneapolis, MN or Remote	Portland, OR	04/21/2022	$95,540
U.S. Bank	Software Engineer-Technical Writer-Minneapolis, MN or Remote	Minneapolis, MN	04/21/2022	$95,540
First Page Sage, LLC	Industrial Technology Writer \| SEO Marketing-Remote	Berkeley, CA	04/20/2022	$65,000
First Page Sage, LLC	Technology Writer \| SEO Marketing-Remote	Berkeley, CA	04/13/2022	$50,000
Appleone Technical Staffing	Technical Writer Engineer)	Noma, FL	04/10/2022	$70,000

Engineering Technical Writer Salaries FAQs

What State Pays Engineering Technical Writers The Most?

Virginia pays Engineering Technical Writers the most in the United States, with an average salary of $89,384 per year, or $42.97 per hour.

How Do I Know If I'm Being Paid Fairly As An Engineering Technical Writer?

You know if you are being paid fairly as an Engineering Technical Writer if your pay is close to the average pay for the state you live in. For example, if you live in Virginia you should be paid close to $75,981 per year.

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Updated February 6, 2023