How much does a mechanical engineer make?

The average mechanical engineer salary in the United States is $75,352. Mechanical engineer salaries typically range between $58,000 and $97,000 yearly. The average hourly rate for mechanical engineers is $36.23 per hour. Mechanical engineer salary is impacted by location, education, and experience. Mechanical engineers earn the highest average salary in Washington.

Mechanical engineer salary

Q: What state pays Mechanical Engineers the most?

Washington pays Mechanical Engineers the most in the United States, with an average salary of $90,626 per year, or $43.57 per hour.

Q: How do I know if I'm being paid fairly as a mechanical engineer?

You know if you are being paid fairly as a mechanical engineer if your pay is close to the average pay for the state you live in. For example, if you live in Idaho you should be paid close to $89,318 per year.

Q: What is a good starting salary for a Mechanical Engineer?

A good starting salary for a mechanical engineer is $61,000 in the United States. That puts you in the 10th percentile of annual income for a mechanical engineer in the U.S., which is about what you would expect if you were new to the field. The average salary for mechanical engineers is $79,047, but that normally requires some level of experience to achieve. Furthermore, a good starting salary for a mechanical engineer can vary by state.

Q: What is a good starting salary for a mechanical engineer?

A good starting salary for a mechanical engineer is between $65,000 to $70,000. The starting salary in mechanical engineering may be lower than expected because mechanical engineers gain experience through practical knowledge gained in the workplace.

Q: What is the highest-paid mechanical engineer?

The highest-paid mechanical engineer is a principal mechanical engineer. These individuals are at the top of their field and have extensive experience and expertise in leading engineering projects. In light of this, principal mechanical engineers average around $122,000 to $151,000 a year compared to mechanical engineers who average around $70,000 to $90,000 a year.

Q: What is the typical salary for a mechanical engineer?

The typical salary for mechanical engineers is between $65,000-$70,000. Top earners can make $110,000. The median salary is $88,400. The field of work and region mechanical engineers are working also affect salary. California and New Mexico currently show the highest average salaries.

Quoted expert

Michael Rudisill

Average mechanical engineer salary

$75,352

$36.23 hourly rate

Entry-level mechanical engineer salary

$58,000 yearly salary

Updated January 8, 2025

Understanding Mechanical Engineer Salaries

The average salary for mechanical engineers is approximately $75,352 annually, translating to around $36 per hour. Factors influencing this salary include geographic location, experience, and specific industry. For instance, engineers with advanced degrees or specialized skills typically earn higher wages.

Average Salaries by State

Mechanical engineers are compensated differently across the country. States like California and Texas tend to offer higher salaries due to the concentration of engineering firms and industries. For example:

California: $85,000
Texas: $80,000
New York: $78,000

Experience also plays a crucial role in salary determination. Entry-level mechanical engineers might earn in the lower range, while those with over 10 years of experience can command salaries exceeding $90,000. This data equips job seekers with insights to better negotiate their compensation and understand the market trends.

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Mechanical engineer salary by:

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Where can a Mechanical Engineer earn more?

Compare salary by location

117k

97k

77k

57k

37k

Columbus, OH$96,117

Orlando, FL$66,663

Compare salary by company

160k

140k

120k

100k

80k

Meta$136,019

Applied Materials$109,725

Mechanical engineer salaries by experience level

Mechanical engineer salary estimates from across the web

Based on the latest salary information compiled by Zippia, Salary.com, Indeed, Glassdoor, Ziprecruiter, SalaryExpert, Payscale and CareerExplorer, the average salary for a mechanical engineer typically falls between $71,600 and $113,871.

zippia

$75,352yearly

glassdoor[1]

$103,802yearly

indeed[2]

$92,550yearly

Salary.com[3]

$71,600yearly

ZipRecruiter[4]

$106,000yearly

payscale[5]

$78,360yearly

SalaryExpert[6]

$113,871yearly

CareerExplorer[7]

$95,300yearly

Average mechanical engineer salary by state

The highest-paying states for mechanical engineers are Washington, Idaho, and California. The lowest average mechanical engineer salary states are Florida, Hawaii, and Wisconsin.

