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The laboratory engineering field offers competitive salaries. As of October 2025, the average salary for a Laboratory Engineer is $92,242 annually, which translates to approximately $44 per hour. Salary levels can vary based on multiple factors, including geographical location and years of experience.
Entry-level laboratory engineers typically start at lower salaries, while those with several years of experience can expect to earn significantly more. For instance, engineers with over ten years in the field may earn upwards of $115,000 annually.
States such as California, New York, and Texas offer some of the highest salaries for laboratory engineers, reflecting the demand for skilled professionals in these areas.
Laboratory engineers can find roles across various sectors, including pharmaceuticals, environmental science, and biotechnology, each offering unique salary ranges and growth opportunities.
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The highest-paying states for laboratory engineers are California, Washington, and Maryland. The lowest average laboratory engineer salary states are North Dakota, Minnesota, and Nebraska.
| Rank | State | Avg. salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | $117,335 | $56.41 |
| 2 | Washington | $105,274 | $50.61 |
| 3 | Maryland | $102,572 | $49.31 |
| 4 | District of Columbia | $107,037 | $51.46 |
| 5 | Massachusetts | $98,577 | $47.39 |
| 6 | Delaware | $98,396 | $47.31 |
| 7 | Texas | $93,201 | $44.81 |
| 8 | Arizona | $91,987 | $44.22 |
| 9 | Idaho | $91,766 | $44.12 |
| 10 | New Mexico | $94,423 | $45.40 |
| 11 | Oregon | $91,239 | $43.86 |
| 12 | Rhode Island | $94,675 | $45.52 |
| 13 | Indiana | $91,768 | $44.12 |
| 14 | Colorado | $90,501 | $43.51 |
| 15 | Iowa | $90,403 | $43.46 |
| 16 | Michigan | $87,658 | $42.14 |
| 17 | Virginia | $89,687 | $43.12 |
| 18 | Alabama | $88,777 | $42.68 |
| 19 | West Virginia | $89,792 | $43.17 |
| 20 | Ohio | $87,909 | $42.26 |
| 21 | New Hampshire | $85,108 | $40.92 |
| 22 | Utah | $83,887 | $40.33 |
| 23 | Nevada | $86,577 | $41.62 |
| 24 | Tennessee | $87,125 | $41.89 |
| 25 | Georgia | $87,701 | $42.16 |
| 26 | Connecticut | $87,076 | $41.86 |
| 27 | Alaska | $87,117 | $41.88 |
| 28 | Louisiana | $88,215 | $42.41 |
| 29 | Maine | $85,133 | $40.93 |
| 30 | Illinois | $84,980 | $40.86 |
| 31 | North Carolina | $82,563 | $39.69 |
| 32 | Wyoming | $78,520 | $37.75 |
| 33 | New York | $80,977 | $38.93 |
| 34 | New Jersey | $83,447 | $40.12 |
| 35 | South Carolina | $82,949 | $39.88 |
| 36 | Vermont | $76,638 | $36.85 |
| 37 | Oklahoma | $81,561 | $39.21 |
| 38 | Wisconsin | $78,322 | $37.65 |
| 39 | South Dakota | $73,434 | $35.30 |
| 40 | Florida | $77,900 | $37.45 |
| 41 | North Dakota | $70,930 | $34.10 |
| 42 | Montana | $75,382 | $36.24 |
| 43 | Pennsylvania | $71,612 | $34.43 |
| 44 | Minnesota | $69,166 | $33.25 |
| 45 | Missouri | $77,131 | $37.08 |
| 46 | Kentucky | $74,590 | $35.86 |
| 47 | Mississippi | $74,595 | $35.86 |
| 48 | Hawaii | $58,582 | $28.16 |
| 49 | Nebraska | $68,150 | $32.76 |
| 50 | Kansas | $67,576 | $32.49 |
| 51 | Arkansas | $65,144 | $31.32 |
The highest-paying cities for laboratory engineers are San Francisco, CA, Washington, DC, and Seattle, WA.
| Rank | City | Avg. salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Francisco, CA | $126,432 | $60.78 |
| 2 | Washington, DC | $107,108 | $51.49 |
| 3 | Seattle, WA | $105,949 | $50.94 |
| 4 | Columbia, MD | $102,594 | $49.32 |
| 5 | Boston, MA | $98,615 | $47.41 |
| 6 | Albuquerque, NM | $95,106 | $45.72 |
| 7 | Richardson, TX | $93,764 | $45.08 |
| 8 | Phoenix, AZ | $92,408 | $44.43 |
| 9 | Colorado Springs, CO | $91,635 | $44.06 |
| 10 | Morgantown, WV | $91,257 | $43.87 |
| 11 | Bloomington, IN | $91,121 | $43.81 |
| 12 | Dearborn, MI | $87,944 | $42.28 |
| 13 | Memphis, TN | $87,417 | $42.03 |
| 14 | Chicago, IL | $85,281 | $41.00 |
| 15 | Tallahassee, FL | $83,687 | $40.23 |
| 16 | Newark, NJ | $83,473 | $40.13 |
| 17 | Columbia, SC | $83,099 | $39.95 |
| 18 | Rochester, NY | $77,773 | $37.39 |
| 19 | Philadelphia, PA | $72,116 | $34.67 |
| 20 | Little Rock, AR | $65,557 | $31.52 |
A laboratory engineer's salary ranges from $62,000 a year at the 10th percentile to $135,000 at the 90th percentile.

