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Lead engineer salary
Average lead engineer salary
$84,927
Understanding Lead Engineer Salaries
The Lead Engineer position commands a competitive salary averaging $84,927 annually, with rates varying significantly across different states and industries. For example, Lead Engineers in California and New York often see higher salaries, exceeding $100,000, due to the cost of living and demand for tech talent.
Experience levels also influence earnings. Entry-level Lead Engineers may start around $70,000, while those with over a decade of experience can earn well into six figures.
To further explore salary variations, consider factors such as industry, location, and company size. Positions in software development or engineering management typically offer higher compensation. Additionally, Lead Engineers who specialize in fields such as cloud computing or artificial intelligence may find even greater opportunities.
For a comprehensive view of salary data, Zippia provides detailed insights into state-by-state averages and industry-specific ranges, aiding job seekers in making informed decisions regarding their career paths.
Let Zippia find your next lead engineer job
Let Zippia find your next lead engineer job
Where can a Lead Engineer earn more?
Lead engineer salaries by experience level
Lead engineer salary estimates from across the web
Average lead engineer salary by state
The highest-paying states for lead engineers are Hawaii, California, and Maryland. The lowest average lead engineer salary states are Minnesota, Nebraska, and South Dakota.
- State view
- County view
Highest paying states for lead engineers
| Rank | State | Avg. salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hawaii | $120,725 | $58.04 |
| 2 | Utah | $89,046 | $42.81 |
| 3 | California | $102,811 | $49.43 |
| 4 | Alaska | $95,983 | $46.15 |
| 5 | District of Columbia | $103,040 | $49.54 |
| 6 | Maryland | $100,145 | $48.15 |
| 7 | New Hampshire | $86,487 | $41.58 |
| 8 | New Mexico | $88,195 | $42.40 |
| 9 | Massachusetts | $91,238 | $43.86 |
| 10 | Wyoming | $82,364 | $39.60 |
| 11 | West Virginia | $91,347 | $43.92 |
| 12 | Idaho | $84,879 | $40.81 |
| 13 | Washington | $88,233 | $42.42 |
| 14 | Virginia | $87,073 | $41.86 |
| 15 | Rhode Island | $82,117 | $39.48 |
| 16 | Texas | $84,096 | $40.43 |
| 17 | Colorado | $85,458 | $41.09 |
| 18 | Maine | $86,731 | $41.70 |
| 19 | Connecticut | $89,304 | $42.93 |
| 20 | Oregon | $86,236 | $41.46 |
| 21 | Tennessee | $80,809 | $38.85 |
| 22 | Alabama | $81,152 | $39.02 |
| 23 | Arizona | $81,469 | $39.17 |
| 24 | Michigan | $80,368 | $38.64 |
| 25 | North Dakota | $81,658 | $39.26 |
| 26 | Vermont | $81,431 | $39.15 |
| 27 | Louisiana | $83,997 | $40.38 |
| 28 | Georgia | $83,706 | $40.24 |
| 29 | Indiana | $81,214 | $39.05 |
| 30 | Nevada | $78,927 | $37.95 |
| 31 | Illinois | $81,669 | $39.26 |
| 32 | New York | $81,536 | $39.20 |
| 33 | Delaware | $80,202 | $38.56 |
| 34 | Iowa | $80,568 | $38.73 |
| 35 | Pennsylvania | $79,705 | $38.32 |
| 36 | Montana | $76,701 | $36.88 |
| 37 | Mississippi | $79,374 | $38.16 |
| 38 | New Jersey | $80,919 | $38.90 |
| 39 | North Carolina | $77,445 | $37.23 |
| 40 | Ohio | $76,894 | $36.97 |
| 41 | Missouri | $76,453 | $36.76 |
| 42 | Oklahoma | $76,300 | $36.68 |
| 43 | Kansas | $74,740 | $35.93 |
| 44 | South Dakota | $72,990 | $35.09 |
| 45 | Nebraska | $73,621 | $35.39 |
| 46 | Minnesota | $74,400 | $35.77 |
| 47 | South Carolina | $74,710 | $35.92 |
| 48 | Kentucky | $70,529 | $33.91 |
| 49 | Arkansas | $65,689 | $31.58 |
| 50 | Florida | $74,428 | $35.78 |
| 51 | Wisconsin | $71,310 | $34.28 |
Highest paying cities for lead engineers
The highest-paying cities for lead engineers are San Francisco, CA, Quincy, MA, and Bellevue, WA.
| Rank | City | Avg. salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Francisco, CA | $110,162 | $52.96 |
| 2 | Quincy, MA | $91,308 | $43.90 |
| 3 | Bellevue, WA | $88,778 | $42.68 |
| 4 | Richmond, VA | $86,884 | $41.77 |
| 5 | Hillsboro, OR | $86,337 | $41.51 |
| 6 | Englewood, CO | $85,517 | $41.11 |
| 7 | Austin, TX | $84,769 | $40.75 |
| 8 | Atlanta, GA | $83,745 | $40.26 |
| 9 | Chicago, IL | $81,718 | $39.29 |
| 10 | New York, NY | $81,640 | $39.25 |
| 11 | Richmond, IN | $81,499 | $39.18 |
| 12 | Phoenix, AZ | $81,462 | $39.16 |
| 13 | Jersey City, NJ | $80,981 | $38.93 |
| 14 | Franklin, TN | $80,829 | $38.86 |
| 15 | Warren, MI | $80,525 | $38.71 |
| 16 | Wilmington, DE | $80,287 | $38.60 |
| 17 | Philadelphia, PA | $80,153 | $38.54 |
| 18 | Wilmington, NC | $77,556 | $37.29 |
| 19 | Columbus, OH | $76,893 | $36.97 |
| 20 | OFallon, MO | $76,604 | $36.83 |
Lead Engineers are the most in-demand in these five cities:
Lead engineer salary details
A lead engineer's salary ranges from $60,000 a year at the 10th percentile to $120,000 at the 90th percentile.
