Research And Development Engineer Salary

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How Much Does a Research And Development Engineer Earn In The United States?

Research And Development Engineer Salaries

Updated December 31, 2020

Average Yearly Salary

$89,000

$68,000

$89,000

$117,000

Research and development engineers in the United States make an average salary of $89,792 per year or $43.17 per hour. People on the lower end of that spectrum, the bottom 10% to be exact, make roughly $68,000 a year, while the top 10% makes $117,000. As most things go, location can be critical. California, Alaska, New Mexico, Delaware, and Massachusetts provide the highest research and development engineer salaries.

Best Paying Cities

1. Santa Rosa, CA

Average Salary: $113,440

Research And Development Engineer Jobs: 10

2. Albuquerque, NM

Average Salary: $102,265

Research And Development Engineer Jobs: 46

3. Andover, MA

Average Salary: $94,001

4. Burlington, VT

Average Salary: $91,593

5. Colorado Springs, CO

Average Salary: $90,036

Research And Development Engineer Jobs: 3

6. Austin, TX

Average Salary: $87,848

Research And Development Engineer Jobs: 1

7. Clifton Park, NY

Average Salary: $86,454

8. Phoenix, AZ

Average Salary: $85,919

Research And Development Engineer Jobs: 16

9. Hillsboro, OR

Average Salary: $81,793

Research And Development Engineer Jobs: 14

10. Arlington Heights, IL

Average Salary: $79,899

11. Southfield, MI

Average Salary: $78,948

12. Madison, WI

Average Salary: $76,098

13. Marietta, GA

Average Salary: $75,789

14. Apopka, FL

Average Salary: $75,788

Research And Development Engineer Jobs: 4

15. Pittsburgh, PA

Average Salary: $74,920

Research And Development Engineer Jobs: 1

16. Durham, NC

Average Salary: $74,705

Your City

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Where Research And Development Engineers Earn The Most

The darker areas on the map show where research and development engineers earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary

How Much Do Research And Development Engineers Earn In Different Cities?

Throughout the U.S., the average salary for a research and development engineer is roughly $89,792 per year, which boils down to $43.17 per hour. Interestingly enough, research and development engineers have the highest salaries in Santa Rosa, CA at about $113,440 per year. For those who are just starting out, the average entry-level salary in Santa Rosa, CA is $76,000. Additionally, research and development engineers make more than the average salary in Albuquerque, NM, Andover, MA, Burlington, VT, Colorado Springs, CO, and Austin, TX. On a more broad level, research and development engineer salaries are highest in California, Alaska, New Mexico, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. On the contrary, Ohio, Nebraska, and Indiana offer the lowest research and development engineer salaries.

City

Average Salary

Santa Rosa, CA

$113k$113,440

Albuquerque, NM

$102k$102,265

Andover, MA

$94k$94,001

Burlington, VT

$92k$91,593

Colorado Springs, CO

$90k$90,036

Austin, TX

$88k$87,848

Clifton Park, NY

$86k$86,454

Phoenix, AZ

$86k$85,919

Hillsboro, OR

$82k$81,793

Arlington Heights, IL

$80k$79,899

$60k

$139k

High Paying Research And Development Engineer Jobs

Which Companies Pay Research And Development Engineers The Most?

If you want to get paid the most as a research and development engineer, being employed by a company such as Brocade Services or Lucasfilm would be a smart choice, as they are the highest paying companies in this field. Additionally, companies like HGST and Planet Labs also report highly competitive salaries for research and development engineers.

Company

Average Salary

$138k$138,379

$135k$135,201

$128k$127,856

$128k$127,720

$127k$126,753

Samsung Telecommunications America General

$125k$125,274

Numonyx

$123k$123,450

Ansoft

$119k$118,631

Los Alamos National Security

$115k$114,881

Freescale Semiconductor Holdings V

$115k$114,630

$93k

$153k

The largest raises come from changing jobs.

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Research And Development Engineer Salary History

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

How Much Do Research And Development Engineers Make In Different Industries?

