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Hardware engineer salary
Average hardware engineer salary
$104,912
Understanding Hardware Engineer Salaries
The average salary of a Hardware Engineer is around $104,912 per year, translating to about $50 per hour. Salaries vary based on numerous factors, including experience, education, and location. For instance, entry-level positions may start lower, while seasoned engineers can command significantly higher pay.
Salary by Experience Level
Typically, Hardware Engineers with more experience earn higher salaries. Entry-level professionals may expect to earn approximately $75,000, while those with five to ten years can see salaries from $90,000 to $120,000 or more, depending on their specialization.
Regional Salary Differences
Location also plays a crucial role in determining salary. States such as California and New York often offer the highest salaries due to the concentration of tech companies. For example, engineers in Silicon Valley can earn upwards of $130,000 annually. Understanding these regional trends is essential for job seekers or those negotiating salaries.
Future Opportunities
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Where can a Hardware Engineer earn more?
Hardware engineer salaries by experience level
Hardware engineer salary estimates from across the web
Average hardware engineer salary by state
The highest-paying states for hardware engineers are Washington, California, and Maine. The lowest average hardware engineer salary states are Indiana, Ohio, and Florida.
- State view
- County view
Highest paying states for hardware engineers
| Rank | State | Avg. salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Washington | $137,531 | $66.12 |
| 2 | California | $121,821 | $58.57 |
| 3 | New Hampshire | $102,526 | $49.29 |
| 4 | Massachusetts | $102,041 | $49.06 |
| 5 | Vermont | $101,296 | $48.70 |
| 6 | Maine | $110,604 | $53.17 |
| 7 | Oregon | $94,545 | $45.45 |
| 8 | New Mexico | $98,375 | $47.30 |
| 9 | Arizona | $91,528 | $44.00 |
| 10 | Kansas | $96,116 | $46.21 |
| 11 | Idaho | $94,769 | $45.56 |
| 12 | Virginia | $90,823 | $43.66 |
| 13 | North Dakota | $96,758 | $46.52 |
| 14 | Texas | $90,171 | $43.35 |
| 15 | Maryland | $91,745 | $44.11 |
| 16 | Alabama | $86,644 | $41.66 |
| 17 | Alaska | $93,817 | $45.10 |
| 18 | Utah | $86,790 | $41.73 |
| 19 | West Virginia | $90,756 | $43.63 |
| 20 | Connecticut | $90,468 | $43.49 |
| 21 | Pennsylvania | $90,138 | $43.34 |
| 22 | New York | $91,057 | $43.78 |
| 23 | Arkansas | $89,971 | $43.26 |
| 24 | Delaware | $85,852 | $41.27 |
| 25 | Montana | $88,801 | $42.69 |
| 26 | New Jersey | $91,217 | $43.85 |
| 27 | Rhode Island | $88,605 | $42.60 |
| 28 | District of Columbia | $84,301 | $40.53 |
| 29 | Colorado | $82,928 | $39.87 |
| 30 | Wisconsin | $80,911 | $38.90 |
| 31 | Georgia | $81,903 | $39.38 |
| 32 | Illinois | $84,060 | $40.41 |
| 33 | Wyoming | $78,648 | $37.81 |
| 34 | Hawaii | $83,984 | $40.38 |
| 35 | North Carolina | $81,256 | $39.07 |
| 36 | South Dakota | $82,459 | $39.64 |
| 37 | Minnesota | $82,666 | $39.74 |
| 38 | Louisiana | $84,758 | $40.75 |
| 39 | Oklahoma | $83,065 | $39.94 |
| 40 | Nevada | $80,555 | $38.73 |
| 41 | Iowa | $78,885 | $37.93 |
| 42 | Missouri | $80,730 | $38.81 |
| 43 | Michigan | $71,018 | $34.14 |
| 44 | Ohio | $74,181 | $35.66 |
| 45 | Florida | $73,497 | $35.34 |
| 46 | Indiana | $74,392 | $35.77 |
| 47 | Mississippi | $77,575 | $37.30 |
| 48 | South Carolina | $77,394 | $37.21 |
| 49 | Nebraska | $76,610 | $36.83 |
| 50 | Kentucky | $60,083 | $28.89 |
| 51 | Tennessee | $58,043 | $27.91 |
Highest paying cities for hardware engineers
The highest-paying cities for hardware engineers are Seattle, WA, San Francisco, CA, and Marlborough, MA.
| Rank | City | Avg. salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Seattle, WA | $138,346 | $66.51 |
| 2 | San Francisco, CA | $135,753 | $65.27 |
| 3 | Marlborough, MA | $102,019 | $49.05 |
| 4 | Corvallis, OR | $95,580 | $45.95 |
| 5 | Tempe, AZ | $91,513 | $44.00 |
| 6 | Germantown, MD | $91,314 | $43.90 |
| 7 | Austin, TX | $91,187 | $43.84 |
| 8 | New York, NY | $91,063 | $43.78 |
| 9 | Allentown, PA | $90,907 | $43.71 |
| 10 | Chicago, IL | $84,190 | $40.48 |
| 11 | Colorado Springs, CO | $82,917 | $39.86 |
| 12 | Plymouth, MN | $82,693 | $39.76 |
| 13 | Raleigh, NC | $81,933 | $39.39 |
| 14 | Columbus, IN | $74,088 | $35.62 |
| 15 | Columbus, OH | $73,622 | $35.40 |
| 16 | Troy, MI | $71,236 | $34.25 |
Hardware engineer salary details
A hardware engineer's salary ranges from $77,000 a year at the 10th percentile to $142,000 at the 90th percentile.