What is a lead engineer's salary?
| Percentile | Annual salary | Monthly salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 90th Percentile | $120,000 | $10,000 | $58 |
| 75th Percentile | $101,000 | $8,417 | $49 |
| Average | $84,927 | $7,077 | $41 |
| 25th Percentile | $70,000 | $5,833 | $34 |
| 10th Percentile | $60,000 | $5,000 | $29 |
Highest paying lead engineer jobs
The highest paying types of lead engineers are senior staff engineer, principal software engineer, and senior principal engineer.
| Job title | Annual salary | Monthly salary | Hourly rate | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Engineer Lead Quality Assurance Lead | $110,007 | $9,167 | $52.89 | 278,178 |
| Principal Software Engineer | $134,230 | $11,186 | $64.53 | 345,893 |
| Software Engineer Lead | $125,565 | $10,464 | $60.37 | 342,462 |
| Principal Engineer | $130,213 | $10,851 | $62.60 | 312,683 |
| Staff Engineer | $107,530 | $8,961 | $51.70 | 277,011 |
| Engineer | $92,076 | $7,673 | $44.27 | 618,207 |
How would you rate the starting salaries for lead engineers, as well as the prospects for salary advancement?
Michael Rudisill
Department Head and Professor of Engineering Technology, Northern Michigan University
Top companies hiring lead engineers now:
Which companies pay lead engineers the most?
Lead engineer salaries at Meta and eBay are the highest-paying according to our most recent salary estimates. In addition, the average lead engineer salary at companies like Google and Levi Strauss & Co. are highly competitive.
| Rank | Company | Average salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Meta | $184,681 | $88.79 |
| 2 | eBay | $171,347 | $82.38 |
| 3 | $169,696 | $81.58 | |
| 4 | Levi Strauss & Co. | $166,291 | $79.95 |
| 5 | Netflix | $165,704 | $79.67 |
| 6 | PayPal | $164,986 | $79.32 |
| 7 | Canva | $164,760 | $79.21 |
| 8 | Match Group | $164,255 | $78.97 |
| 9 | The Knot | $163,189 | $78.46 |
| 10 | Stitch Fix | $162,337 | $78.05 |
| 11 | Snowflake Computing | $157,384 | $75.67 |
| 12 | Microsoft | $157,357 | $75.65 |
| 13 | Apple | $156,165 | $75.08 |
| 14 | Move | $155,710 | $74.86 |
| 15 | Hotel Tonight, Inc. | $154,990 | $74.51 |
| 16 | $154,684 | $74.37 | |
| 17 | MongoDB | $153,256 | $73.68 |
| 18 | First Republic Bank | $152,007 | $73.08 |
| 19 | DocuSign | $151,052 | $72.62 |
| 20 | Palo Alto Networks | $150,819 | $72.51 |
Wage gap by gender, race and education
Lead Engineer salary by industry
The average lead engineer salary varies across industries:
- The average lead engineer salary in the automotive industry is $110,872, the highest of any industry.
- The average lead engineer salary in the finance industry is $106,022.
- Lead engineers in the finance industry earn an average salary of $73,716, the lowest of any industry.
Highest paying industries for lead engineers
| Rank | Industry | Average salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Automotive | $110,872 | $53.30 |
| 2 | Manufacturing | $106,022 | $50.97 |
| 3 | Technology | $101,911 | $49.00 |
| 4 | Finance | $73,716 | $35.44 |
High paying lead engineer jobs
Lead engineer salary trends
The average lead engineer salary has risen by $10,296 over the last ten years. In 2014, the average lead engineer earned $74,631 annually, but today, they earn $84,927 a year. That works out to a 7% change in pay for lead engineers over the last decade.
Compare lead engineer salaries for cities or states with the national average over time.
Average lead engineer salary over time
Compare lead engineer salaries for individual cities or states with the national average.
Lead engineer salary by year
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | $84,900 | $40.83 | +1.9% |
| 2025 | $83,300 | $40.05 | +1.2% |
| 2024 | $82,300 | $39.57 | +1.7% |
| 2023 | $80,900 | $38.89 | +2.0% |
| 2022 | $79,300 | $38.13 | +0.7% |
Recently added lead engineer salaries
| Company | Job | Location | Date added | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capital One | Lead AI Engineer | Day, NY | 06/30/2025 | $211,000 |
| American Family Insurance | Lead Engineer | Madison, WI | 06/30/2025 | $128,000 |
| Delve | Underground Structural Lead Engineer | Los Angeles, CA | 06/30/2025 | $143,049 |
| Marsh McLennan Agency-Michigan | Re/Insurance Data Engineering and Reporting Lead | New York, NY | 06/30/2025 | $136,200 |
| Ntrs | Lead Engineer Wealth Mgmt Client 360 | Chicago, IL | 06/30/2025 | $114,500 |
| Perficient | Lead AWS Devsecops Engineer-Hybrid | Columbia, MD | 06/29/2025 | $73,008 |
| Relativity | Lead, Manufacturing Engineering | Long Beach, CA | 06/29/2025 | $138,000 |
| Milestone | Lead Engineer | Portland, OR | 06/29/2025 | $157,709 |
| Subaru | Lead Prompt Engineer | Camden, NJ | 06/29/2025 | $102,700 |
| Perspecta | Lcrd Ground Sustainment Lead Engineer | Greenbelt, MD | 06/29/2025 | $104,000 |
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