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The salary for an Application Engineer typically averages around $92,921 annually, which translates to approximately $45 per hour. Factors influencing this salary include experience, location, and industry sector.
Entry-level positions can expect to earn less, while experienced engineers may see salaries exceeding $120,000 in high-demand areas. Understanding these dynamics is crucial for career planning.
Salaries for Application Engineers can vary significantly by state and city. For example, cities like San Francisco and New York often offer higher salaries due to the cost of living and demand for skilled professionals.
Explore specific salary averages by state to find the best locations for your career. States such as California and Texas frequently report higher salaries for Application Engineers.
By targeting these areas, you can significantly enhance your earning potential as an Application Engineer.
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The average application engineer salary in California, Colorado, and Virginia are the highest in the U.S. The lowest average application engineer salary states are Alabama, Kentucky, and Michigan.
| Rank | State | Avg. salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Colorado | $107,003 | $51.44 |
| 2 | California | $114,148 | $54.88 |
| 3 | Oregon | $100,687 | $48.41 |
| 4 | Virginia | $103,441 | $49.73 |
| 5 | District of Columbia | $108,462 | $52.15 |
| 6 | Arizona | $95,546 | $45.94 |
| 7 | Rhode Island | $95,073 | $45.71 |
| 8 | New Hampshire | $94,446 | $45.41 |
| 9 | Maryland | $100,066 | $48.11 |
| 10 | Texas | $92,525 | $44.48 |
| 11 | Idaho | $89,588 | $43.07 |
| 12 | Vermont | $87,992 | $42.30 |
| 13 | Wyoming | $86,274 | $41.48 |
| 14 | New York | $91,659 | $44.07 |
| 15 | Montana | $90,282 | $43.40 |
| 16 | North Dakota | $88,828 | $42.71 |
| 17 | Maine | $91,579 | $44.03 |
| 18 | Nevada | $88,663 | $42.63 |
| 19 | Georgia | $86,228 | $41.46 |
| 20 | South Dakota | $87,423 | $42.03 |
| 21 | Washington | $84,589 | $40.67 |
| 22 | Utah | $81,591 | $39.23 |
| 23 | New Jersey | $87,748 | $42.19 |
| 24 | Massachusetts | $83,898 | $40.34 |
| 25 | Delaware | $82,713 | $39.77 |
| 26 | Alaska | $85,064 | $40.90 |
| 27 | Illinois | $83,648 | $40.22 |
| 28 | Iowa | $84,116 | $40.44 |
| 29 | Arkansas | $82,888 | $39.85 |
| 30 | Pennsylvania | $82,013 | $39.43 |
| 31 | New Mexico | $83,489 | $40.14 |
| 32 | West Virginia | $81,447 | $39.16 |
| 33 | Wisconsin | $78,749 | $37.86 |
| 34 | Mississippi | $83,288 | $40.04 |
| 35 | Florida | $79,727 | $38.33 |
| 36 | North Carolina | $76,179 | $36.62 |
| 37 | Connecticut | $77,186 | $37.11 |
| 38 | Minnesota | $74,023 | $35.59 |
| 39 | Tennessee | $74,555 | $35.84 |
| 40 | Michigan | $68,464 | $32.92 |
| 41 | Alabama | $69,235 | $33.29 |
| 42 | Ohio | $70,533 | $33.91 |
| 43 | Kansas | $71,630 | $34.44 |
| 44 | South Carolina | $72,156 | $34.69 |
| 45 | Oklahoma | $72,535 | $34.87 |
| 46 | Hawaii | $69,755 | $33.54 |
| 47 | Louisiana | $72,210 | $34.72 |
| 48 | Nebraska | $65,983 | $31.72 |
| 49 | Missouri | $68,353 | $32.86 |
| 50 | Indiana | $65,774 | $31.62 |
| 51 | Kentucky | $68,762 | $33.06 |
The highest-paying cities for application engineers are Redwood City, CA, Washington, DC, and Colorado Springs, CO.
| Rank | City | Avg. salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Redwood City, CA | $123,703 | $59.47 |
| 2 | Washington, DC | $108,515 | $52.17 |
| 3 | Colorado Springs, CO | $107,059 | $51.47 |
| 4 | Hillsboro, OR | $100,576 | $48.35 |
| 5 | Phoenix, AZ | $95,626 | $45.97 |
| 6 | Austin, TX | $93,594 | $45.00 |
| 7 | New York, NY | $91,782 | $44.13 |
| 8 | Burlington, VT | $87,670 | $42.15 |
| 9 | Atlanta, GA | $86,194 | $41.44 |
| 10 | Seattle, WA | $84,980 | $40.86 |
| 11 | Boston, MA | $83,950 | $40.36 |
| 12 | Chicago, IL | $83,774 | $40.28 |
| 13 | Wilmington, DE | $82,840 | $39.83 |
| 14 | Columbus, MS | $82,511 | $39.67 |
| 15 | Charlotte, NC | $75,460 | $36.28 |
| 16 | Plymouth, MN | $74,039 | $35.60 |
| 17 | Columbus, OH | $70,326 | $33.81 |
| 18 | Washington, MI | $68,679 | $33.02 |
| 19 | Columbus, IN | $65,664 | $31.57 |
Application Engineers are the most in-demand in these five cities:
An application engineer's salary ranges from $69,000 a year at the 10th percentile to $125,000 at the 90th percentile.

