Mechanical Design Engineer Salary

Q: How much does a Mechanical Design Engineer make?

Mechanical design engineers make $77,566 per year on average, or $37.29 per hour, in the United States. Mechanical design engineers on the lower end of that spectrum, the bottom 10% to be exact, make roughly $61,000 a year, while the top 10% makes $97,000. Location impacts how much a mechanical design engineer can expect to make. Mechanical design engineers make the most in California, Arizona, Washington, Nevada, and New Mexico.

Q: How much do mechanical designers make?

Mechanical designers make $64,000 a year, on average. The range, however, can start as low as $51,000 to as high as $125,000 a year. Factors such as experience, company type, and location impact how much a mechanical designer can earn.

Updated July 11, 2022

Average Mechanical Design Engineer Salary

$77,566 yearly
To create our salary estimates, Zippia starts with data published in publicly available sources such as the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Foreign Labor Certification Data Center (FLC) Show More

$37.29 hourly

Entry level Salary

$61,000 yearly

$61,000

10 %

$77,566

Median

$97,000

90 %

How much does a Mechanical Design Engineer make?

Mechanical design engineers make $77,566 per year on average, or $37.29 per hour, in the United States. Mechanical design engineers on the lower end of that spectrum, the bottom 10% to be exact, make roughly $61,000 a year, while the top 10% makes $97,000.

Location impacts how much a mechanical design engineer can expect to make. Mechanical design engineers make the most in California, Arizona, Washington, Nevada, and New Mexico.

Highest Paying States For Mechanical Design Engineers

The darker areas on the map show where mechanical design engineers earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

State View
County View

Average Salary:

Mechanical Design Engineer average salary by State

Rank	State	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Count
1	California	$102,529	$49.29	9,915
2	Arizona	$89,670	$43.11	1,300
3	Washington	$88,829	$42.71	1,789
4	Colorado	$84,562	$40.65	1,316
5	Massachusetts	$83,400	$40.10	1,745
6	New Mexico	$84,945	$40.84	246
7	Texas	$79,944	$38.43	3,161
8	District of Columbia	$87,690	$42.16	405
9	Oregon	$80,703	$38.80	999
10	Nevada	$85,765	$41.23	242
11	Utah	$76,916	$36.98	586
12	Delaware	$78,651	$37.81	232
13	Connecticut	$78,589	$37.78	599
14	Alaska	$80,149	$38.53	109
15	Maryland	$81,397	$39.13	978
16	Georgia	$76,736	$36.89	1,463
17	Rhode Island	$76,558	$36.81	159
18	West Virginia	$78,192	$37.59	121
19	Tennessee	$78,535	$37.76	475
20	Alabama	$73,344	$35.26	679
21	Louisiana	$79,372	$38.16	222
22	Illinois	$78,124	$37.56	1,526
23	Michigan	$72,333	$34.78	1,249
24	Florida	$75,046	$36.08	2,079
25	Idaho	$74,811	$35.97	223
26	New Hampshire	$73,319	$35.25	302
27	Virginia	$75,687	$36.39	1,737
28	New York	$75,712	$36.40	1,960
29	Oklahoma	$74,448	$35.79	234
30	Hawaii	$79,536	$38.24	101
31	Indiana	$70,944	$34.11	769
32	Minnesota	$70,504	$33.90	1,073
33	Ohio	$70,602	$33.94	1,178
34	Nebraska	$70,651	$33.97	270
35	South Carolina	$72,143	$34.68	492
36	Wyoming	$68,500	$32.93	103
37	New Jersey	$74,892	$36.01	855
38	Pennsylvania	$68,943	$33.15	1,412
39	Maine	$71,396	$34.33	138
40	Iowa	$68,461	$32.91	446
41	North Carolina	$67,537	$32.47	1,269
42	Wisconsin	$66,223	$31.84	855
43	Missouri	$70,552	$33.92	582
44	Kentucky	$68,605	$32.98	295
45	Montana	$68,462	$32.91	143
46	Kansas	$68,010	$32.70	328
47	Vermont	$63,883	$30.71	128
48	North Dakota	$63,013	$30.29	116
49	Mississippi	$65,812	$31.64	140
50	Arkansas	$63,550	$30.55	256
51	South Dakota	$60,322	$29.00	89

Top Mechanical Design Engineer Jobs Near You

Highest Paying Cities For Mechanical Design Engineers

Rank	City	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate
1	San Francisco, CA	$105,869	$50.90
2	Phoenix, AZ	$89,871	$43.21
3	Seattle, WA	$88,804	$42.69
4	Washington, DC	$87,722	$42.17
5	Attleboro, MA	$84,225	$40.49
6	Austin, TX	$80,396	$38.65
7	Chicago, IL	$78,088	$37.54
8	Savannah, GA	$77,027	$37.03
9	New York, NY	$76,085	$36.58
10	Miami, FL	$74,115	$35.63
11	Farmington Hills, MI	$72,489	$34.85
12	Greenville, SC	$71,861	$34.55
13	Columbus, IN	$71,168	$34.22
14	Columbus, OH	$70,808	$34.04
15	Plymouth, MN	$70,557	$33.92

Mechanical Design Engineer Salary Details

What is a Mechanical Design Engineer's Salary?

