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The average salary for a Senior Computer Engineer stands at $127,660 annually, translating to about $61 per hour. Salaries can vary significantly based on geographic location, industry, and years of experience. For instance, California and New York often offer some of the highest pay rates for this profession.
States such as Washington and Texas also provide competitive salaries, alongside a thriving job market. Industries including technology, finance, and aerospace are notable for offering higher compensation. As you advance in your career, specializing in emerging technologies can further enhance your earning potential.
Job seekers should explore opportunities across various sectors to maximize their salary potential. Positions in management or specialized fields often come with premium pay. Understanding the salary dynamics by state and industry can empower you to negotiate effectively and choose the right career path.
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The average senior computer engineer salary in Washington, California, and New York are the highest in the U.S. The lowest average senior computer engineer salary states are Nebraska, Michigan, and Indiana.
| Rank | State | Avg. salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | $156,795 | $75.38 |
| 2 | Washington | $158,664 | $76.28 |
| 3 | New Mexico | $125,594 | $60.38 |
| 4 | New York | $131,445 | $63.19 |
| 5 | Oregon | $120,578 | $57.97 |
| 6 | Colorado | $122,517 | $58.90 |
| 7 | Maine | $128,072 | $61.57 |
| 8 | Idaho | $118,861 | $57.14 |
| 9 | Vermont | $116,845 | $56.18 |
| 10 | Texas | $116,009 | $55.77 |
| 11 | Utah | $113,171 | $54.41 |
| 12 | North Dakota | $117,397 | $56.44 |
| 13 | Alaska | $113,039 | $54.35 |
| 14 | Virginia | $111,931 | $53.81 |
| 15 | Montana | $113,106 | $54.38 |
| 16 | Massachusetts | $112,220 | $53.95 |
| 17 | Connecticut | $116,499 | $56.01 |
| 18 | Arizona | $112,014 | $53.85 |
| 19 | Kansas | $115,790 | $55.67 |
| 20 | Maryland | $112,991 | $54.32 |
| 21 | Rhode Island | $101,128 | $48.62 |
| 22 | Alabama | $104,755 | $50.36 |
| 23 | Wyoming | $99,586 | $47.88 |
| 24 | Arkansas | $108,146 | $51.99 |
| 25 | West Virginia | $103,652 | $49.83 |
| 26 | Louisiana | $106,775 | $51.33 |
| 27 | New Hampshire | $98,470 | $47.34 |
| 28 | Hawaii | $100,905 | $48.51 |
| 29 | South Dakota | $99,273 | $47.73 |
| 30 | Illinois | $100,766 | $48.45 |
| 31 | Pennsylvania | $98,715 | $47.46 |
| 32 | Oklahoma | $101,245 | $48.68 |
| 33 | Minnesota | $97,730 | $46.99 |
| 34 | Delaware | $96,827 | $46.55 |
| 35 | Georgia | $98,604 | $47.41 |
| 36 | North Carolina | $97,147 | $46.71 |
| 37 | District of Columbia | $95,376 | $45.85 |
| 38 | South Carolina | $97,189 | $46.73 |
| 39 | Wisconsin | $96,393 | $46.34 |
| 40 | New Jersey | $97,211 | $46.74 |
| 41 | Mississippi | $95,860 | $46.09 |
| 42 | Florida | $94,807 | $45.58 |
| 43 | Nebraska | $91,857 | $44.16 |
| 44 | Nevada | $92,481 | $44.46 |
| 45 | Michigan | $85,269 | $40.99 |
| 46 | Missouri | $95,510 | $45.92 |
| 47 | Iowa | $92,586 | $44.51 |
| 48 | Indiana | $83,971 | $40.37 |
| 49 | Ohio | $82,995 | $39.90 |
| 50 | Tennessee | $77,873 | $37.44 |
| 51 | Kentucky | $68,193 | $32.79 |
The highest-paying cities for senior computer engineers are San Francisco, CA, Seattle, WA, and New York, NY.
| Rank | City | Avg. salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Francisco, CA | $165,575 | $79.60 |
| 2 | Seattle, WA | $160,032 | $76.94 |
| 3 | New York, NY | $131,537 | $63.24 |
| 4 | Colorado Springs, CO | $123,070 | $59.17 |
| 5 | Beaverton, OR | $120,064 | $57.72 |
| 6 | Austin, TX | $116,569 | $56.04 |
| 7 | McLean, VA | $112,394 | $54.04 |
| 8 | Cambridge, MA | $112,326 | $54.00 |
| 9 | Chandler, AZ | $111,848 | $53.77 |
| 10 | Chicago, IL | $100,918 | $48.52 |
| 11 | Atlanta, GA | $98,288 | $47.25 |
| 12 | Eden Prairie, MN | $97,630 | $46.94 |
| 13 | Jersey City, NJ | $97,579 | $46.91 |
| 14 | Racine, WI | $95,875 | $46.09 |
| 15 | Saint Louis, MO | $94,657 | $45.51 |
| 16 | Gainesville, FL | $93,760 | $45.08 |
| 17 | Las Vegas, NV | $91,829 | $44.15 |
| 18 | Southfield, MI | $85,296 | $41.01 |
A senior computer engineer's salary ranges from $94,000 a year at the 10th percentile to $173,000 at the 90th percentile.

