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System design engineer salary
Average system design engineer salary
$107,704
Average System Design Engineer Salary
The average salary for a System Design Engineer in the United States is approximately $107,704 per year. This figure can fluctuate based on factors such as geographic location, years of experience, and the specific industry in which an engineer is employed. Entry-level positions typically start around $80,000, while seasoned professionals can earn upwards of $130,000.
Salaries by State
When examining salaries by state, regions like California and New York often lead in compensation due to their high demand for tech talent. Notably, jobs in San Francisco and Seattle tend to offer the highest salaries, often exceeding the national average. Additionally, companies are increasingly offering competitive benefits and incentives to attract skilled engineers.
Experience Levels
Experience level significantly impacts earnings. Entry-level engineers generally earn lower salaries, while those with extensive experience command higher wages. Specialized skills in emerging technologies can also lead to lucrative opportunities. As companies seek to innovate, System Design Engineers with expertise in artificial intelligence and machine learning are particularly sought after.
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Where can a System Design Engineer earn more?
System design engineer salaries by experience level
| Experience level | Avg. salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|
| Entry-level system design engineer | $71,800 | $34.53 |
| Mid-level system design engineer | $114,000 | $55.04 |
| Senior-level system design engineer | $169,000 | $81.39 |
Average system design engineer salary by state
The average system design engineer salary in California, New Mexico, and Washington are the highest in the U.S. The lowest average system design engineer salary states are Michigan, Arkansas, and Wisconsin.
- State view
- County view
Highest paying states for system design engineers
| Rank | State | Avg. salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | $133,727 | $64.29 |
| 2 | Washington | $111,005 | $53.37 |
| 3 | Oregon | $103,663 | $49.84 |
| 4 | Utah | $101,882 | $48.98 |
| 5 | New Mexico | $114,022 | $54.82 |
| 6 | Alaska | $105,377 | $50.66 |
| 7 | Texas | $99,231 | $47.71 |
| 8 | Vermont | $99,905 | $48.03 |
| 9 | Idaho | $105,607 | $50.77 |
| 10 | District of Columbia | $98,133 | $47.18 |
| 11 | Wyoming | $88,637 | $42.61 |
| 12 | Massachusetts | $90,639 | $43.58 |
| 13 | Colorado | $88,957 | $42.77 |
| 14 | Delaware | $88,579 | $42.59 |
| 15 | Arizona | $83,545 | $40.17 |
| 16 | North Dakota | $86,402 | $41.54 |
| 17 | Maine | $88,686 | $42.64 |
| 18 | New Jersey | $93,665 | $45.03 |
| 19 | Louisiana | $92,661 | $44.55 |
| 20 | Maryland | $84,462 | $40.61 |
| 21 | Rhode Island | $85,757 | $41.23 |
| 22 | Mississippi | $88,797 | $42.69 |
| 23 | Alabama | $79,129 | $38.04 |
| 24 | Virginia | $82,444 | $39.64 |
| 25 | New Hampshire | $81,079 | $38.98 |
| 26 | Iowa | $81,077 | $38.98 |
| 27 | South Dakota | $81,469 | $39.17 |
| 28 | Nevada | $80,385 | $38.65 |
| 29 | Oklahoma | $81,241 | $39.06 |
| 30 | Tennessee | $80,019 | $38.47 |
| 31 | Montana | $78,926 | $37.95 |
| 32 | Minnesota | $77,258 | $37.14 |
| 33 | Florida | $77,813 | $37.41 |
| 34 | Hawaii | $76,709 | $36.88 |
| 35 | New York | $78,811 | $37.89 |
| 36 | Connecticut | $76,631 | $36.84 |
| 37 | Michigan | $71,221 | $34.24 |
| 38 | Nebraska | $77,078 | $37.06 |
| 39 | Missouri | $77,403 | $37.21 |
| 40 | Georgia | $74,911 | $36.01 |
| 41 | North Carolina | $72,152 | $34.69 |
| 42 | Pennsylvania | $72,133 | $34.68 |
| 43 | Illinois | $71,893 | $34.56 |
| 44 | Kansas | $72,701 | $34.95 |
| 45 | West Virginia | $71,378 | $34.32 |
| 46 | Kentucky | $72,194 | $34.71 |
| 47 | Wisconsin | $66,952 | $32.19 |
| 48 | Arkansas | $70,390 | $33.84 |
| 49 | Indiana | $65,370 | $31.43 |
| 50 | Ohio | $63,479 | $30.52 |
| 51 | South Carolina | $63,830 | $30.69 |
Highest paying cities for system design engineers
The highest-paying cities for system design engineers are San Francisco, CA, Seattle, WA, and Hillsboro, OR.
| Rank | City | Avg. salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Francisco, CA | $143,257 | $68.87 |
| 2 | Seattle, WA | $111,697 | $53.70 |
| 3 | Hillsboro, OR | $103,444 | $49.73 |
| 4 | Austin, TX | $100,085 | $48.12 |
| 5 | Jersey City, NJ | $94,131 | $45.26 |
| 6 | Andover, MA | $90,746 | $43.63 |
| 7 | Colorado Springs, CO | $89,820 | $43.18 |
| 8 | Phoenix, AZ | $84,238 | $40.50 |
| 9 | Oklahoma City, OK | $81,723 | $39.29 |
| 10 | New York, NY | $78,869 | $37.92 |
| 11 | Orlando, FL | $78,534 | $37.76 |
| 12 | Huntsville, AL | $76,736 | $36.89 |
| 13 | Wichita, KS | $73,730 | $35.45 |
| 14 | Wilmington, NC | $72,782 | $34.99 |
| 15 | Rockford, IL | $72,323 | $34.77 |
| 16 | Troy, MI | $71,543 | $34.40 |
| 17 | Columbus, IN | $64,940 | $31.22 |
System design engineer salary details
A system design engineer's salary ranges from $77,000 a year at the 10th percentile to $149,000 at the 90th percentile.
