How much does a mechanical development engineer make?

The average mechanical development engineer salary in the United States is $91,933. Mechanical development engineer salaries typically range between $69,000 and $121,000 yearly. The average hourly rate for mechanical development engineers is $44.2 per hour. Mechanical development engineer salary is impacted by location, education, and experience. Mechanical development engineers earn the highest average salary in California.

Mechanical development engineer salary

Q: What state pays Mechanical Development Engineers the most?

California pays Mechanical Development Engineers the most in the United States, with an average salary of $118,958 per year, or $57.19 per hour.

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

You know if you are being paid fairly as a mechanical development engineer if your pay is close to the average pay for the state you live in. For example, if you live in New Mexico you should be paid close to $109,171 per year.

Quoted expert

Marco Schoen Ph.D.

Average mechanical development engineer salary

$91,933

$44.2 hourly rate

Entry-level mechanical development engineer salary

$69,000 yearly salary

Updated January 8, 2025

Average Mechanical Development Engineer Salary

The average salary for a Mechanical Development Engineer stands at $91,933 per year, translating to about $44 per hour. Salaries in this profession can differ significantly depending on various factors such as location, years of experience, and the specific sector within engineering.

Salary by Experience Level

Entry-level positions may start around $70,000. Mid-career professionals can expect earnings between $85,000 and $100,000, while those with extensive experience can earn upwards of $120,000.

Highest Paying States

States like California, Texas, and New York often offer higher salaries for Mechanical Development Engineers. For instance, positions in California can command salaries exceeding $100,000, driven by the demand in tech and aerospace industries.

Salary Estimates from Across the Web

Salary data from various sources provides insights into market trends, helping job seekers gauge their potential earnings. Platforms like Glassdoor and PayScale offer additional resources for salary comparisons based on location and experience.

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Mechanical development engineer salary by:

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Where can a Mechanical Development Engineer earn more?

Compare salary by location

143k

123k

103k

83k

63k

43k

Columbus, OH$131,573

Fond du Lac, WI$73,374

Compare salary by company

138k

118k

98k

78k

58k

Amazon$127,399

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions$88,099

Mechanical development engineer salaries by experience level

Mechanical development engineer salary estimates from across the web

Based on the latest salary information compiled by Zippia, Comparably and Payscale, the average salary for a mechanical development engineer typically falls between $72,500 and $91,933.

zippia

$91,933yearly

comparably[1]

$84,385yearly

payscale[2]

$72,500yearly

Average mechanical development engineer salary by state

The average mechanical development engineer salary in California, New Mexico, and Oregon are the highest in the U.S. The lowest average mechanical development engineer salary states are South Carolina, Kentucky, and Wisconsin.

State view
County view

Average salary:

Highest paying states for mechanical development engineers

Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
1	California	$118,958	$57.19
2	New Mexico	$109,171	$52.49
3	Texas	$105,661	$50.80
4	Washington	$106,584	$51.24
5	Oregon	$108,199	$52.02
6	Massachusetts	$100,141	$48.14
7	Nevada	$99,307	$47.74
8	Michigan	$93,674	$45.04
9	Georgia	$97,829	$47.03
10	Alaska	$97,267	$46.76
11	Arizona	$90,693	$43.60
12	Idaho	$102,036	$49.06
13	District of Columbia	$98,527	$47.37
14	Pennsylvania	$84,857	$40.80
15	Delaware	$96,458	$46.37
16	Maryland	$98,733	$47.47
17	Alabama	$85,731	$41.22
18	New York	$96,518	$46.40
19	Louisiana	$94,292	$45.33
20	West Virginia	$87,763	$42.19
21	Kansas	$83,153	$39.98
22	Wyoming	$80,175	$38.55
23	New Hampshire	$85,961	$41.33
24	Minnesota	$81,856	$39.35
25	Montana	$81,845	$39.35
26	Utah	$83,837	$40.31
27	Connecticut	$90,333	$43.43
28	Rhode Island	$83,991	$40.38
29	Virginia	$83,735	$40.26
30	Maine	$84,059	$40.41
31	Ohio	$78,208	$37.60
32	New Jersey	$88,458	$42.53
33	Indiana	$78,385	$37.69
34	Florida	$79,823	$38.38
35	North Carolina	$81,760	$39.31
36	Iowa	$78,100	$37.55
37	North Dakota	$74,179	$35.66
38	Colorado	$80,414	$38.66
39	Hawaii	$77,977	$37.49
40	Oklahoma	$79,342	$38.15
41	South Dakota	$75,264	$36.18
42	Illinois	$81,558	$39.21
43	Tennessee	$76,218	$36.64
44	Missouri	$77,026	$37.03
45	Wisconsin	$73,096	$35.14
46	Vermont	$77,752	$37.38
47	Nebraska	$70,850	$34.06
48	South Carolina	$74,108	$35.63
49	Kentucky	$73,589	$35.38
50	Arkansas	$68,769	$33.06
51	Mississippi	$72,806	$35.00

Top mechanical development engineer jobs near you

Highest paying cities for mechanical development engineers

The highest-paying cities for mechanical development engineers are Oakland, CA, Bothell, WA, and Sugar Land, TX.