| Percentile | Annual salary | Monthly salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 90th Percentile | $135,000 | $11,250 | $65 |
| 75th Percentile | $112,000 | $9,333 | $54 |
| Average | $92,242 | $7,687 | $44 |
| 25th Percentile | $75,000 | $6,250 | $36 |
| 10th Percentile | $62,000 | $5,167 | $30 |
The highest paying types of laboratory engineers are contracting engineer, senior engineer, and staff engineer.
| Job title | Annual salary | Monthly salary | Hourly rate | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Design Engineer | $77,134 | $6,428 | $37.08 | 138,173 |
| Equipment Engineer | $97,539 | $8,128 | $46.89 | 108,449 |
| Field Engineer | $71,874 | $5,989 | $34.55 | 86,015 |
| Development Engineer | $93,206 | $7,767 | $44.81 | 224,881 |
| Service Engineer | $87,151 | $7,263 | $41.90 | 143,806 |
| Systems Engineer | $82,834 | $6,903 | $39.82 | 145,936 |
Top companies hiring laboratory engineers now:
Laboratory engineer salaries at Meta and Apple are the highest-paying according to our most recent salary estimates. In addition, the average laboratory engineer salary at companies like Microsoft and NVIDIA are highly competitive.
| Rank | Company | Average salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Meta | $150,732 | $72.47 |
| 2 | Apple | $145,228 | $69.82 |
| 3 | Microsoft | $132,979 | $63.93 |
| 4 | NVIDIA | $125,768 | $60.47 |
| 5 | Amazon | $124,568 | $59.89 |
| 6 | Cisco | $120,269 | $57.82 |
| 7 | Riverbed Holdings, Inc. | $117,287 | $56.39 |
| 8 | American Express | $115,670 | $55.61 |
| 9 | Foundation Medicine | $112,652 | $54.16 |
| 10 | NTT Europe Ltd | $110,182 | $52.97 |
| 11 | Nokia | $108,037 | $51.94 |
| 12 | FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies | $106,819 | $51.36 |
| 13 | AT&T | $105,104 | $50.53 |
| 14 | Fujitsu | $104,978 | $50.47 |
| 15 | Mylan | $103,478 | $49.75 |
| 16 | Phoenix Contact | $102,057 | $49.07 |
| 17 | ZODIAC POOL SYSTEMS | $101,823 | $48.95 |
| 18 | Volkswagen Group of America | $101,555 | $48.82 |
| 19 | Hewlett Packard Enterprise | $101,170 | $48.64 |
| 20 | Pharmaceutical Product Development | $101,123 | $48.62 |
The average laboratory engineer salary varies across industries:
| Rank | Industry | Average salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Technology | $104,456 | $50.22 |
| 2 | Automotive | $96,843 | $46.56 |
| 3 | Manufacturing | $87,723 | $42.17 |
| 4 | Education | $82,543 | $39.68 |
| 5 | Professional | $80,638 | $38.77 |
The average laboratory engineer salary has risen by $11,183 over the last ten years. In 2014, the average laboratory engineer earned $81,059 annually, but today, they earn $92,242 a year. That works out to a 7% change in pay for laboratory engineers over the last decade.
Compare laboratory engineer salaries for cities or states with the national average over time.
Compare laboratory engineer salaries for individual cities or states with the national average.
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $92,200 | $44.35 | +1.9% |
| 2024 | $90,500 | $43.50 | +1.2% |
| 2023 | $89,400 | $42.97 | +1.7% |
| 2022 | $87,900 | $42.24 | +2.0% |
| 2021 | $86,100 | $41.41 | +0.7% |
| Company | Job | Location | Date added | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boeing | Electrical Components Lab Engineer | Heath, OH | 06/28/2025 | $116,450 |
| Brooksource | Lab Engineer | Englewood, CO | 06/27/2025 | $62,610 |
| Doordash | Perception Engineer-Labs | San Francisco, CA | 06/27/2025 | $193,800 |
| Salesforce.com, Inc. | Analytics Engineer, Media Lab | Ione, CA | 06/26/2025 | $169,600 |
| Salesforce.com, Inc. | Analytics Engineer, Media Lab | Seattle, WA | 06/26/2025 | $169,600 |
| Salesforce.com, Inc. | Analytics Engineer, Media Lab | Indianapolis, IN | 06/26/2025 | $169,600 |
| St. Cloud State University | Laboratory Engineer | Saint Cloud, MN | 06/26/2025 | $47,607 |
| Washington University In St. Louis | Neuroimaging Engineer-Radiology-Neuroimaging Labs Research Center | Ione, WA | 06/26/2025 | $53,100 |
| Meta | Hardware Lab Engineer | Sunnyvale, CA | 06/25/2025 | $111,000 |
| Lockheed Martin Corporation | Lo Materials Laboratory Engineer | Palmdale, CA | 06/25/2025 | $80,600 |
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