| Percentile | Annual salary | Monthly salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 90th Percentile | $125,000 | $10,417 | $60 |
| 75th Percentile | $108,000 | $9,000 | $52 |
| Average | $92,921 | $7,743 | $45 |
| 25th Percentile | $79,000 | $6,583 | $38 |
| 10th Percentile | $69,000 | $5,750 | $33 |
The highest paying types of application engineers are contracting engineer, senior sales engineer, and senior engineer.
| Job title | Annual salary | Monthly salary | Hourly rate | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing Engineer | $78,522 | $6,543 | $37.75 | 115,384 |
| Software Engineer | $100,260 | $8,355 | $48.20 | 339,938 |
| Development Engineer | $93,206 | $7,767 | $44.81 | 224,881 |
| Process Engineer | $82,443 | $6,870 | $39.64 | 66,937 |
| Systems Engineer | $82,834 | $6,903 | $39.82 | 145,936 |
| Engineer | $92,076 | $7,673 | $44.27 | 618,207 |
How would you rate the starting salaries for application engineers, as well as the prospects for salary advancement?
Daisy Huang
Assistant Professor, University of Alaska Fairbanks
Top companies hiring application engineers now:
Application engineer salaries at Morgan Lewis and Meta are the highest-paying according to our most recent salary estimates. In addition, the average application engineer salary at companies like Apple and Google are highly competitive.
| Rank | Company | Average salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Morgan Lewis | $150,243 | $72.23 |
| 2 | Meta | $146,694 | $70.53 |
| 3 | Apple | $144,180 | $69.32 |
| 4 | $137,948 | $66.32 | |
| 5 | PayPal | $136,577 | $65.66 |
| 6 | Match Group | $135,207 | $65.00 |
| 7 | First Republic Bank | $134,994 | $64.90 |
| 8 | Waymo | $133,902 | $64.38 |
| 9 | $133,171 | $64.02 | |
| 10 | Pacific Investment Management Company LLC | $131,896 | $63.41 |
| 11 | Snowflake Computing | $131,705 | $63.32 |
| 12 | Algolia | $131,404 | $63.17 |
| 13 | Zoox | $130,934 | $62.95 |
| 14 | MongoDB | $130,725 | $62.85 |
| 15 | Netflix | $130,155 | $62.57 |
| 16 | Brocade Services Corporation | $130,135 | $62.56 |
| 17 | Intuitive Surgical | $129,753 | $62.38 |
| 18 | Hunton & Williams LLP | $129,612 | $62.31 |
| 19 | NVIDIA | $129,534 | $62.28 |
| 20 | Palo Alto Networks | $129,411 | $62.22 |
The average application engineer salary varies across industries:
| Rank | Industry | Average salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Technology | $100,321 | $48.23 |
| 2 | Automotive | $96,918 | $46.60 |
| 3 | Health Care | $91,869 | $44.17 |
| 4 | Professional | $90,834 | $43.67 |
| 5 | Manufacturing | $90,328 | $43.43 |
The average application engineer salary has risen by $16,649 over the last ten years. In 2014, the average application engineer earned $76,272 annually, but today, they earn $92,921 a year. That works out to a 9% change in pay for application engineers over the last decade.
Compare application engineer salaries for cities or states with the national average over time.
Compare application engineer salaries for individual cities or states with the national average.
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $92,900 | $44.67 | +4.5% |
| 2024 | $88,700 | $42.65 | +2.4% |
| 2023 | $86,600 | $41.63 | +2.7% |
| 2022 | $84,300 | $40.52 | -1.3% |
| 2021 | $85,400 | $41.05 | +2.3% |
| Company | Job | Location | Date added | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arrow Electronics | Application Engineer | Reno, NV | 06/30/2025 | $98,900 |
| Discover Financial Services | Application Engineer (Multiple Openings)-IHM | Houston, TX | 06/30/2025 | $103,210 |
| Discover Financial Services | Principal Application Engineer (Multiple Openings)-IHM | Riverwoods, IL | 06/30/2025 | $148,949 |
| Bloomenergy | Application Engineer (NCG) | San Jose, CA | 06/30/2025 | $82,000 |
| Henkel | Associate Application Engineer, Technical Center | Bridgewater, NJ | 06/30/2025 | $65,000 |
| Ziegler | Application Engineer-OEM | Shakopee, MN | 06/30/2025 | $109,100 |
| Blackrock | Application Engineer, Associate | Atlanta, GA | 06/30/2025 | $120,000 |
| Blackrock | Analyst, Application Engineer | Wilmington, DE | 06/30/2025 | $90,250 |
| Alfa Laval | Application Engineer | Broken Arrow, OK | 06/30/2025 | $90,000 |
| Blue Origin | Application Engineer III | Seattle, WA | 06/30/2025 | $108,795 |
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