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Automation engineer salary
Average automation engineer salary
$92,597
Average Salary Insights
The average salary for an Automation Engineer in the United States is approximately $92,597 annually, translating to about $45 per hour. This figure can vary based on experience, location, and industry. For instance, engineers in states like California and Texas tend to earn higher salaries, reflecting the demand for automation expertise in tech hubs.
Top Paying States and Industries
In addition to geographical factors, the industry also impacts earnings. Automation Engineers in the manufacturing, aerospace, and technology sectors often command higher salaries due to the complex nature of their work. Understanding these trends can help you negotiate better compensation and find lucrative job opportunities.
Career Advancement Opportunities
As automation technologies continue to evolve, professionals in this field can expect a range of job prospects, from entry-level positions to senior roles. Continuous learning and specialization can further enhance earning potential. Explore available positions on Zippia to kickstart or advance your career as an Automation Engineer.
Let Zippia find your next automation engineer job
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Where can an Automation Engineer earn more?
Automation engineer salary estimates from across the web
Average automation engineer salary by state
The highest-paying states for automation engineers are California, Washington, and Nevada. The lowest average automation engineer salary states are Kansas, Missouri, and Iowa.
- State view
- County view
Highest paying states for automation engineers
| Rank | State | Avg. salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | $116,529 | $56.02 |
| 2 | Washington | $100,719 | $48.42 |
| 3 | Oregon | $96,036 | $46.17 |
| 4 | New Hampshire | $92,750 | $44.59 |
| 5 | Rhode Island | $90,631 | $43.57 |
| 6 | Nevada | $97,909 | $47.07 |
| 7 | Massachusetts | $92,803 | $44.62 |
| 8 | Utah | $87,815 | $42.22 |
| 9 | Arizona | $89,173 | $42.87 |
| 10 | New Jersey | $94,052 | $45.22 |
| 11 | Wyoming | $86,933 | $41.79 |
| 12 | Texas | $87,663 | $42.15 |
| 13 | Vermont | $88,792 | $42.69 |
| 14 | Louisiana | $92,892 | $44.66 |
| 15 | Virginia | $89,147 | $42.86 |
| 16 | Maine | $89,356 | $42.96 |
| 17 | District of Columbia | $89,839 | $43.19 |
| 18 | Delaware | $88,137 | $42.37 |
| 19 | Maryland | $89,191 | $42.88 |
| 20 | North Dakota | $84,538 | $40.64 |
| 21 | Idaho | $87,372 | $42.01 |
| 22 | Pennsylvania | $85,235 | $40.98 |
| 23 | Montana | $85,311 | $41.01 |
| 24 | Connecticut | $88,048 | $42.33 |
| 25 | New York | $86,817 | $41.74 |
| 26 | Indiana | $80,391 | $38.65 |
| 27 | North Carolina | $81,753 | $39.30 |
| 28 | New Mexico | $83,567 | $40.18 |
| 29 | Alaska | $87,954 | $42.29 |
| 30 | Colorado | $81,536 | $39.20 |
| 31 | South Dakota | $81,660 | $39.26 |
| 32 | Minnesota | $82,208 | $39.52 |
| 33 | Mississippi | $81,733 | $39.29 |
| 34 | Oklahoma | $81,382 | $39.13 |
| 35 | Michigan | $79,013 | $37.99 |
| 36 | Ohio | $79,089 | $38.02 |
| 37 | West Virginia | $79,389 | $38.17 |
| 38 | Kentucky | $79,623 | $38.28 |
| 39 | Hawaii | $79,715 | $38.32 |
| 40 | Georgia | $79,797 | $38.36 |
| 41 | Arkansas | $77,911 | $37.46 |
| 42 | Wisconsin | $79,375 | $38.16 |
| 43 | Iowa | $77,644 | $37.33 |
| 44 | Illinois | $78,594 | $37.79 |
| 45 | Nebraska | $77,262 | $37.15 |
| 46 | Florida | $78,427 | $37.71 |
| 47 | South Carolina | $78,709 | $37.84 |
| 48 | Tennessee | $77,501 | $37.26 |
| 49 | Alabama | $75,257 | $36.18 |
| 50 | Kansas | $77,770 | $37.39 |
| 51 | Missouri | $77,669 | $37.34 |
Highest paying cities for automation engineers
The highest-paying cities for automation engineers are San Francisco, CA, Seattle, WA, and Hillsboro, OR.
| Rank | City | Avg. salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Francisco, CA | $129,922 | $62.46 |
| 2 | Seattle, WA | $101,488 | $48.79 |
| 3 | Hillsboro, OR | $95,805 | $46.06 |
| 4 | Boston, MA | $92,938 | $44.68 |
| 5 | Washington, DC | $89,807 | $43.18 |
| 6 | Arlington, VA | $89,761 | $43.15 |
| 7 | Portland, ME | $89,563 | $43.06 |
| 8 | Phoenix, AZ | $89,386 | $42.97 |
| 9 | Austin, TX | $88,403 | $42.50 |
| 10 | Salt Lake City, UT | $87,148 | $41.90 |
| 11 | New York, NY | $87,003 | $41.83 |
| 12 | Philadelphia, PA | $85,999 | $41.35 |
| 13 | Raleigh, NC | $82,713 | $39.77 |
| 14 | Minneapolis, MN | $82,207 | $39.52 |
| 15 | Denver, CO | $81,430 | $39.15 |
| 16 | Indianapolis, IN | $80,288 | $38.60 |
| 17 | Columbus, MS | $79,954 | $38.44 |
| 18 | Columbus, GA | $79,840 | $38.38 |
| 19 | Richmond, KY | $79,763 | $38.35 |
| 20 | Tampa, FL | $79,639 | $38.29 |
Automation Engineers are the most in-demand in these five cities:
Automation engineer salary details
An automation engineer's salary ranges from $70,000 a year at the 10th percentile to $121,000 at the 90th percentile.
