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Software validation engineer salary
Average software validation engineer salary
$93,590
The role of a Software Validation Engineer is vital in maintaining software quality across industries. As of October 2025, the average salary for this position stands at $93,590 per year, or about $45 per hour. Compensation can vary based on several factors including geographic location, years of experience, and the specific industry. For instance, validation engineers in the pharmaceutical and medical device sectors often command higher salaries due to the stringent regulatory environment.
In terms of regional pay, states like California and Texas offer some of the highest salaries for Software Validation Engineers, reflecting the demand for skilled talent in tech hubs. Additionally, professionals with specialized skills in automated testing or regulatory compliance may find opportunities that pay above the average. By understanding the job market and salary trends, prospective engineers can better position themselves for lucrative roles in this growing field.
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Where can a Software Validation Engineer earn more?
Software validation engineer salary estimates from across the web
Average software validation engineer salary by state
The average software validation engineer salary in California, Oregon, and Utah are the highest in the U.S. The lowest average software validation engineer salary states are Kansas, North Dakota, and Kentucky.
- State view
- County view
Highest paying states for software validation engineers
| Rank | State | Avg. salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | $117,801 | $56.64 |
| 2 | Oregon | $111,674 | $53.69 |
| 3 | Utah | $110,864 | $53.30 |
| 4 | Washington | $109,972 | $52.87 |
| 5 | Vermont | $98,688 | $47.45 |
| 6 | Idaho | $95,509 | $45.92 |
| 7 | Montana | $93,236 | $44.83 |
| 8 | Arizona | $94,303 | $45.34 |
| 9 | District of Columbia | $100,879 | $48.50 |
| 10 | Delaware | $93,001 | $44.71 |
| 11 | Missouri | $96,913 | $46.59 |
| 12 | Massachusetts | $93,233 | $44.82 |
| 13 | Nevada | $91,840 | $44.15 |
| 14 | New Hampshire | $90,416 | $43.47 |
| 15 | Alaska | $98,928 | $47.56 |
| 16 | Wyoming | $87,096 | $41.87 |
| 17 | Florida | $93,855 | $45.12 |
| 18 | New Jersey | $92,034 | $44.25 |
| 19 | South Carolina | $91,681 | $44.08 |
| 20 | South Dakota | $88,885 | $42.73 |
| 21 | Pennsylvania | $87,630 | $42.13 |
| 22 | Tennessee | $89,605 | $43.08 |
| 23 | Texas | $86,867 | $41.76 |
| 24 | Minnesota | $89,504 | $43.03 |
| 25 | Rhode Island | $85,850 | $41.27 |
| 26 | Colorado | $88,419 | $42.51 |
| 27 | Connecticut | $88,488 | $42.54 |
| 28 | Maine | $87,317 | $41.98 |
| 29 | Arkansas | $83,272 | $40.03 |
| 30 | Georgia | $85,379 | $41.05 |
| 31 | New York | $85,214 | $40.97 |
| 32 | Virginia | $83,738 | $40.26 |
| 33 | North Carolina | $82,854 | $39.83 |
| 34 | Michigan | $83,270 | $40.03 |
| 35 | West Virginia | $83,364 | $40.08 |
| 36 | Ohio | $83,097 | $39.95 |
| 37 | Oklahoma | $84,788 | $40.76 |
| 38 | Mississippi | $84,295 | $40.53 |
| 39 | Maryland | $81,944 | $39.40 |
| 40 | Wisconsin | $83,001 | $39.90 |
| 41 | Alabama | $82,341 | $39.59 |
| 42 | Louisiana | $84,096 | $40.43 |
| 43 | Iowa | $82,691 | $39.76 |
| 44 | Illinois | $82,504 | $39.67 |
| 45 | New Mexico | $81,524 | $39.19 |
| 46 | North Dakota | $79,256 | $38.10 |
| 47 | Kansas | $80,585 | $38.74 |
| 48 | Nebraska | $73,090 | $35.14 |
| 49 | Indiana | $73,832 | $35.50 |
| 50 | Kentucky | $75,846 | $36.46 |
| 51 | Hawaii | $70,038 | $33.67 |
Highest paying cities for software validation engineers
The highest-paying cities for software validation engineers are Foster City, CA, Hillsboro, OR, and Redmond, WA.
| Rank | City | Avg. salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Foster City, CA | $130,615 | $62.80 |
| 2 | Hillsboro, OR | $111,254 | $53.49 |
| 3 | Redmond, WA | $110,414 | $53.08 |
| 4 | Saint Louis, MO | $96,740 | $46.51 |
| 5 | Phoenix, AZ | $94,500 | $45.43 |
| 6 | Miami, FL | $93,870 | $45.13 |
| 7 | Cambridge, MA | $93,358 | $44.88 |
| 8 | East Brunswick, NJ | $91,920 | $44.19 |
| 9 | Memphis, TN | $89,970 | $43.25 |
| 10 | Plymouth, MN | $89,614 | $43.08 |
| 11 | Philadelphia, PA | $88,181 | $42.39 |
| 12 | Austin, TX | $87,682 | $42.15 |
| 13 | Reston, VA | $83,601 | $40.19 |
| 14 | Warren, MI | $83,357 | $40.08 |
| 15 | Columbus, OH | $83,013 | $39.91 |
| 16 | Waukegan, IL | $82,635 | $39.73 |
| 17 | Columbus, IN | $73,911 | $35.53 |
Software validation engineer salary details
A software validation engineer's salary ranges from $73,000 a year at the 10th percentile to $119,000 at the 90th percentile.
