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Senior hardware engineer salary
Average senior hardware engineer salary
$116,383
Average Senior Hardware Engineer Salary
The average annual salary for a Senior Hardware Engineer in the United States is approximately $116,383. This figure can vary significantly based on location, experience level, and the industry in which you work. For example, engineers in technology hubs like California and New York often command higher salaries due to increased demand and cost of living adjustments.
Highest Paying States for Senior Hardware Engineers
- California: $130,000
- Washington: $125,000
- Massachusetts: $120,000
Additionally, the job market for Senior Hardware Engineers is strong, with opportunities in sectors such as aerospace, telecommunications, and consumer electronics. Understanding which industries offer the best compensation can guide your career decisions. Researching job listings and salary estimates can provide valuable insights into potential earnings and help you negotiate effectively. Stay updated on salary trends to ensure you make informed decisions as you pursue this dynamic and rewarding career path.
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Where can a Senior Hardware Engineer earn more?
Senior hardware engineer salary estimates from across the web
Average senior hardware engineer salary by state
The highest-paying states for senior hardware engineers are Washington, California, and Oregon. The lowest average senior hardware engineer salary states are Wyoming, Indiana, and Nebraska.
- State view
- County view
Highest paying states for senior hardware engineers
| Rank | State | Avg. salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Washington | $177,095 | $85.14 |
| 2 | Oregon | $129,572 | $62.29 |
| 3 | California | $133,716 | $64.29 |
| 4 | Massachusetts | $119,898 | $57.64 |
| 5 | Maine | $128,150 | $61.61 |
| 6 | New Hampshire | $118,083 | $56.77 |
| 7 | Vermont | $117,278 | $56.38 |
| 8 | Texas | $115,116 | $55.34 |
| 9 | Arizona | $114,205 | $54.91 |
| 10 | New Mexico | $118,355 | $56.90 |
| 11 | Connecticut | $118,573 | $57.01 |
| 12 | Virginia | $113,054 | $54.35 |
| 13 | Kansas | $115,752 | $55.65 |
| 14 | Alabama | $107,693 | $51.78 |
| 15 | North Dakota | $115,022 | $55.30 |
| 16 | West Virginia | $111,502 | $53.61 |
| 17 | Idaho | $112,624 | $54.15 |
| 18 | Colorado | $109,500 | $52.64 |
| 19 | New York | $112,442 | $54.06 |
| 20 | Maryland | $109,670 | $52.73 |
| 21 | North Carolina | $107,616 | $51.74 |
| 22 | Arkansas | $109,874 | $52.82 |
| 23 | Georgia | $107,356 | $51.61 |
| 24 | Pennsylvania | $108,402 | $52.12 |
| 25 | Wisconsin | $105,926 | $50.93 |
| 26 | Montana | $107,346 | $51.61 |
| 27 | Utah | $101,983 | $49.03 |
| 28 | Alaska | $106,484 | $51.19 |
| 29 | District of Columbia | $101,765 | $48.93 |
| 30 | New Jersey | $109,084 | $52.44 |
| 31 | Delaware | $101,984 | $49.03 |
| 32 | Rhode Island | $101,939 | $49.01 |
| 33 | Hawaii | $104,140 | $50.07 |
| 34 | Louisiana | $105,600 | $50.77 |
| 35 | Minnesota | $101,235 | $48.67 |
| 36 | Florida | $102,695 | $49.37 |
| 37 | Michigan | $97,070 | $46.67 |
| 38 | South Dakota | $100,621 | $48.38 |
| 39 | South Carolina | $102,908 | $49.48 |
| 40 | Wyoming | $95,064 | $45.70 |
| 41 | Illinois | $100,237 | $48.19 |
| 42 | Oklahoma | $100,929 | $48.52 |
| 43 | Ohio | $98,209 | $47.22 |
| 44 | Indiana | $94,727 | $45.54 |
| 45 | Iowa | $96,689 | $46.49 |
| 46 | Missouri | $97,719 | $46.98 |
| 47 | Nebraska | $93,089 | $44.75 |
| 48 | Mississippi | $96,555 | $46.42 |
| 49 | Nevada | $91,116 | $43.81 |
| 50 | Kentucky | $73,938 | $35.55 |
| 51 | Tennessee | $71,552 | $34.40 |
Highest paying cities for senior hardware engineers
The highest-paying cities for senior hardware engineers are Seattle, WA, San Francisco, CA, and Hillsboro, OR.
