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The average salary for a Systems Engineer and Team Lead in the United States is $105,392 per year. Salaries can vary significantly based on factors such as location, experience, and industry. For instance, professionals in higher-paying industries, like technology and finance, often earn above the national average.
Some states offer better compensation packages than others. For example, systems engineers in California and New York frequently command higher salaries due to the higher cost of living and demand for tech talent. Specific salary ranges may vary from $95,000 to $120,000 depending on the region.
Cities like San Francisco, New York, and Seattle are known for offering the highest salaries for this position, with averages reaching $120,000 or more. This trend highlights the importance of location in maximizing earning potential.
The demand for skilled systems engineers and team leads is growing, with numerous job openings across various sectors. Exploring these opportunities can lead to lucrative career advancements.
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The highest-paying states for systems engineers and team lead are California, Pennsylvania, and Nevada. The lowest average systems engineer and team lead salary states are Montana, Indiana, and South Carolina.
| Rank | State | Avg. salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | $127,815 | $61.45 |
| 2 | Washington | $116,619 | $56.07 |
| 3 | Nevada | $116,861 | $56.18 |
| 4 | Oregon | $116,360 | $55.94 |
| 5 | Colorado | $108,106 | $51.97 |
| 6 | Idaho | $106,808 | $51.35 |
| 7 | Delaware | $108,880 | $52.35 |
| 8 | Pennsylvania | $119,245 | $57.33 |
| 9 | Nebraska | $106,018 | $50.97 |
| 10 | Massachusetts | $114,462 | $55.03 |
| 11 | Wyoming | $99,759 | $47.96 |
| 12 | Virginia | $104,657 | $50.32 |
| 13 | Michigan | $106,791 | $51.34 |
| 14 | South Dakota | $97,980 | $47.11 |
| 15 | Vermont | $102,064 | $49.07 |
| 16 | District of Columbia | $104,786 | $50.38 |
| 17 | Utah | $97,397 | $46.83 |
| 18 | Arizona | $102,313 | $49.19 |
| 19 | New York | $103,924 | $49.96 |
| 20 | Georgia | $99,044 | $47.62 |
| 21 | Maryland | $97,494 | $46.87 |
| 22 | North Carolina | $99,589 | $47.88 |
| 23 | Hawaii | $106,957 | $51.42 |
| 24 | Tennessee | $97,016 | $46.64 |
| 25 | Maine | $97,127 | $46.70 |
| 26 | Texas | $96,655 | $46.47 |
| 27 | Oklahoma | $93,691 | $45.04 |
| 28 | Missouri | $96,802 | $46.54 |
| 29 | Minnesota | $94,913 | $45.63 |
| 30 | New Jersey | $101,085 | $48.60 |
| 31 | West Virginia | $94,780 | $45.57 |
| 32 | Alabama | $91,615 | $44.05 |
| 33 | Rhode Island | $96,492 | $46.39 |
| 34 | Arkansas | $90,529 | $43.52 |
| 35 | New Hampshire | $93,299 | $44.86 |
| 36 | Illinois | $94,484 | $45.42 |
| 37 | Connecticut | $92,545 | $44.49 |
| 38 | North Dakota | $91,514 | $44.00 |
| 39 | Alaska | $85,268 | $40.99 |
| 40 | Kansas | $91,766 | $44.12 |
| 41 | Wisconsin | $93,269 | $44.84 |
| 42 | Ohio | $91,845 | $44.16 |
| 43 | Montana | $86,439 | $41.56 |
| 44 | New Mexico | $87,812 | $42.22 |
| 45 | Kentucky | $91,080 | $43.79 |
| 46 | Louisiana | $91,778 | $44.12 |
| 47 | Iowa | $87,325 | $41.98 |
| 48 | Florida | $84,616 | $40.68 |
| 49 | South Carolina | $85,531 | $41.12 |
| 50 | Indiana | $85,682 | $41.19 |
| 51 | Mississippi | $84,054 | $40.41 |
The highest-paying cities for systems engineers and team lead are San Francisco, CA, Philadelphia, PA, and University Place, WA.
| Rank | City | Avg. salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Francisco, CA | $138,291 | $66.49 |
| 2 | Philadelphia, PA | $119,925 | $57.66 |
| 3 | University Place, WA | $117,755 | $56.61 |
| 4 | Cambridge, MA | $114,435 | $55.02 |
| 5 | Colorado Springs, CO | $108,292 | $52.06 |
| 6 | Ann Arbor, MI | $106,773 | $51.33 |
| 7 | Washington, DC | $104,896 | $50.43 |
| 8 | Arlington, VA | $104,534 | $50.26 |
| 9 | New York, NY | $104,198 | $50.10 |
| 10 | Tucson, AZ | $101,693 | $48.89 |
| 11 | Peachtree City, GA | $98,798 | $47.50 |
| 12 | Charlotte, NC | $98,510 | $47.36 |
| 13 | Austin, TX | $97,668 | $46.96 |
| 14 | American Fork, UT | $96,966 | $46.62 |
| 15 | Saint Paul, MN | $94,978 | $45.66 |
| 16 | Skokie, IL | $94,764 | $45.56 |
| 17 | Brookfield, WI | $93,407 | $44.91 |
| 18 | Middletown, CT | $92,632 | $44.53 |
| 19 | Huntsville, AL | $90,925 | $43.71 |
| 20 | Middletown, OH | $90,690 | $43.60 |
A systems engineer and team lead's salary ranges from $80,000 a year at the 10th percentile to $137,000 at the 90th percentile.

