How much does a junior mechanical engineer make?

The average junior mechanical engineer salary in the United States is $69,855. Junior mechanical engineer salaries typically range between $56,000 and $86,000 yearly. The average hourly rate for junior mechanical engineers is $33.58 per hour. Junior mechanical engineer salary is impacted by location, education, and experience. Junior mechanical engineers earn the highest average salary in California.

Junior mechanical engineer salary

Q: What state pays Junior Mechanical Engineers the most?

California pays Junior Mechanical Engineers the most in the United States, with an average salary of $80,860 per year, or $38.88 per hour.

Q: How do I know if I'm being paid fairly as a junior mechanical engineer?

You know if you are being paid fairly as a junior mechanical engineer if your pay is close to the average pay for the state you live in. For example, if you live in District of Columbia you should be paid close to $78,436 per year.

Quoted expert

Marco Schoen Ph.D.

Average junior mechanical engineer salary

$69,855

$33.58 hourly rate

Entry-level junior mechanical engineer salary

$56,000 yearly salary

Updated December 15, 2025

Understanding the Junior Mechanical Engineer Salary

The average salary for a Junior Mechanical Engineer is $69,855 per year, or around $34 per hour. This salary can fluctuate significantly based on geographic location, level of experience, and the specific industry. For instance, engineers in tech-heavy states like California or Massachusetts often see higher salaries compared to those in other regions.

Job Opportunities

Junior Mechanical Engineers are essential in various sectors, including aerospace, automotive, and robotics, where their skills contribute to innovative designs and efficient systems. Opportunities for growth in this field are plentiful, with many companies seeking fresh talent to inject new ideas into their engineering teams.

Salary Trends Over Time

Historically, entry-level positions have shown steady salary growth, indicating a positive outlook for new graduates. As experience accumulates, Junior Mechanical Engineers typically advance to higher-paying roles, with opportunities to specialize in areas like product design or project management.

Conclusion

With a solid foundation in engineering principles and hands-on experience, aspiring Junior Mechanical Engineers can expect not only competitive salaries but also a fulfilling career path with ample job prospects.

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Junior mechanical engineer salary by:

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Where can a Junior Mechanical Engineer earn more?

Compare salary by location

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90k

70k

50k

30k

Columbus, OH$86,081

Saint Louis, MO$60,467

Compare salary by company

100k

80k

60k

40k

Eaton$79,120

Reliance Test & Technology, Llc$70,479

Junior mechanical engineer salary estimates from across the web

Based on the latest salary information compiled by Zippia, Salary.com, Indeed, Glassdoor and Payscale, the average salary for a junior mechanical engineer typically falls between $64,428 and $100,366.

zippia

$69,855yearly

glassdoor[1]

$100,366yearly

indeed[2]

$74,073yearly

Salary.com[3]

$77,301yearly

payscale[4]

$64,428yearly

Average junior mechanical engineer salary by state

The highest-paying states for junior mechanical engineers are California, Massachusetts, and New York. The lowest average junior mechanical engineer salary states are Ohio, Mississippi, and South Dakota.

State view
County view

Average salary:

Highest paying states for junior mechanical engineers

Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
1	California	$80,860	$38.88
2	Massachusetts	$78,016	$37.51
3	Washington	$75,462	$36.28
4	New York	$77,703	$37.36
5	Texas	$73,653	$35.41
6	District of Columbia	$78,436	$37.71
7	Oregon	$69,289	$33.31
8	Nevada	$72,567	$34.89
9	Illinois	$72,104	$34.67
10	New Mexico	$70,205	$33.75
11	Maryland	$72,916	$35.06
12	Alabama	$64,502	$31.01
13	Michigan	$63,742	$30.65
14	West Virginia	$67,840	$32.62
15	Tennessee	$66,501	$31.97
16	Louisiana	$68,754	$33.05
17	Virginia	$66,035	$31.75
18	Colorado	$65,839	$31.65
19	Rhode Island	$65,425	$31.45
20	Arizona	$64,076	$30.81
21	New Jersey	$71,361	$34.31
22	Kentucky	$65,487	$31.48
23	Georgia	$64,025	$30.78
24	Florida	$65,624	$31.55
25	Alaska	$68,688	$33.02
26	New Hampshire	$62,619	$30.11
27	Oklahoma	$63,930	$30.74
28	Pennsylvania	$61,690	$29.66
29	Kansas	$62,207	$29.91
30	Connecticut	$63,548	$30.55
31	Maine	$64,135	$30.83
32	Delaware	$62,417	$30.01
33	North Dakota	$60,236	$28.96
34	Idaho	$62,225	$29.92
35	Indiana	$59,841	$28.77
36	Nebraska	$60,936	$29.30
37	North Carolina	$59,530	$28.62
38	Utah	$57,625	$27.70
39	South Carolina	$60,375	$29.03
40	Wyoming	$58,878	$28.31
41	Ohio	$57,549	$27.67
42	Minnesota	$59,077	$28.40
43	Iowa	$59,161	$28.44
44	Missouri	$60,333	$29.01
45	Vermont	$58,385	$28.07
46	Hawaii	$61,058	$29.35
47	Wisconsin	$55,956	$26.90
48	South Dakota	$56,482	$27.15
49	Mississippi	$56,692	$27.26
50	Montana	$53,292	$25.62
51	Arkansas	$51,401	$24.71

Top junior mechanical engineer jobs near you

Highest paying cities for junior mechanical engineers

The highest-paying cities for junior mechanical engineers are San Jose, CA, Washington, DC, and Boston, MA.

Rank	City	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
1	San Jose, CA	$86,081	$41.39
2	Washington, DC	$78,446	$37.71
3	Boston, MA	$78,023	$37.51
4	Lindenhurst, NY	$77,866	$37.44
5	Austin, TX	$73,855	$35.51
6	Baltimore, MD	$73,022	$35.11
7	Chicago, IL	$72,186	$34.70
8	Las Vegas, NV	$71,788	$34.51
9	Edison, NJ	$71,376	$34.32
10	Baton Rouge, LA	$68,825	$33.09
11	Arlington, VA	$66,146	$31.80
12	Tampa, FL	$66,040	$31.75
13	Denver, CO	$65,873	$31.67
14	Phoenix, AZ	$64,115	$30.82
15	Alpharetta, GA	$64,113	$30.82
16	Port Huron, MI	$63,947	$30.74
17	Wichita, KS	$62,219	$29.91
18	Bristol, PA	$61,924	$29.77
19	Pocatello, ID	$61,012	$29.33
20	Saint Louis, MO	$60,467	$29.07

Junior mechanical engineer salary details

A junior mechanical engineer's salary ranges from $56,000 a year at the 10th percentile to $86,000 at the 90th percentile.

Average junior mechanical engineer salary graph, trends, and summary

What is a junior mechanical engineer's salary?

Percentile	Annual salary	Monthly salary	Hourly rate
90th Percentile	$86,000	$7,167	$41
75th Percentile	$78,000	$6,500	$38
Average	$69,855	$5,821	$34
25th Percentile	$62,000	$5,167	$30
10th Percentile	$56,000	$4,667	$27

Highest paying junior mechanical engineer jobs

The highest paying types of junior mechanical engineers are staff engineer, senior mechanical engineer, and senior mechanical designer.

Job title	Annual salary	Monthly salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
Engineer	$92,076	$7,673	$44.27	618,207
Design Engineer	$77,134	$6,428	$37.08	138,173
Staff Engineer	$107,530	$8,961	$51.70	277,011
Equipment Engineer	$97,539	$8,128	$46.89	108,449
Co-Operations Engineer	$42,618	$3,552	$20.49	86,804
Facility Engineer	$89,623	$7,469	$43.09	94,268

How would you rate the starting salaries for junior mechanical engineers, as well as the prospects for salary advancement?