| Rank | City | Avg. salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Seattle, WA | $179,186 | $86.15 |
| 2 | San Francisco, CA | $144,387 | $69.42 |
| 3 | Hillsboro, OR | $129,619 | $62.32 |
| 4 | Marlborough, MA | $119,770 | $57.58 |
| 5 | Austin, TX | $115,789 | $55.67 |
| 6 | Phoenix, AZ | $114,455 | $55.03 |
| 7 | Arlington, VA | $113,089 | $54.37 |
| 8 | Boulder, CO | $109,677 | $52.73 |
| 9 | Germantown, MD | $109,593 | $52.69 |
| 10 | Bridgewater, NJ | $108,982 | $52.40 |
| 11 | Horsham, PA | $108,684 | $52.25 |
| 12 | Raleigh, NC | $108,138 | $51.99 |
| 13 | Huntsville, AL | $106,359 | $51.13 |
| 14 | Milwaukee, WI | $106,047 | $50.98 |
| 15 | Eden Prairie, MN | $101,289 | $48.70 |
| 16 | Saint Louis, MO | $98,062 | $47.15 |
| 17 | Southfield, MI | $97,219 | $46.74 |
Senior hardware engineer salary details
A senior hardware engineer's salary ranges from $89,000 a year at the 10th percentile to $151,000 at the 90th percentile.
What is a senior hardware engineer's salary?
| Percentile | Annual salary | Monthly salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 90th Percentile | $151,000 | $12,583 | $73 |
| 75th Percentile | $133,000 | $11,083 | $64 |
| Average | $116,383 | $9,699 | $56 |
| 25th Percentile | $101,000 | $8,417 | $49 |
| 10th Percentile | $89,000 | $7,417 | $43 |
Highest paying senior hardware engineer jobs
The highest paying types of senior hardware engineers are manager, hardware engineering, hardware manager, and senior staff engineer.
| Job title | Annual salary | Monthly salary | Hourly rate | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Engineer | $92,076 | $7,673 | $44.27 | 618,207 |
| Design Verification Engineer | $117,277 | $9,773 | $56.38 | 65,429 |
| Verification Engineer | $104,158 | $8,680 | $50.08 | 38,261 |
| Principal Engineer | $130,213 | $10,851 | $62.60 | 312,683 |
| Staff Engineer | $107,530 | $8,961 | $51.70 | 277,011 |
| Hardware Engineering Internship | $63,154 | $5,263 | $30.36 | 100,276 |
How would you rate the starting salaries for senior hardware engineers, as well as the prospects for salary advancement?
Michael Rudisill
Department Head and Professor of Engineering Technology, Northern Michigan University
Top companies hiring senior hardware engineers now:
Which companies pay senior hardware engineers the most?
