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A Circuit Designer plays a vital role in the electronics industry, focusing on the creation of circuits for various applications. As of October 2025, the average salary for this position is $105,618 annually, with entry-level designers earning lower and experienced professionals commanding significantly higher salaries.
Entry-level circuit designers typically start at around $70,000, while those with five to ten years of experience can expect to earn upwards of $120,000. Senior designers or those in specialized roles may earn even more, reflecting the value of experience and expertise in this field.
Salaries vary by state, with the highest-paying regions often found in tech hubs such as California and Texas. For instance, designers in California can earn over $130,000, while salaries in lower-cost states may hover around $90,000. Understanding these differences helps job seekers target their applications effectively.
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| Experience level | Avg. salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|
| Entry-level circuit designer | $94,500 | $45.45 |
| Mid-level circuit designer | $118,000 | $56.55 |
| Senior-level circuit designer | $148,000 | $71.39 |
The highest-paying states for circuit designers are California, Nevada, and Texas. The lowest average circuit designer salary states are Utah, Wisconsin, and West Virginia.
| Rank | State | Avg. salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | District of Columbia | $128,287 | $61.68 |
| 2 | California | $118,393 | $56.92 |
| 3 | Texas | $108,938 | $52.37 |
| 4 | Washington | $105,480 | $50.71 |
| 5 | Rhode Island | $106,209 | $51.06 |
| 6 | Virginia | $105,540 | $50.74 |
| 7 | Nevada | $110,647 | $53.20 |
| 8 | Alabama | $105,754 | $50.84 |
| 9 | Massachusetts | $101,052 | $48.58 |
| 10 | Idaho | $104,771 | $50.37 |
| 11 | New Hampshire | $97,719 | $46.98 |
| 12 | New Jersey | $105,433 | $50.69 |
| 13 | Michigan | $93,304 | $44.86 |
| 14 | New Mexico | $100,090 | $48.12 |
| 15 | Georgia | $94,239 | $45.31 |
| 16 | Maine | $95,768 | $46.04 |
| 17 | Oklahoma | $99,331 | $47.76 |
| 18 | Colorado | $95,895 | $46.10 |
| 19 | Arizona | $94,807 | $45.58 |
| 20 | Maryland | $98,304 | $47.26 |
| 21 | Missouri | $95,879 | $46.10 |
| 22 | Tennessee | $92,259 | $44.36 |
| 23 | Oregon | $91,180 | $43.84 |
| 24 | Delaware | $96,834 | $46.55 |
| 25 | North Carolina | $89,438 | $43.00 |
| 26 | Alaska | $100,839 | $48.48 |
| 27 | Arkansas | $89,360 | $42.96 |
| 28 | Connecticut | $90,207 | $43.37 |
| 29 | Wyoming | $90,528 | $43.52 |
| 30 | Florida | $89,773 | $43.16 |
| 31 | Kansas | $87,998 | $42.31 |
| 32 | Minnesota | $84,806 | $40.77 |
| 33 | New York | $86,075 | $41.38 |
| 34 | Pennsylvania | $84,750 | $40.75 |
| 35 | Mississippi | $89,346 | $42.95 |
| 36 | North Dakota | $87,560 | $42.10 |
| 37 | Louisiana | $89,786 | $43.17 |
| 38 | South Carolina | $84,722 | $40.73 |
| 39 | Utah | $76,520 | $36.79 |
| 40 | Illinois | $80,737 | $38.82 |
| 41 | Vermont | $83,635 | $40.21 |
| 42 | Hawaii | $93,425 | $44.92 |
| 43 | Ohio | $78,778 | $37.87 |
| 44 | Wisconsin | $73,331 | $35.26 |
| 45 | Nebraska | $80,144 | $38.53 |
| 46 | Indiana | $81,040 | $38.96 |
| 47 | Kentucky | $81,101 | $38.99 |
| 48 | West Virginia | $71,707 | $34.47 |
| 49 | Iowa | $70,292 | $33.79 |
| 50 | Montana | $67,804 | $32.60 |
| 51 | South Dakota | $68,789 | $33.07 |
The highest-paying cities for circuit designers are Mountain View, CA, Carson City, NV, and Austin, TX.
| Rank | City | Avg. salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mountain View, CA | $124,884 | $60.04 |
| 2 | Carson City, NV | $116,871 | $56.19 |
| 3 | Austin, TX | $109,123 | $52.46 |
| 4 | Bellevue, WA | $105,787 | $50.86 |
| 5 | Boston, MA | $101,077 | $48.59 |
| 6 | Anchorage, AK | $101,075 | $48.59 |
| 7 | Albuquerque, NM | $100,378 | $48.26 |
| 8 | Tulsa, OK | $98,702 | $47.45 |
| 9 | Annapolis, MD | $98,414 | $47.31 |
| 10 | Concord, NH | $97,656 | $46.95 |
| 11 | Boulder, CO | $95,915 | $46.11 |
| 12 | Tempe, AZ | $94,790 | $45.57 |
| 13 | Atlanta, GA | $94,048 | $45.22 |
| 14 | Hillsboro, OR | $90,954 | $43.73 |
| 15 | Cheyenne, WY | $90,050 | $43.29 |
| 16 | Baton Rouge, LA | $89,888 | $43.22 |
| 17 | Bismarck, ND | $87,479 | $42.06 |
| 18 | Albany, NY | $85,987 | $41.34 |
| 19 | Columbia, SC | $84,664 | $40.70 |
| 20 | Columbus, OH | $78,424 | $37.70 |
A circuit designer's salary ranges from $79,000 a year at the 10th percentile to $139,000 at the 90th percentile.