What is a system design engineer's salary?
| Percentile | Annual salary | Monthly salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 90th Percentile | $149,000 | $12,417 | $72 |
| 75th Percentile | $128,000 | $10,667 | $62 |
| Average | $107,704 | $8,975 | $52 |
| 25th Percentile | $90,000 | $7,500 | $43 |
| 10th Percentile | $77,000 | $6,417 | $37 |
Highest paying system design engineer jobs
The highest paying types of system design engineers are senior staff engineer, principal engineer, and contracting engineer.
| Job title | Annual salary | Monthly salary | Hourly rate | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Radio Frequency Engineer | $88,301 | $7,358 | $42.45 | 35,158 |
| Electronics Engineer | $93,985 | $7,832 | $45.19 | 83,870 |
| Project Engineer | $75,050 | $6,254 | $36.08 | 176,689 |
| Engineer | $92,076 | $7,673 | $44.27 | 618,207 |
| Electrical Engineer | $81,026 | $6,752 | $38.95 | 68,536 |
| Principal Engineer | $130,213 | $10,851 | $62.60 | 312,683 |
How would you rate the starting salaries for system design engineers, as well as the prospects for salary advancement?
Michael Rudisill
Department Head and Professor of Engineering Technology, Northern Michigan University
Top companies hiring system design engineers now:
Which companies pay system design engineers the most?
System design engineer salaries at Meta and Apple are the highest-paying according to our most recent salary estimates. In addition, the average system design engineer salary at companies like Google and Rivian are highly competitive.
| Rank | Company | Average salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Meta | $146,474 | $70.42 |
| 2 | Apple | $142,711 | $68.61 |
| 3 | $136,777 | $65.76 | |
| 4 | Rivian | $134,057 | $64.45 |
| 5 | Microsoft | $133,944 | $64.40 |
| 6 | Karma Automotive | $132,544 | $63.72 |
| 7 | Harley-Davidson | $130,927 | $62.95 |
| 8 | Zoox | $130,804 | $62.89 |
| 9 | Tesla | $129,564 | $62.29 |
| 10 | NVIDIA | $127,637 | $61.36 |
| 11 | Ford Motor | $127,619 | $61.36 |
| 12 | Rambus | $127,327 | $61.21 |
| 13 | Dana Incorporated | $127,026 | $61.07 |
| 14 | Synaptics | $126,942 | $61.03 |
| 15 | Harmonic | $126,781 | $60.95 |
| 16 | Workday | $126,717 | $60.92 |
| 17 | Lucid Motors | $126,420 | $60.78 |
| 18 | Adobe | $125,030 | $60.11 |
| 19 | Nexteer Automotive | $124,258 | $59.74 |
| 20 | Broadcom | $123,373 | $59.31 |
Wage gap by gender, race and education
System Design Engineer salary by industry
The average system design engineer salary varies across industries:
- The average system design engineer salary in the automotive industry is $116,222, the highest of any industry.
- The average system design engineer salary in the finance industry is $115,328.
- System design engineers in the transportation industry earn an average salary of $86,802, the lowest of any industry.
Highest paying industries for system design engineers
| Rank | Industry | Average salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Automotive | $116,222 | $55.88 |
| 2 | Technology | $115,328 | $55.45 |
| 3 | Manufacturing | $92,658 | $44.55 |
| 4 | Transportation | $86,802 | $41.73 |
High paying system design engineer jobs
System design engineer salary trends
The average system design engineer salary has risen by $15,927 over the last ten years. In 2014, the average system design engineer earned $91,777 annually, but today, they earn $107,704 a year. That works out to a 7% change in pay for system design engineers over the last decade.
Compare system design engineer salaries for cities or states with the national average over time.
Average system design engineer salary over time
Compare system design engineer salaries for individual cities or states with the national average.
System design engineer salary by year
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $108,000 | $51.78 | +2.3% |
| 2024 | $105,000 | $50.60 | +1.9% |
| 2023 | $103,000 | $49.63 | +1.6% |
| 2022 | $102,000 | $48.82 | +0.9% |
| 2021 | $101,000 | $48.38 | +1.3% |
Recently added system design engineer salaries
| Company | Job | Location | Date added | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jeppesen | Embedded Firmware Design Engineer-RF Systems (Mid-Level, Lead or Senior) | Tukwila, WA | 06/30/2025 | $155,550 |
| Jeppesen | Cmcs Electrical System Design & Analysis Engineer | Hazelwood, MO | 06/30/2025 | $119,850 |
| Jeppesen | Electronic Systems Design and Analysis Engineer (Associate, Experienced or Senior) | Everett, WA | 06/30/2025 | $128,350 |
| Jeppesen | Computer Architect/Embedded Computing Systems Design Engineer (Lead or Senior) | El Segundo, CA | 06/30/2025 | $155,550 |
| Espace Aubade | Senior Wireless System & Algorithm Design Engineer | Saratoga, CA | 06/29/2025 | $100,000 |
| Lucid Motors | Electrical System Design Senior Engineer-Adas and Autonomous Driving | Newark, CA | 06/29/2025 | $154,000 |
| KLA Corporation | System Design Engineer | Milpitas, CA | 06/28/2025 | $130,400 |
| Ronco | Healthcare Systems Design Engineer | Albany, NY | 06/28/2025 | $72,000 |
| Zeiss | Systems Design Engineer, Staff | Dublin, CA | 06/28/2025 | $152,000 |
| Boeing | Cmcs Electrical System Design & Analysis Engineer | Hazelwood, MO | 06/27/2025 | $119,850 |
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