What is an automation engineer's salary?
| Percentile | Annual salary | Monthly salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 90th Percentile | $121,000 | $10,083 | $58 |
| 75th Percentile | $106,000 | $8,833 | $51 |
| Average | $92,597 | $7,716 | $45 |
| 25th Percentile | $80,000 | $6,667 | $38 |
| 10th Percentile | $70,000 | $5,833 | $34 |
Highest paying automation engineer jobs
The highest paying types of automation engineers are senior engineer, senior quality assurance engineer, and performance engineer.
| Job title | Annual salary | Monthly salary | Hourly rate | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quality Assurance Tester | $74,140 | $6,178 | $35.64 | 82,396 |
| Tester | $65,202 | $5,433 | $31.35 | 52,595 |
| Software Tester | $78,580 | $6,548 | $37.78 | 208,853 |
| Systems Tester | $95,834 | $7,986 | $46.07 | 112,985 |
| Engineering Analyst | $81,650 | $6,804 | $39.25 | 74,578 |
| Functional Tester | $76,647 | $6,387 | $36.85 | 37,146 |
Top companies hiring automation engineers now:
Which companies pay automation engineers the most?
Automation engineer salaries at Meta and Apple are the highest-paying according to our most recent salary estimates. In addition, the average automation engineer salary at companies like Google and eBay are highly competitive.
| Rank | Company | Average salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Meta | $149,819 | $72.03 |
| 2 | Apple | $144,255 | $69.35 |
| 3 | $143,987 | $69.22 | |
| 4 | eBay | $134,913 | $64.86 |
| 5 | Evernote | $133,920 | $64.38 |
| 6 | Amazon | $133,244 | $64.06 |
| 7 | Netgear | $131,249 | $63.10 |
| 8 | Grubhub | $129,391 | $62.21 |
| 9 | Fungible | $127,350 | $61.23 |
| 10 | 10x Genomics | $126,869 | $60.99 |
| 11 | Pure Storage | $126,329 | $60.74 |
| 12 | Skyfire | $126,291 | $60.72 |
| 13 | Microsoft | $125,496 | $60.33 |
| 14 | Palo Alto Networks | $125,312 | $60.25 |
| 15 | AppDynamics | $124,964 | $60.08 |
| 16 | Safeway | $124,915 | $60.06 |
| 17 | Snowflake Computing | $124,801 | $60.00 |
| 18 | Macy's | $124,603 | $59.91 |
| 19 | Zendesk | $124,314 | $59.77 |
| 20 | OpenTable | $124,200 | $59.71 |
Wage gap by gender, race and education
Automation Engineer salary by industry
The average automation engineer salary varies across industries:
- The average automation engineer salary in the retail industry is $109,438, the highest of any industry.
- The average automation engineer salary in the finance industry is $104,780.
- Automation engineers in the manufacturing industry earn an average salary of $87,142, the lowest of any industry.
Highest paying industries for automation engineers
| Rank | Industry | Average salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Retail | $109,438 | $52.61 |
| 2 | Technology | $104,780 | $50.38 |
| 3 | Hospitality | $92,375 | $44.41 |
| 4 | Manufacturing | $87,142 | $41.90 |
High paying automation engineer jobs
Automation engineer salary trends
The average automation engineer salary has risen by $15,158 over the last ten years. In 2014, the average automation engineer earned $77,439 annually, but today, they earn $92,597 a year. That works out to a 10% change in pay for automation engineers over the last decade.
Compare automation engineer salaries for cities or states with the national average over time.
Average automation engineer salary over time
Compare automation engineer salaries for individual cities or states with the national average.
Automation engineer salary by year
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $92,600 | $44.52 | +3.3% |
| 2024 | $89,500 | $43.05 | +2.3% |
| 2023 | $87,500 | $42.08 | +1.9% |
| 2022 | $85,800 | $41.26 | +2.3% |
| 2021 | $83,900 | $40.32 | +1.5% |
Recently added automation engineer salaries
| Company | Job | Location | Date added | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Franklin Templeton | Data & Automation Engineer | New York, NY | 06/30/2025 | $125,000 |
| G&W Electric | Microgrid Automation Engineer III | Chicago, IL | 06/29/2025 | $83,948 |
| Perspecta | Automation Engineer | Reston, VA | 06/29/2025 | $104,000 |
| Picarro | Automation Engineer | Santa Clara, CA | 06/29/2025 | $110,000 |
| Serotonin | AI Automation Engineer | New York, NY | 06/29/2025 | $60,000 |
| Actalent | Automation Engineer | Concord, NC | 06/29/2025 | $125,220 |
| Global Channel Management, Inc. | Remote Data Automation Engineer | Atlanta, GA | 06/29/2025 | $123,133 |
| Impinj | Staff System Automation Engineer | San Diego, CA | 06/28/2025 | $129,000 |
| Merck | Manufacturing Automation Engineer | Point, PA | 06/28/2025 | $85,600 |
| Accenture | Uipath/Automation Anywhere Engineer | Arlington, VA | 06/28/2025 | $68,000 |
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