| Percentile | Annual salary | Monthly salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 90th Percentile | $137,000 | $11,417 | $66 |
| 75th Percentile | $121,000 | $10,083 | $58 |
| Average | $105,392 | $8,783 | $51 |
| 25th Percentile | $91,000 | $7,583 | $44 |
| 10th Percentile | $80,000 | $6,667 | $38 |
The highest paying types of systems engineers and team lead are principal systems engineer, manager, systems engineering, and senior systems software engineer.
| Job title | Annual salary | Monthly salary | Hourly rate | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Network Engineer | $83,557 | $6,963 | $40.17 | 72,346 |
| Management Engineer | $90,571 | $7,548 | $43.54 | 175,986 |
| Team Lead Engineer | $114,867 | $9,572 | $55.22 | 235,155 |
| Computer Engineer | $96,805 | $8,067 | $46.54 | 126,709 |
| Systems Operator | $38,182 | $3,182 | $18.36 | 91,037 |
| Systems Analyst | $75,383 | $6,282 | $36.24 | 141,289 |
Top companies hiring systems engineers and team lead now:
Systems engineer and team lead salaries at Cloudflare and Amazon are the highest-paying according to our most recent salary estimates. In addition, the average systems engineer and team lead salary at companies like Kelly Services and Randstad North America, Inc. are highly competitive.
| Rank | Company | Average salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cloudflare | $147,105 | $70.72 |
| 2 | Amazon | $141,112 | $67.84 |
| 3 | Kelly Services | $119,968 | $57.68 |
| 4 | Randstad North America, Inc. | $116,141 | $55.84 |
| 5 | Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi | $114,324 | $54.96 |
| 6 | TeleCommunication Systems | $114,152 | $54.88 |
| 7 | Motion Recruitment | $113,794 | $54.71 |
| 8 | Samsung Electronics Device Solutions (Semiconductor & Display) | $111,142 | $53.43 |
| 9 | FCA US LLC | $108,349 | $52.09 |
| 10 | Magna International | $107,251 | $51.56 |
| 11 | M&T Bank | $105,422 | $50.68 |
| 12 | Bank of America | $104,770 | $50.37 |
| 13 | Pratt & Whitney | $103,968 | $49.98 |
| 14 | Siemens | $102,841 | $49.44 |
| 15 | Magna-Power | $102,189 | $49.13 |
| 16 | Forrester | $101,455 | $48.78 |
| 17 | Boeing | $101,251 | $48.68 |
| 18 | PatientKeeper | $100,296 | $48.22 |
| 19 | Sabre | $99,593 | $47.88 |
| 20 | Dynetics | $97,206 | $46.73 |
The average systems engineer and team lead salary varies across industries:
| Rank | Industry | Average salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Retail | $112,615 | $54.14 |
| 2 | Automotive | $109,714 | $52.75 |
| 3 | Professional | $109,110 | $52.46 |
| 4 | Telecommunication | $102,817 | $49.43 |
| 5 | Technology | $100,254 | $48.20 |
| 6 | Finance | $88,268 | $42.44 |
The average systems engineer and team lead salary has risen by $19,231 over the last ten years. In 2014, the average systems engineer and team lead earned $86,161 annually, but today, they earn $105,392 a year. That works out to a 9% change in pay for systems engineers and team lead over the last decade.
Compare systems engineer and team lead salaries for cities or states with the national average over time.
Compare systems engineer and team lead salaries for individual cities or states with the national average.
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $105,000 | $50.67 | +3.3% |
| 2024 | $102,000 | $49.00 | +2.3% |
| 2023 | $99,600 | $47.89 | +1.2% |
| 2022 | $98,500 | $47.34 | +1.7% |
| 2021 | $96,800 | $46.52 | +2.4% |
| Company | Job | Location | Date added | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Dynamics | SR Advanced Systems Engineer Test & Evaluation Team Lead | Quincy, MA | 06/14/2025 | $160,066 |
| General Dynamics | SR Advanced Systems Engineer Test & Evaluation Team Lead | Quincy, MA | 05/13/2025 | $160,066 |
| General Dynamics Mission Systems | SR Advanced Systems Engineer-Test Evaluation Team Lead | Quincy, MA | 05/08/2025 | $160,066 |
| Caci International | Deputy Team Lead-Nasa Computer Systems Engineering | Houston, TX | 04/28/2025 | $75,200 |
| Parsons | Systems Engineer Team Lead | Columbia, MD | 03/28/2025 | $149,900 |
| Nutanix | Team Lead, Academy Systems Engineering | Durham, NC | 03/22/2025 | $165,200 |
| Otak | Senior Stream and Natural Systems Engineering Team Leader | Redmond, WA | 03/12/2025 | $130,000 |
| Caci International | Deputy Team Lead-Nasa Computer Systems Engineering | Houston, TX | 02/27/2025 | $75,200 |
| Parsons | Systems Engineer Team Lead Engineering Columbia United States of America | Independence, KS | 02/18/2025 | $149,900 |
| Northrop Grumman | Principal System Engineers-Integrated Product Team (IPT) Lead | Baltimore, MD | 02/17/2025 | $102,400 |
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