Senior hardware engineer salaries at Netflix and Twitter are the highest-paying according to our most recent salary estimates. In addition, the average senior hardware engineer salary at companies like Google and Roku are highly competitive.
| Rank | Company | Average salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Netflix | $174,343 | $83.82 |
| 2 | $174,226 | $83.76 | |
| 3 | $172,893 | $83.12 | |
| 4 | Roku | $171,538 | $82.47 |
| 5 | Microsoft | $161,009 | $77.41 |
| 6 | Uber Technologies | $156,622 | $75.30 |
| 7 | Fungible | $155,079 | $74.56 |
| 8 | Palo Alto Networks | $153,836 | $73.96 |
| 9 | Apple | $153,150 | $73.63 |
| 10 | Didi Chuxing | $152,208 | $73.18 |
| 11 | Cruise Automation | $149,682 | $71.96 |
| 12 | NVIDIA | $149,539 | $71.89 |
| 13 | Sony Interactive Entertainment America | $147,917 | $71.11 |
| 14 | Zoox | $147,669 | $70.99 |
| 15 | GoPro | $146,779 | $70.57 |
| 16 | Vicarious | $144,387 | $69.42 |
| 17 | Fitbit | $142,618 | $68.57 |
| 18 | Nikola Motor | $141,546 | $68.05 |
| 19 | Cisco | $141,091 | $67.83 |
| 20 | SiFive | $139,723 | $67.17 |
Wage gap by gender, race and education
Senior Hardware Engineer salary by industry
The average senior hardware engineer salary varies across industries:
- The average senior hardware engineer salary in the automotive industry is $134,117, the highest of any industry.
- The average senior hardware engineer salary in the finance industry is $119,532.
- Senior hardware engineers in the manufacturing industry earn an average salary of $115,317, the lowest of any industry.
Highest paying industries for senior hardware engineers
| Rank | Industry | Average salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Automotive | $134,117 | $64.48 |
| 2 | Technology | $119,532 | $57.47 |
| 3 | Telecommunication | $115,801 | $55.67 |
| 4 | Professional | $115,669 | $55.61 |
| 5 | Manufacturing | $115,317 | $55.44 |
High paying senior hardware engineer jobs
Senior hardware engineer salary trends
The average senior hardware engineer salary has risen by $20,393 over the last ten years. In 2014, the average senior hardware engineer earned $95,990 annually, but today, they earn $116,383 a year. That works out to a 4% change in pay for senior hardware engineers over the last decade.
Compare senior hardware engineer salaries for cities or states with the national average over time.
Average senior hardware engineer salary over time
Compare senior hardware engineer salaries for individual cities or states with the national average.
Senior hardware engineer salary by year
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $116,000 | $55.95 | +2.0% |
| 2024 | $114,000 | $54.86 | +2.2% |
| 2023 | $112,000 | $53.63 | -0.5% |
| 2022 | $112,000 | $53.88 | +0.0% |
| 2021 | $112,000 | $53.86 | +2.9% |
Recently added senior hardware engineer salaries
| Company | Job | Location | Date added | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blue Origin | Senior GNC Hardware Engineer-Blue Ring | Huntsville, AL | 06/30/2025 | $152,235 |
| T-Mobile Usa | SR Engineer, Cloud Hardware | Bellevue, WA | 06/29/2025 | $108,000 |
| Coreweave | Senior Hardware Engineer, GPU & Pcie | Bellevue, WA | 06/29/2025 | $176,000 |
| Ai-Media | Senior Hardware Engineer | Farmingdale, NY | 06/28/2025 | $110,000 |
| Ttm Technologies | Senior Hardware Quality Engineer | Farmingdale, NY | 06/27/2025 | $95,446 |
| Amazon.com, Inc. | SR. HDD Hardware Engineer, Storage System Development, OEM Drives | Denver, CO | 06/26/2025 | $136,100 |
| Pure Storage | Senior Hardware Reliability Engineer, Systems Engineering | Santa Clara, CA | 06/26/2025 | $193,000 |
| Ricoh | Hardware Senior Engineer Testing | Boulder, CO | 06/26/2025 | $90,000 |
| Industrial Light & Magic | Ride Control Hardware Engineer Senior | Glendale, CA | 06/25/2025 | $123,900 |
| Space Exploration Technologies | SR. Hardware Reliability Engineer (Avionics) | Hawthorne, CA | 06/24/2025 | $125,000 |
Senior hardware engineer salary FAQs
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