Marco Schoen Ph.D.

Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Director of the Measurement and Control Engineering Research Center (MCERC), Idaho State University

Starting salaries for new engineers have been competitive for many years. Engineers progress on two different pathways: technical and managerial, leading to different pay scales and careers.

Top companies hiring junior mechanical engineers now:

Which companies pay junior mechanical engineers the most?

Junior mechanical engineer salaries at Eaton and Amphenol are the highest-paying according to our most recent salary estimates. In addition, the average junior mechanical engineer salary at companies like Kratos Defense & Security Solutions and Tetra Pak are highly competitive.

Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate
1	Eaton	$79,120	$38.04
2	Amphenol	$78,358	$37.67
3	Kratos Defense & Security Solutions	$76,561	$36.81
4	Tetra Pak	$76,538	$36.80
5	Data	$74,901	$36.01
6	Nokia	$74,806	$35.96
7	L3Harris	$72,269	$34.74
8	Randstad North America, Inc.	$71,733	$34.49
9	PEAK Technical Staffing USA	$71,599	$34.42
10	Oceaneering	$70,639	$33.96
11	Roush	$70,530	$33.91
12	The Bryce Company Llc	$70,516	$33.90
13	Lkb Consulting Engineers	$70,516	$33.90
14	Emc Engineering Svc Inc	$70,516	$33.90
15	Amec Foster Wheeler	$70,516	$33.90
16	Maxtena	$70,516	$33.90
17	Wirtz Manufacturing	$70,503	$33.90
18	NuCurrent	$70,500	$33.89
19	Hatch	$70,488	$33.89
20	Reliance Test & Technology, Llc	$70,479	$33.88

Wage gap by gender, race and education

$70,000$69,600$69,200$68,800$68,400$68,000

MaleFemale

Junior mechanical engineer salary trends

The average junior mechanical engineer salary has risen by $8,468 over the last ten years. In 2014, the average junior mechanical engineer earned $61,387 annually, but today, they earn $69,855 a year. That works out to a 7% change in pay for junior mechanical engineers over the last decade.

Compare junior mechanical engineer salaries for cities or states with the national average over time.

Average junior mechanical engineer salary over time

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

Junior mechanical engineer salary by year

Year	Avg. salary	Hourly rate	% Change
2025	$69,900	$33.58	+1.9%
2024	$68,500	$32.94	+1.2%
2023	$67,700	$32.55	+1.7%
2022	$66,500	$31.99	+2.0%
2021	$65,200	$31.36	+0.7%

Recently added junior mechanical engineer salaries

Company	Job	Location	Date added	Salary
University of Colorado Boulder	Junior Mechanical Engineer	Boulder, CO	06/25/2025	$75,000
University of Colorado	Junior Mechanical Engineer	Boulder, CO	06/25/2025	$75,000
Selectek, Inc.	Junior Mechanical Engineer	Louisville, KY	06/20/2025	$54,262
Allied Personnel Services	JR Mechanical Engineer-New Opening!	Phillipsburg, NJ	06/17/2025	$56,349
Advanced Technology and Research Corporation	JR. Mechanical Engineer	Indian Head, MD	06/14/2025	$86,000
Brph	JR Mechanical Engineer	Lynnwood, WA	06/10/2025	$65,000
Latitude Inc.	Junior Mechanical Engineer	White Marsh, MD	06/09/2025	$41,740
Eden Capital Careers	Junior Mechanical Engineer-Robotics Design	Downers Grove, IL	06/01/2025	$45,000
Leidos Holdings Inc.	Junior Mechanical Engineer	Springfield, VA	05/29/2025	$67,600
Trimas Corporation	Junior Mechanical Engineer	Industry, CA	05/28/2025	$70,000

Junior mechanical engineer salary FAQs

What state pays Junior Mechanical Engineers the most?

How do I know if I'm being paid fairly as a junior mechanical engineer?

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Updated December 15, 2025

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