State view
County view

Average salary:

Highest paying states for mechanical engineers

Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
1	Washington	$90,626	$43.57
2	Oregon	$84,644	$40.69
3	Massachusetts	$86,527	$41.60
4	California	$88,872	$42.73
5	Idaho	$89,318	$42.94
6	New Mexico	$86,101	$41.39
7	Arizona	$79,627	$38.28
8	New Hampshire	$79,312	$38.13
9	Nevada	$82,625	$39.72
10	District of Columbia	$87,019	$41.84
11	Texas	$79,901	$38.41
12	Delaware	$79,913	$38.42
13	Rhode Island	$78,630	$37.80
14	Maryland	$81,814	$39.33
15	Connecticut	$78,851	$37.91
16	Colorado	$78,006	$37.50
17	Utah	$76,175	$36.62
18	Maine	$81,837	$39.34
19	Louisiana	$81,441	$39.15
20	Virginia	$75,667	$36.38
21	New York	$78,640	$37.81
22	Michigan	$72,424	$34.82
23	Alaska	$79,016	$37.99
24	Tennessee	$74,065	$35.61
25	Illinois	$74,398	$35.77
26	West Virginia	$74,821	$35.97
27	Pennsylvania	$71,336	$34.30
28	Ohio	$69,924	$33.62
29	Oklahoma	$74,107	$35.63
30	Alabama	$68,543	$32.95
31	Minnesota	$69,983	$33.65
32	Indiana	$69,800	$33.56
33	Montana	$72,506	$34.86
34	Georgia	$70,961	$34.12
35	New Jersey	$76,734	$36.89
36	North Carolina	$67,986	$32.69
37	Wyoming	$68,846	$33.10
38	Vermont	$68,245	$32.81
39	South Carolina	$68,608	$32.98
40	Iowa	$67,765	$32.58
41	North Dakota	$66,192	$31.82
42	Wisconsin	$65,131	$31.31
43	Kentucky	$66,085	$31.77
44	Nebraska	$65,692	$31.58
45	Kansas	$65,737	$31.60
46	Missouri	$67,239	$32.33
47	Florida	$65,658	$31.57
48	Hawaii	$65,186	$31.34
49	Mississippi	$64,475	$31.00
50	Arkansas	$60,121	$28.90
51	South Dakota	$62,658	$30.12

Top mechanical engineer jobs near you

Highest paying cities for mechanical engineers

The highest-paying cities for mechanical engineers are San Francisco, CA, Seattle, WA, and Plymouth, MA.

Rank	City	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
1	San Francisco, CA	$96,117	$46.21
2	Seattle, WA	$91,094	$43.80
3	Plymouth, MA	$87,043	$41.85
4	Washington, DC	$87,024	$41.84
5	Hillsboro, OR	$84,505	$40.63
6	Austin, TX	$80,296	$38.60
7	Phoenix, AZ	$79,728	$38.33
8	New York, NY	$78,764	$37.87
9	Chicago, IL	$74,536	$35.83
10	Tulsa, OK	$73,341	$35.26
11	Washington, MI	$72,597	$34.90
12	Columbus, GA	$71,021	$34.14
13	Plymouth, MN	$70,016	$33.66
14	Indianapolis, IN	$69,699	$33.51
15	Dublin, OH	$69,668	$33.49
16	Pittsburgh, PA	$69,404	$33.37
17	Montgomery, AL	$68,514	$32.94
18	Charlotte, NC	$67,620	$32.51
19	Orlando, FL	$66,663	$32.05

Mechanical Engineers are the most in-demand in these five cities:

Mechanical engineer salary details

A mechanical engineer's salary ranges from $58,000 a year at the 10th percentile to $97,000 at the 90th percentile.

Average mechanical engineer salary graph, trends, and summary

What is a mechanical engineer's salary?

Percentile	Annual salary	Monthly salary	Hourly rate
90th Percentile	$97,000	$8,083	$47
75th Percentile	$86,000	$7,167	$41
Average	$75,352	$6,279	$36
25th Percentile	$65,000	$5,417	$31
10th Percentile	$58,000	$4,833	$28

Highest paying mechanical engineer jobs

The highest paying types of mechanical engineers are staff engineer, senior mechanical engineer, and senior mechanical designer.

Job title	Annual salary	Monthly salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
Product Design Engineer	$94,827	$7,902	$45.59	170,485
Development Engineer	$93,206	$7,767	$44.81	224,881
Product Engineer	$89,645	$7,470	$43.10	157,888
Process Engineer	$82,443	$6,870	$39.64	66,937
Engineer	$92,076	$7,673	$44.27	618,207
Equipment Engineer	$97,539	$8,128	$46.89	108,449

How would you rate the starting salaries for mechanical engineers, as well as the prospects for salary advancement?