| Percentile | Annual salary | Monthly salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 90th Percentile | $139,000 | $11,583 | $67 |
| 75th Percentile | $122,000 | $10,167 | $59 |
| Average | $105,618 | $8,802 | $51 |
| 25th Percentile | $91,000 | $7,583 | $44 |
| 10th Percentile | $79,000 | $6,583 | $38 |
The highest paying types of circuit designers are staff design engineer, asic design engineer, and circuit design engineer.
| Job title | Annual salary | Monthly salary | Hourly rate | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Engineering Trainee | $60,235 | $5,020 | $28.96 | 79,966 |
| Control Systems Engineer | $92,727 | $7,727 | $44.58 | 133,220 |
| Telecom Engineer | $81,384 | $6,782 | $39.13 | 33,530 |
| Controls Engineer | $84,532 | $7,044 | $40.64 | 50,203 |
| Customer Engineer | $101,212 | $8,434 | $48.66 | 44,709 |
| Electronics Engineer | $93,985 | $7,832 | $45.19 | 83,870 |
Top companies hiring circuit designers now:
Circuit designer salaries at Apple and Nokia are the highest-paying according to our most recent salary estimates. In addition, the average circuit designer salary at companies like Sandia National Labs and Uniti are highly competitive.
| Rank | Company | Average salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Apple | $142,720 | $68.62 |
| 2 | Nokia | $113,870 | $54.75 |
| 3 | Sandia National Labs | $107,897 | $51.87 |
| 4 | Uniti | $106,226 | $51.07 |
| 5 | Alcatel Networks Inc | $106,226 | $51.07 |
| 6 | Anduril | $105,447 | $50.70 |
| 7 | MediaTek | $105,201 | $50.58 |
| 8 | Qualcomm | $104,922 | $50.44 |
| 9 | Micron Technology | $104,805 | $50.39 |
| 10 | Astreya | $104,698 | $50.34 |
| 11 | Texas.gov - State of Texas Official Website | $104,632 | $50.30 |
| 12 | Zayo Group | $103,055 | $49.55 |
| 13 | Intel | $101,842 | $48.96 |
| 14 | TEKsystems | $101,760 | $48.92 |
| 15 | Intelliswift | $101,240 | $48.67 |
| 16 | Luxtera | $100,521 | $48.33 |
| 17 | Digital Prospectors | $100,429 | $48.28 |
| 18 | Draper | $98,379 | $47.30 |
| 19 | Western Digital | $96,868 | $46.57 |
| 20 | IBM | $96,759 | $46.52 |
The average circuit designer salary varies across industries:
| Rank | Industry | Average salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manufacturing | $103,752 | $49.88 |
| 2 | Professional | $101,646 | $48.87 |
| 3 | Telecommunication | $100,114 | $48.13 |
| 4 | Technology | $96,676 | $46.48 |
| 5 | Health Care | $92,833 | $44.63 |
The average circuit designer salary has risen by $15,753 over the last ten years. In 2014, the average circuit designer earned $89,865 annually, but today, they earn $105,618 a year. That works out to a 8% change in pay for circuit designers over the last decade.
Compare circuit designer salaries for cities or states with the national average over time.
Compare circuit designer salaries for individual cities or states with the national average.
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | $106,000 | $50.78 | +1.8% |
| 2025 | $104,000 | $49.85 | +2.7% |
| 2024 | $101,000 | $48.49 | +0.5% |
| 2023 | $100,000 | $48.25 | +2.9% |
| 2022 | $97,400 | $46.84 | +0.9% |
| Company | Job | Location | Date added | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lockheed Martin | Early Career Circuit Card Designer | Grand Prairie, TX | 06/26/2025 | $88,000 |
| Amazon.com, Inc. | Circuit Design and Analysis, Annapurna Labs, Cloud Scale Machine Learning | Cupertino, CA | 06/16/2025 | $143,300 |
| Anduril Industries | Circuit Designer | Costa Mesa, CA | 05/07/2025 | $124,000 |
| Psiquantum | Photonics Circuit Designer | Palo Alto, CA | 03/26/2025 | $120,000 |
| Amazon.com, Inc. | Circuit Design and Analysis, Annapurna Labs, Cloud Scale Machine Learning | Cupertino, CA | 03/20/2025 | $143,300 |
| Synopsys, Inc. | Senior Staff Analog Circuit Design | Hillsboro, OR | 03/14/2025 | $134,000 |
| Psiquantum | Photonics Circuit Designer | Palo Alto, CA | 02/22/2025 | $120,000 |
| Euraxess | Design and Implementation of Electronic Circuits for Artificial Neurons | Mission, KS | 02/17/2025 | $29,911 |
| Azad Technology Partners | Electronics Designer-Telecom Circuit Design | Ione, WA | 02/16/2025 | $102,263 |
| Infinera, Corporation | Photonic Integrated Circuit Design and High Speed Device Development | Sunnyvale, CA | 02/06/2025 | $134,400 |
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