Percentile	Annual Salary	Monthly Salary	Hourly Rate
90th Percentile	$97,000	$8,083	$47
75th Percentile	$87,000	$7,250	$42
Average	$77,566	$6,464	$37
25th Percentile	$68,000	$5,667	$33
10th Percentile	$61,000	$5,083	$29

Average Salary By Related Titles

Job Title	Annual Salary	Monthly Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Openings
Engineer	$86,463	$7,205	$41.57	618,207
Product Engineer	$87,371	$7,281	$42.01	157,888
Staff Engineer	$113,160	$9,430	$54.40	277,011
Equipment Engineer	$102,787	$8,566	$49.42	108,449
Tool Engineer	$100,572	$8,381	$48.35	98,936
Development Engineer	$96,498	$8,041	$46.39	224,881

Here are the five companies hiring the most now:

Which Companies Pay Mechanical Design Engineers The Most?

According to our most recent salary estimates, Meta and KLA are the highest paying companies for mechanical design engineers.

Rank	Company	Average Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Openings
1	Meta	$123,905	$59.57	858
2	KLA	$103,675	$49.84	143
3	Juniper Networks	$103,648	$49.83	19
4	Lam Research	$100,405	$48.27	76
5	Keysight Technologies	$100,368	$48.25	48
6	Sandia National Labs	$98,706	$47.45	139
7	Oak Ridge National Laboratory	$98,479	$47.35
8	HP	$98,114	$47.17	49
9	Zoox	$97,996	$47.11	34
10	Apple	$97,460	$46.86	1443
11	Finisar	$96,733	$46.51
12	Western Digital	$96,150	$46.23	70
13	Intuitive Surgical	$93,526	$44.96	85
14	Coherent	$92,147	$44.30	17
15	Brookhaven National Laboratory	$91,745	$44.11	29
16	NCR	$91,368	$43.93	8
17	A123 Systems	$91,290	$43.89	5
18	Autodesk	$91,024	$43.76	29
19	Genentech	$90,966	$43.73	12
20	Berry Global	$90,536	$43.53	15

How Much Do Mechanical Design Engineers Make In Different Industries?

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

The automotive industry pays mechanical design engineers an average salary of $83,798
The transportation industry pay $82,856
The lowest paying industry for mechanical design engineers is the technology industry. Mechanical design engineers in this industry earn an average salary of $79,684

Highest Paying Industries For Mechanical Design Engineers

Rank	Industry	Average Salary	Hourly Rate
1	Automotive	$83,798	$40.29
2	Transportation	$82,856	$39.83
3	Retail	$82,370	$39.60
4	Professional	$82,324	$39.58
5	Manufacturing	$82,028	$39.44
6	Energy	$82,005	$39.43
7	Technology	$79,684	$38.31

High Paying Mechanical Design Engineer Jobs

Mechanical Design Engineer Salary Trends

The salary for a mechanical design engineer can vary depending on the years of experience that a person has, from entry level to senior level. 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.

Mechanical Design Engineer Salary By Experience Level

Experience Level	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate
Entry Level	$61,500	$29.57
Mid Level	$75,100	$36.10
Senior Level	$120,000	$57.61

Average Mechanical Design Engineer Salary Over Time

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

Mechanical Design Engineer Salary By Year

Year	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate	% Change
2022	$77,600	$37.29	+1.9%
2021	$76,100	$36.58	+1.2%
2020	$75,200	$36.14	+1.7%
2019	$73,900	$35.52	+2.0%
2018	$72,400	$34.82	+0.7%

Recently Added Mechanical Design Engineer Salaries

Company	Job	Location	Date Added	Salary
Craft Recruiting	Mechanical Design Engineer	Austin, TX	06/01/2022	$90,000
Launch Technical Workforce Solutions	Engineer-Mechanical Design	Springdale, AR	05/31/2022	$107,501
General Electric	Mechanical Design Engineer, Outage Engineering	Wilmington, NC	05/29/2022	$80,000
Sierra Nevada Corporation	Mechanical Engineer II-Payload Design	Englewood, CO	05/26/2022	$76,956
Merrick	Mechanical Engineer-Equipment Design	Greenwood Village, CO	05/24/2022	$95,000
Konik	Mechanical Design Engineer	Minneapolis, MN	05/24/2022	$105,000
Performance Services	Mechanical Design Engineer	Lombard, IL	05/23/2022	$105,000
Erie Industrial Equipment	Mechanical Design Engineer	Lakewood, OH	05/23/2022	$60,000
Performance Services	Mechanical Design Engineer	Indianapolis, IN	05/18/2022	$85,000
Selectek, Inc.	Mechanical Design Engineer	Cartersville, GA	05/18/2022	$79,306

Mechanical Design Engineer Salaries FAQs

What state pays Mechanical Design Engineers the most?

California pays Mechanical Design Engineers the most in the United States, with an average salary of $102,529 per year, or $49.29 per hour.

How do I know if I'm being paid fairly as a Mechanical Design Engineer?

You know if you are being paid fairly as a Mechanical Design Engineer if your pay is close to the average pay for the state you live in. For example, if you live in Arizona you should be paid close to $89,670 per year.

What type of Mechanical Design Engineer gets paid the most?

Staff Engineer gets paid the most. Staff Engineer made a median salary of $113,160. The best-paid 10 percent make $139,000, while the lowest-paid 10 percent make $91,000.

How much do mechanical designers make?

Mechanical designers make $64,000 a year, on average. The range, however, can start as low as $51,000 to as high as $125,000 a year. Factors such as experience, company type, and location impact how much a mechanical designer can earn.

How much do mechanical engineers start off making?

Mechanical engineers start off making $64,501 a year, on average. The range and what a mechanical engineer can make just starting out begins from as little as $48,000 a year to as much as $70,000 a year. Factors such as location and company type impact where on the pay scale a mechanical engineer will land.

Have more questions? See all answers to common architecture and engineering questions.

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