What is a hardware engineer's salary?
| Percentile | Annual salary | Monthly salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 90th Percentile | $142,000 | $11,833 | $68 |
| 75th Percentile | $123,000 | $10,250 | $59 |
| Average | $104,912 | $8,743 | $50 |
| 25th Percentile | $89,000 | $7,417 | $43 |
| 10th Percentile | $77,000 | $6,417 | $37 |
Highest paying hardware engineer jobs
The highest paying types of hardware engineers are manager, hardware engineering, hardware manager, and senior staff engineer.
| Job title | Annual salary | Monthly salary | Hourly rate | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Design Verification Engineer | $117,277 | $9,773 | $56.38 | 65,429 |
| Verification Engineer | $104,158 | $8,680 | $50.08 | 38,261 |
| Electronics Engineer | $93,985 | $7,832 | $45.19 | 83,870 |
| Contracting Engineer | $122,620 | $10,218 | $58.95 | 115,631 |
| Electrical Engineer | $81,026 | $6,752 | $38.95 | 68,536 |
| Principal Engineer | $130,213 | $10,851 | $62.60 | 312,683 |
Top companies hiring hardware engineers now:
Which companies pay hardware engineers the most?
Hardware engineer salaries at Meta and Apple are the highest-paying according to our most recent salary estimates. In addition, the average hardware engineer salary at companies like Twitter and Google are highly competitive.
| Rank | Company | Average salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Meta | $153,814 | $73.95 |
| 2 | Apple | $144,233 | $69.34 |
| 3 | $143,204 | $68.85 | |
| 4 | $139,374 | $67.01 | |
| 5 | Cloudflare | $138,477 | $66.58 |
| 6 | DoorDash | $137,542 | $66.13 |
| 7 | Waymo | $137,030 | $65.88 |
| 8 | Fungible | $136,943 | $65.84 |
| 9 | Microsoft | $136,000 | $65.38 |
| 10 | Palo Alto Networks | $135,288 | $65.04 |
| 11 | PayPal | $135,138 | $64.97 |
| 12 | Lyft | $135,019 | $64.91 |
| 13 | Zoox | $132,323 | $63.62 |
| 14 | Clustrix | $132,079 | $63.50 |
| 15 | eBay | $132,045 | $63.48 |
| 16 | Cruise Automation | $131,855 | $63.39 |
| 17 | Pure Storage | $128,458 | $61.76 |
| 18 | Brocade Services Corporation | $127,839 | $61.46 |
| 19 | Argo AI | $126,766 | $60.95 |
| 20 | Uber Technologies | $125,947 | $60.55 |
Wage gap by gender, race and education
Hardware Engineer salary by industry
The average hardware engineer salary varies across industries:
- The average hardware engineer salary in the automotive industry is $106,285, the highest of any industry.
- The average hardware engineer salary in the finance industry is $106,116.
- Hardware engineers in the manufacturing industry earn an average salary of $94,664, the lowest of any industry.
Highest paying industries for hardware engineers
| Rank | Industry | Average salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Automotive | $106,285 | $51.10 |
| 2 | Technology | $106,116 | $51.02 |
| 3 | Telecommunication | $105,048 | $50.50 |
| 4 | Professional | $98,974 | $47.58 |
| 5 | Manufacturing | $94,664 | $45.51 |
High paying hardware engineer jobs
Hardware engineer salary trends
The average hardware engineer salary has risen by $18,383 over the last ten years. In 2014, the average hardware engineer earned $86,529 annually, but today, they earn $104,912 a year. That works out to a 4% change in pay for hardware engineers over the last decade.
Compare hardware engineer salaries for cities or states with the national average over time.
Average hardware engineer salary over time
Compare hardware engineer salaries for individual cities or states with the national average.
Hardware engineer salary by year
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $105,000 | $50.44 | +2.0% |
| 2024 | $103,000 | $49.45 | +2.2% |
| 2023 | $101,000 | $48.35 | -0.5% |
| 2022 | $101,000 | $48.57 | +0.0% |
| 2021 | $101,000 | $48.55 | +2.9% |
Recently added hardware engineer salaries
| Company | Job | Location | Date added | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blue Origin | Avionics Hardware Engineer III | Seattle, WA | 06/30/2025 | $126,898 |
| Blue Origin | Hardware Engineer III | Noma, FL | 06/30/2025 | $117,498 |
| Hyve Solutions | Hardware Engineer | Fremont, CA | 06/30/2025 | $91,500 |
| Relativity | Avionics Hardware Engineer II | Long Beach, CA | 06/29/2025 | $136,000 |
| Lucid Motors | Hardware Desing Engineer, Hvac and Thermal | Newark, CA | 06/29/2025 | $113,800 |
| Muon Space | Electrical Hardware Engineer (NEW Grad/Early Career) | Mountain View, CA | 06/29/2025 | $100,000 |
| Actalent | Hardware Engineer | Wheeling, IL | 06/29/2025 | $95,000 |
| Ametek, Inc. | Embedded Hardware Engineer | Norwood, MA | 06/27/2025 | $80,000 |
| Caci International Inc. | Network/Hardware Engineer | Alameda, CA | 06/27/2025 | $103,800 |
| T-Mobile Usa | MTS Engineer, Cloud Hardware | Bellevue, WA | 06/27/2025 | $142,300 |
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