As we previously stated, research and development engineer salaries can vary depending on the industry. In fact, our data shows that technology, manufacturing, and health care companies tend to offer much higher salaries for research and development engineers. For example, research and development engineers make a whopping average salary of $101,615 while working for technology companies. Meanwhile, other people in this field are making $93,499 at manufacturing companies and $91,807 at health care companies. But research and development engineers may want to avoid working in the automotive industry as it offers the lowest average salary at $90,622.

Industry

Average Salary

Technology

$102k$101,615

Manufacturing

$93k$93,499

Health Care

$92k$91,807

Automotive

$91k$90,622

$79k

$116k

How Experience Affects Research And Development Engineer Salaries

The salary for a research and development 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.

Recently Added Research And Development Engineer Salaries

Company	Job	Location	Date Added	Salary
University of California-San Diego University of California-San Diego #107719 R&D Engineer 1	#107719 R&D Engineer 1 #107719 R&D Engineer 1	San Diego, CA San Diego, CA	01/30/2021 01/30/2021	$48,878 $48,878 01/30/2021
Philips Philips Staff Sustaining R&D Engineer	Staff Sustaining R&D Engineer Staff Sustaining R&D Engineer	Colorado Springs, CO Colorado Springs, CO	01/28/2021 01/28/2021	$100,000 $100,000 01/28/2021
Ricoh Americas Corporation Ricoh Americas Corporation R&D Software Engineer	R&D Software Engineer R&D Software Engineer	Boulder, CO Boulder, CO	01/20/2021 01/20/2021	$69,900 $69,900 01/20/2021
University of California University of California Research and Development Engineer 2	Research and Development Engineer 2 Research and Development Engineer 2	Riverside, CA Riverside, CA	01/19/2021 01/19/2021	$61,600 $61,600 01/19/2021
Avispa Avispa R&D Engineer, Software	R&D Engineer, Software R&D Engineer, Software	Santa Rosa, CA Santa Rosa, CA	01/15/2021 01/15/2021	$156,525 $156,525 01/15/2021
Randstad Randstad Junior Research and Development Engineer	Junior Research and Development Engineer Junior Research and Development Engineer	San Antonio, TX San Antonio, TX	01/06/2021 01/06/2021	$50,000 $50,000 01/06/2021
Keysight Technologies Keysight Technologies R&D Engineer 2, Software	R&D Engineer 2, Software R&D Engineer 2, Software	Colorado Springs, CO Colorado Springs, CO	01/06/2021 01/06/2021	$70,470 $70,470 01/06/2021
Avispa Technology Avispa Technology R&D Engineer, Software	R&D Engineer, Software R&D Engineer, Software	Santa Rosa, CA Santa Rosa, CA	01/04/2021 01/04/2021	$156,525 $156,525 01/04/2021
Keysight Technologies Keysight Technologies R&D Engineer 2, Software	R&D Engineer 2, Software R&D Engineer 2, Software	Colorado Springs, CO Colorado Springs, CO	12/24/2020 12/24/2020	$74,670 $74,670 12/24/2020
Randstad Randstad Research and Development Engineer	Research and Development Engineer Research and Development Engineer	Acton, MA Acton, MA	12/17/2020 12/17/2020	$80,000 $80,000 12/17/2020

Updated December 31, 2020

Research And Development Engineer Salary

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How Much Does a Research And Development Engineer Earn In The United States?

1. Santa Rosa, CA

2. Albuquerque, NM

3. Andover, MA

4. Burlington, VT

5. Colorado Springs, CO

6. Austin, TX

7. Clifton Park, NY

8. Phoenix, AZ

9. Hillsboro, OR

10. Arlington Heights, IL

11. Southfield, MI

12. Madison, WI

13. Marietta, GA

14. Apopka, FL

15. Pittsburgh, PA

16. Durham, NC

How much should you get paid?

Where Research And Development Engineers Earn The Most

How Much Do Research And Development Engineers Earn In Different Cities?

High Paying Research And Development Engineer Jobs

Which Companies Pay Research And Development Engineers The Most?

The largest raises come from changing jobs.

Research And Development Engineer Salary History

How Much Do Research And Development Engineers Make In Different Industries?

How Experience Affects Research And Development Engineer Salaries

Recently Added Research And Development Engineer Salaries

Related Job Salaries

Related Salaries

Related Jobs