Rank	City	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
1	Oakland, CA	$131,573	$63.26
2	Bothell, WA	$107,222	$51.55
3	Sugar Land, TX	$105,979	$50.95
4	Boston, MA	$100,174	$48.16
5	Bethesda, MD	$98,420	$47.32
6	Albany, NY	$96,175	$46.24
7	Rochester Hills, MI	$93,874	$45.13
8	Chandler, AZ	$90,589	$43.55
9	Huntsville, AL	$84,662	$40.70
10	Harrisburg, PA	$84,350	$40.55
11	Salt Lake City, UT	$83,453	$40.12
12	Plymouth, MN	$81,938	$39.39
13	Hickory, NC	$80,994	$38.94
14	Rockledge, FL	$80,314	$38.61
15	Tulsa, OK	$78,588	$37.78
16	Iowa City, IA	$78,104	$37.55
17	Columbus, IN	$77,825	$37.42
18	Greenville, SC	$74,033	$35.59
19	Fond du Lac, WI	$73,374	$35.28

Mechanical development engineer salary details

A mechanical development engineer's salary ranges from $69,000 a year at the 10th percentile to $121,000 at the 90th percentile.

Average mechanical development engineer salary graph, trends, and summary

What is a mechanical development 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	$91,933	$7,661	$44
25th Percentile	$79,000	$6,583	$38
10th Percentile	$69,000	$5,750	$33

Highest paying mechanical development engineer jobs

The highest paying types of mechanical development 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
Staff Engineer	$107,530	$8,961	$51.70	277,011
Tool Engineer	$101,135	$8,428	$48.62	98,936
Product Engineer	$89,645	$7,470	$43.10	157,888
Packaging Engineer	$88,452	$7,371	$42.52	54,028
Research Engineer	$96,945	$8,079	$46.61	136,763

How would you rate the starting salaries for mechanical development 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 mechanical development engineers now:

Which companies pay mechanical development engineers the most?

Mechanical development engineer salaries at Amazon and PRO Unlimited are the highest-paying according to our most recent salary estimates. In addition, the average mechanical development engineer salary at companies like Canon and Kelly Services are highly competitive.

Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate
1	Amazon	$127,399	$61.25
2	PRO Unlimited	$120,294	$57.83
3	Canon	$100,396	$48.27
4	Kelly Services	$98,169	$47.20
5	ICONMA	$97,253	$46.76
6	Henny Penny	$97,055	$46.66
7	PROVEN BUSINESS SYSTEMS	$95,733	$46.03
8	Solectron Corp	$94,562	$45.46
9	A123 Systems	$94,315	$45.34
10	Corning Incorporated	$93,906	$45.15
11	Rockwell Automation	$91,696	$44.08
12	FCA US LLC	$91,676	$44.08
13	Brunswick	$90,956	$43.73
14	LHP	$90,893	$43.70
15	Kinsley Power Systems	$90,765	$43.64
16	G-TECH	$89,379	$42.97
17	Philips	$89,283	$42.92
18	Ansys	$88,592	$42.59
19	Wagner Spray Tech	$88,188	$42.40
20	Kratos Defense & Security Solutions	$88,099	$42.36

Wage gap by gender, race and education

$92,000$91,400$90,800$90,200$89,600$89,000

MaleFemale

Mechanical Development Engineer salary by industry

The average mechanical development engineer salary varies across industries:

The average mechanical development engineer salary in the technology industry is $96,587, the highest of any industry.
The average mechanical development engineer salary in the finance industry is $91,160.
Mechanical development engineers in the automotive industry earn an average salary of $79,228, the lowest of any industry.

Highest paying industries for mechanical development engineers

Rank	Industry	Average salary	Hourly rate
1	Technology	$96,587	$46.44
2	Transportation	$91,160	$43.83
3	Energy	$91,059	$43.78
4	Manufacturing	$85,365	$41.04
5	Health Care	$82,727	$39.77
6	Construction	$82,422	$39.63
7	Automotive	$79,228	$38.09

High paying mechanical development engineer jobs

Mechanical development engineer salary trends

The average mechanical development engineer salary has risen by $11,145 over the last ten years. In 2014, the average mechanical development engineer earned $80,788 annually, but today, they earn $91,933 a year. That works out to a 7% change in pay for mechanical development engineers over the last decade.

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

Average mechanical development engineer salary over time

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

Mechanical development engineer salary by year

Year	Avg. salary	Hourly rate	% Change
2025	$91,900	$44.20	+1.9%
2024	$90,200	$43.35	+1.2%
2023	$89,100	$42.83	+1.7%
2022	$87,600	$42.10	+2.0%
2021	$85,800	$41.27	+0.7%

Recently added mechanical development engineer salaries

Company	Job	Location	Date added	Salary
In-Situ Inc.	Mechanical Engineer-R&D	Fort Collins, CO	06/29/2025	$85,000
Specialized Bicycles	Mechanical Engineer-Helmet Development	Morgan Hill, CA	06/27/2025	$85,971
Bitzer Scroll Inc.	Mechanical Development Engineer	Syracuse, NY	06/25/2025	$70,000
Specialized	Mechanical Engineer-Helmet Development	Morgan Hill, CA	06/24/2025	$85,971
Jamie Grayem	Precision Mechanical Engineer/Semiconductor R&D	San Jose, CA	06/24/2025	$140,000
Johnson & Johnson	Mechanical Engineer, Robotics R&D	Santa Clara, CA	06/20/2025	$103,000
Amazon.com, Inc.	SR. Thermal, Mechanical Hardware Development Engineer, AWS Hwengs Thermal Mechanical	Seattle, WA	06/14/2025	$128,600
Brunswick Boat Group	Mechanical Development Engineer	Fond du Lac, WI	06/12/2025	$74,600
Brunswick Corp	Mechanical Development Engineer	Fond du Lac, WI	06/11/2025	$74,600
Abbott Laboratories	Mechanical Development Quality Engineer I	Selma, CA	05/27/2025	$72,100

Mechanical development engineer salary FAQs

What state pays Mechanical Development Engineers the most?

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

Have more questions? See all answers to common architecture and engineering questions.

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Updated January 8, 2025

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