| Percentile | Annual salary | Monthly salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 90th Percentile | $173,000 | $14,417 | $83 |
| 75th Percentile | $149,000 | $12,417 | $72 |
| Average | $127,660 | $10,638 | $61 |
| 25th Percentile | $108,000 | $9,000 | $52 |
| 10th Percentile | $94,000 | $7,833 | $45 |
The highest paying types of senior computer engineers are hardware manager, principal engineer, and contracting engineer.
| Job title | Annual salary | Monthly salary | Hourly rate | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hardware Engineering Internship | $63,154 | $5,263 | $30.36 | 100,276 |
| Hardware Design Engineer | $106,135 | $8,845 | $51.03 | 69,000 |
| Hardware Engineer | $104,912 | $8,743 | $50.44 | 53,213 |
| Engineer | $92,076 | $7,673 | $44.27 | 618,207 |
| Design Verification Engineer | $117,277 | $9,773 | $56.38 | 65,429 |
| Hardware Test Engineer | $108,602 | $9,050 | $52.21 | 77,022 |
Top companies hiring senior computer engineers now:
Senior computer engineer salaries at Apple and Avian are the highest-paying according to our most recent salary estimates. In addition, the average senior computer engineer salary at companies like Netgear and Microsoft are highly competitive.
| Rank | Company | Average salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Apple | $157,264 | $75.61 |
| 2 | Avian | $154,863 | $74.45 |
| 3 | Netgear | $152,630 | $73.38 |
| 4 | Microsoft | $150,846 | $72.52 |
| 5 | NVIDIA | $149,114 | $71.69 |
| 6 | Magic Leap | $146,480 | $70.42 |
| 7 | CyberCoders | $143,896 | $69.18 |
| 8 | Amazon | $142,590 | $68.55 |
| 9 | Peloton Interactive, Inc. | $140,856 | $67.72 |
| 10 | Dolby Laboratories | $139,428 | $67.03 |
| 11 | Vanguard Services | $139,159 | $66.90 |
| 12 | Nutcracker Therapeutics | $139,091 | $66.87 |
| 13 | Samsung Electronics Device Solutions (Semiconductor & Display) | $138,304 | $66.49 |
| 14 | Shiseido Americas Corporation | $137,806 | $66.25 |
| 15 | Grabango | $137,752 | $66.23 |
| 16 | AVANT Communications | $137,607 | $66.16 |
| 17 | Embodied | $137,603 | $66.16 |
| 18 | Precision Inc | $137,594 | $66.15 |
| 19 | Akoya Biosciences | $137,594 | $66.15 |
| 20 | Path Robotics | $137,594 | $66.15 |
The average senior computer engineer salary varies across industries:
| Rank | Industry | Average salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Retail | $137,685 | $66.19 |
| 2 | Health Care | $133,206 | $64.04 |
| 3 | Construction | $117,835 | $56.65 |
| 4 | Automotive | $112,360 | $54.02 |
| 5 | Technology | $107,639 | $51.75 |
The average senior computer engineer salary has risen by $22,369 over the last ten years. In 2014, the average senior computer engineer earned $105,291 annually, but today, they earn $127,660 a year. That works out to a 4% change in pay for senior computer engineers over the last decade.
Compare senior computer engineer salaries for cities or states with the national average over time.
Compare senior computer engineer salaries for individual cities or states with the national average.
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $128,000 | $61.38 | +2.0% |
| 2024 | $125,000 | $60.17 | +2.2% |
| 2023 | $122,000 | $58.83 | -0.5% |
| 2022 | $123,000 | $59.10 | +0.0% |
| 2021 | $123,000 | $59.08 | +2.9% |
| Company | Job | Location | Date added | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Contact Government Services, LLC | SR. Cloud Engineer (AWS)-Cloud Computing Solutions | Fayetteville, AR | 06/30/2025 | $127,296 |
| Anduril Industries | Senior Computer Vision/Machine Learning Engineer | Costa Mesa, CA | 06/29/2025 | $168,000 |
| Samsung Electronics America | Senior Engineer, GPU Software Compute | Austin, TX | 06/28/2025 | $124,000 |
| Kodiak | Senior Applied AI Engineer-Computer Vision | Mountain View, CA | 06/26/2025 | $175,000 |
| TP-Link Systems | SR. Ai/Ml Computer Vision Engineer | Irvine, CA | 06/25/2025 | $130,000 |
| Stand 8 Technology Consulting | Senior End User Computing Engineer (Windows) | New York, NY | 06/25/2025 | $135,655 |
| Hover.To | Senior Computer Vision Engineer | New York, NY | 06/24/2025 | $230,000 |
| Astranis | Senior CAD Engineer | San Francisco, CA | 06/21/2025 | $140,000 |
| Samsung Austin Semiconductor | Senior Engineer, GPU Software Compute | Austin, TX | 06/20/2025 | $124,000 |
| Lockheed Martin | Computer Vision Engineer, SR | Littleton, CO | 06/18/2025 | $104,900 |
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