Michael Rudisill

Department Head and Professor of Engineering Technology, Northern Michigan University

From what we've seen, salaries haven't been reduced, even though demand is down. I would expect wages and salary progression to remain strong as the need for engineering will only continue to grow.

Top companies hiring mechanical engineers now:

Which companies pay mechanical engineers the most?

Mechanical engineer salaries at Meta and Google are the highest-paying according to our most recent salary estimates. In addition, the average mechanical engineer salary at companies like Apple and Lyft are highly competitive.

Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate
1	Meta	$136,019	$65.39
2	Google	$126,142	$60.65
3	Apple	$125,094	$60.14
4	Lyft	$123,156	$59.21
5	DoorDash	$121,601	$58.46
6	Microsoft	$120,447	$57.91
7	Zoox	$120,444	$57.91
8	Waymo	$118,071	$56.76
9	NVIDIA	$114,055	$54.83
10	Amazon	$113,653	$54.64
11	Neuralink IT Solutions	$112,833	$54.25
12	BP America Inc	$112,533	$54.10
13	Western Digital	$112,246	$53.96
14	Cisco	$112,079	$53.88
15	Chevron	$111,253	$53.49
16	Shell Trading	$110,698	$53.22
17	Argo AI	$110,553	$53.15
18	Exxon Mobil	$110,505	$53.13
19	ConocoPhillips	$110,186	$52.97
20	Applied Materials	$109,725	$52.75

Wage gap by gender, race and education

$76,000$75,400$74,800$74,200$73,600$73,000

MaleFemale

Mechanical Engineer salary by industry

The average mechanical engineer salary varies across industries:

The average mechanical engineer salary in the energy industry is $84,748, the highest of any industry.
The average mechanical engineer salary in the finance industry is $82,408.
Mechanical engineers in the government industry earn an average salary of $72,907, the lowest of any industry.

Highest paying industries for mechanical engineers

Rank	Industry	Average salary	Hourly rate
1	Energy	$84,748	$40.74
2	Automotive	$82,408	$39.62
3	Technology	$82,343	$39.59
4	Professional	$79,356	$38.15
5	Manufacturing	$79,293	$38.12
6	Government	$72,907	$35.05

High paying mechanical engineer jobs

Mechanical engineer salary trends

The average mechanical engineer salary has risen by $9,135 over the last ten years. In 2014, the average mechanical engineer earned $66,217 annually, but today, they earn $75,352 a year. That works out to a 7% change in pay for mechanical engineers over the last decade.

Compare mechanical engineer salaries for cities or states with the national average over time.

Average mechanical engineer salary over time

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

Mechanical engineer salary by year

Year	Avg. salary	Hourly rate	% Change
2025	$75,400	$36.23	+1.9%
2024	$73,900	$35.53	+1.2%
2023	$73,000	$35.11	+1.7%
2022	$71,800	$34.51	+2.0%
2021	$70,400	$33.83	+0.7%

Recently added mechanical engineer salaries

Company	Job	Location	Date added	Salary
Bloomenergy	Mechanical Engineer (NCG)	San Jose, CA	06/30/2025	$90,200
Carrier	Mechanical Engineer	East Syracuse, NY	06/30/2025	$61,213
Disneyland Resort	Mechanical Engineer	Anaheim, CA	06/30/2025	$94,200
Parsons	Mechanical Engineer ICS	Salt Lake City, UT	06/30/2025	$86,700
Barry-Wehmiller	Mechanical Engineer III	Spokane, WA	06/30/2025	$80,000
Solectron Corp	Mechanical Engineer	Milpitas, CA	06/30/2025	$91,900
EFI Global	Forensic Mechanical Engineer, P.E.	Chicago, IL	06/30/2025	$95,000
Kion Group	Mechanical Engineer	Plano, TX	06/30/2025	$56,250
Idex Corporation	Mechanical Engineer	Longmont, CO	06/29/2025	$83,800
Lennox International	Mechanical Engineer III	Carrollton, TX	06/29/2025	$95,000

Mechanical engineer salary FAQs

What state pays Mechanical Engineers the most?

How do I know if I'm being paid fairly as a mechanical engineer?

What is a good starting salary for a Mechanical Engineer?

What is a good starting salary for a mechanical engineer?

What is the highest-paid mechanical engineer?

What is the typical salary for a mechanical engineer?

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

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Updated January 8, 2025

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