What is a software validation engineer's salary?
| Percentile | Annual salary | Monthly salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 90th Percentile | $119,000 | $9,917 | $57 |
| 75th Percentile | $106,000 | $8,833 | $51 |
| Average | $93,590 | $7,799 | $45 |
| 25th Percentile | $82,000 | $6,833 | $39 |
| 10th Percentile | $73,000 | $6,083 | $35 |
Highest paying software validation engineer jobs
The highest paying types of software validation engineers are staff software engineer, principal software engineer, and software engineer lead.
| Job title | Annual salary | Monthly salary | Hourly rate | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Software Analyst | $78,400 | $6,533 | $37.69 | 274,053 |
| Software Developer | $87,521 | $7,293 | $42.08 | 294,329 |
| Software Engineering Internship | $47,164 | $3,930 | $22.67 | 301,105 |
| Software Engineer-Consultant | $113,987 | $9,499 | $54.80 | 317,033 |
| Principal Software Engineer | $134,230 | $11,186 | $64.53 | 345,893 |
| Embedded Software Engineer | $102,143 | $8,512 | $49.11 | 171,613 |
Top companies hiring software validation engineers now:
Which companies pay software validation engineers the most?
Software validation engineer salaries at Apple and Zoox are the highest-paying according to our most recent salary estimates. In addition, the average software validation engineer salary at companies like Neuralink IT Solutions and Pure Storage are highly competitive.
| Rank | Company | Average salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Apple | $138,696 | $66.68 |
| 2 | Zoox | $123,865 | $59.55 |
| 3 | Neuralink IT Solutions | $121,561 | $58.44 |
| 4 | Pure Storage | $118,093 | $56.78 |
| 5 | Populus Group | $109,311 | $52.55 |
| 6 | ICONMA | $108,945 | $52.38 |
| 7 | Varian Medical Systems | $104,861 | $50.41 |
| 8 | Tesla | $104,709 | $50.34 |
| 9 | NIO | $104,420 | $50.20 |
| 10 | Lucid Motors | $103,464 | $49.74 |
| 11 | Ford Motor | $100,123 | $48.14 |
| 12 | Visteon | $99,787 | $47.97 |
| 13 | General Motors | $99,552 | $47.86 |
| 14 | International Trucks | $98,348 | $47.28 |
| 15 | Navistar | $98,285 | $47.25 |
| 16 | Cirrus Logic | $98,263 | $47.24 |
| 17 | FCA US LLC | $97,423 | $46.84 |
| 18 | Randstad North America, Inc. | $96,850 | $46.56 |
| 19 | Autoliv | $96,400 | $46.35 |
| 20 | American Axle & Manufacturing | $95,476 | $45.90 |
Wage gap by gender, race and education
Software Validation Engineer salary by industry
The average software validation engineer salary varies across industries:
- The average software validation engineer salary in the health care industry is $97,000, the highest of any industry.
- The average software validation engineer salary in the finance industry is $95,959.
- Software validation engineers in the technology industry earn an average salary of $91,503, the lowest of any industry.
Highest paying industries for software validation engineers
| Rank | Industry | Average salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Health Care | $97,000 | $46.63 |
| 2 | Automotive | $95,959 | $46.13 |
| 3 | Manufacturing | $91,522 | $44.00 |
| 4 | Technology | $91,503 | $43.99 |
High paying software validation engineer jobs
Software validation engineer salary trends
The average software validation engineer salary has risen by $17,374 over the last ten years. In 2014, the average software validation engineer earned $76,216 annually, but today, they earn $93,590 a year. That works out to a 10% change in pay for software validation engineers over the last decade.
Compare software validation engineer salaries for cities or states with the national average over time.
Average software validation engineer salary over time
Compare software validation engineer salaries for individual cities or states with the national average.
Software validation engineer salary by year
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | $93,600 | $45.00 | +3.3% |
| 2025 | $90,500 | $43.51 | +2.3% |
| 2024 | $88,500 | $42.53 | +1.8% |
| 2023 | $86,900 | $41.78 | +1.7% |
| 2022 | $85,400 | $41.07 | +1.8% |
Recently added software validation engineer salaries
| Company | Job | Location | Date added | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zipline | Autonomy Software Engineer, Validation Tools | South San Francisco, CA | 06/29/2025 | $170,000 |
| Lucid Motors | SR. Software Validation Engineer, Charging Systems | Newark, CA | 06/29/2025 | $127,000 |
| Broadcom | Ethernet NIC Software and Validation Engineer | Irvine, CA | 06/20/2025 | $127,000 |
| Apple | Silicon Validation Software Engineer: Embedded and Low-Level Programming | Waltham, MA | 06/05/2025 | $157,800 |
| Insight Global | Software Validation Engineer | Irvine, CA | 05/29/2025 | $154,438 |
| Lucid Motors | SR. Software Validation Engineer, Charging Systems | Newark, CA | 05/27/2025 | $127,000 |
| Rivian | SR. Software Validation and HIL Engineer, Power Electronics Functional Safety | Torrance, CA | 05/19/2025 | $135,100 |
| Solectron Corp | IT Software Validation Engineer | Libertyville, IL | 05/15/2025 | $70,400 |
| Flex | IT Software Validation Engineer | Libertyville, IL | 05/14/2025 | $70,400 |
| Lucid Motors | SR. Software Validation Engineer, Charging Systems | Newark, NJ | 05/02/2025 | $127,000 |
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