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Technical design engineer salary
Average technical design engineer salary
$75,599
Average Technical Design Engineer Salary
The average salary for a Technical Design Engineer stands at $75,599 per year. This figure can vary based on several factors, including geographic location, years of experience, and the specific industry you work in. For instance, states like California and New York often report higher salaries due to a higher cost of living and demand for skilled professionals.
Salary by Experience Level
Entry-level positions may offer lower compensation, while those with several years of experience can expect significantly higher salaries. For example, a senior technical design engineer can earn upwards of $95,000 annually.
Top Paying States
The highest paying states for technical design engineers include:
- California
- New York
- Washington
- Massachusetts
- Texas
In addition to state, the industry you choose can influence your salary. Industries such as aerospace, automotive, and technology typically offer better pay compared to others. Understanding these dynamics can help you strategize your career path effectively.
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Where can a Technical Design Engineer earn more?
Technical design engineer salaries by experience level
Technical design engineer salary estimates from across the web
Average technical design engineer salary by state
The average technical design engineer salary in California, Massachusetts, and Maryland are the highest in the U.S. The lowest average technical design engineer salary states are Montana, Minnesota, and Mississippi.
- State view
- County view
Highest paying states for technical design engineers
| Rank | State | Avg. salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | $109,032 | $52.42 |
| 2 | Delaware | $90,771 | $43.64 |
| 3 | Maryland | $93,584 | $44.99 |
| 4 | Michigan | $89,607 | $43.08 |
| 5 | District of Columbia | $97,428 | $46.84 |
| 6 | Idaho | $87,993 | $42.30 |
| 7 | Washington | $88,893 | $42.74 |
| 8 | Massachusetts | $93,712 | $45.05 |
| 9 | Pennsylvania | $86,137 | $41.41 |
| 10 | Connecticut | $82,811 | $39.81 |
| 11 | New Hampshire | $81,078 | $38.98 |
| 12 | Alaska | $80,388 | $38.65 |
| 13 | New York | $85,256 | $40.99 |
| 14 | Virginia | $87,205 | $41.93 |
| 15 | Rhode Island | $89,983 | $43.26 |
| 16 | Oregon | $80,302 | $38.61 |
| 17 | Maine | $82,690 | $39.75 |
| 18 | Indiana | $82,599 | $39.71 |
| 19 | Vermont | $73,648 | $35.41 |
| 20 | West Virginia | $81,271 | $39.07 |
| 21 | Iowa | $80,058 | $38.49 |
| 22 | Ohio | $79,392 | $38.17 |
| 23 | North Carolina | $73,129 | $35.16 |
| 24 | New Jersey | $79,762 | $38.35 |
| 25 | Alabama | $72,609 | $34.91 |
| 26 | Hawaii | $79,369 | $38.16 |
| 27 | Illinois | $74,756 | $35.94 |
| 28 | New Mexico | $72,792 | $35.00 |
| 29 | Tennessee | $73,754 | $35.46 |
| 30 | Arizona | $74,267 | $35.71 |
| 31 | Georgia | $73,221 | $35.20 |
| 32 | Wisconsin | $70,763 | $34.02 |
| 33 | Texas | $69,572 | $33.45 |
| 34 | Nevada | $70,800 | $34.04 |
| 35 | North Dakota | $63,184 | $30.38 |
| 36 | Wyoming | $63,107 | $30.34 |
| 37 | Louisiana | $72,596 | $34.90 |
| 38 | South Carolina | $71,426 | $34.34 |
| 39 | Colorado | $63,504 | $30.53 |
| 40 | Montana | $62,962 | $30.27 |
| 41 | Florida | $69,271 | $33.30 |
| 42 | Kentucky | $66,656 | $32.05 |
| 43 | Utah | $65,557 | $31.52 |
| 44 | Minnesota | $62,210 | $29.91 |
| 45 | South Dakota | $63,389 | $30.48 |
| 46 | Missouri | $65,594 | $31.54 |
| 47 | Oklahoma | $64,135 | $30.83 |
| 48 | Nebraska | $57,874 | $27.82 |
| 49 | Arkansas | $53,918 | $25.92 |
| 50 | Mississippi | $60,382 | $29.03 |
| 51 | Kansas | $55,548 | $26.71 |
Highest paying cities for technical design engineers
The highest-paying cities for technical design engineers are San Francisco, CA, New Bedford, MA, and Frederick, MD.
| Rank | City | Avg. salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Francisco, CA | $120,477 | $57.92 |
| 2 | New Bedford, MA | $95,341 | $45.84 |
| 3 | Frederick, MD | $93,083 | $44.75 |
| 4 | Redmond, WA | $89,594 | $43.07 |
| 5 | Alexandria, VA | $88,148 | $42.38 |
| 6 | Allentown, PA | $86,969 | $41.81 |
| 7 | New York, NY | $85,532 | $41.12 |
| 8 | Columbus, IN | $82,336 | $39.58 |
| 9 | Cedar Rapids, IA | $81,222 | $39.05 |
| 10 | Jersey City, NJ | $79,952 | $38.44 |
| 11 | Columbus, OH | $79,253 | $38.10 |
| 12 | Chicago, IL | $75,212 | $36.16 |
| 13 | Phoenix, AZ | $74,414 | $35.78 |
| 14 | Apex, NC | $73,845 | $35.50 |
| 15 | Atlanta, GA | $73,057 | $35.12 |
| 16 | New Orleans, LA | $72,861 | $35.03 |
| 17 | Austin, TX | $70,615 | $33.95 |
| 18 | Las Vegas, NV | $70,118 | $33.71 |
| 19 | Tampa, FL | $69,826 | $33.57 |
| 20 | Tulsa, OK | $64,004 | $30.77 |
Technical design engineer salary details
A technical design engineer's salary ranges from $49,000 a year at the 10th percentile to $116,000 at the 90th percentile.
What is a technical design engineer's salary?
| Percentile | Annual salary | Monthly salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 90th Percentile | $116,000 | $9,667 | $56 |
| 75th Percentile | $94,000 | $7,833 | $45 |
| Average | $75,599 | $6,300 | $36 |
| 25th Percentile | $60,000 | $5,000 | $29 |
| 10th Percentile | $49,000 | $4,083 | $24 |
Highest paying technical design engineer jobs
The highest paying types of technical design engineers are lead design engineer, system design engineer, and staff engineer.
| Job title | Annual salary | Monthly salary | Hourly rate | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Engineering Technician | $60,273 | $5,023 | $28.98 | 111,343 |
| Design Technician | $62,288 | $5,191 | $29.95 | 48,394 |
| Engineer | $92,076 | $7,673 | $44.27 | 618,207 |
| Staff Engineer | $107,530 | $8,961 | $51.70 | 277,011 |
| Student Engineer | $71,947 | $5,996 | $34.59 | 98,036 |
| Research Engineer | $96,945 | $8,079 | $46.61 | 136,763 |
How would you rate the starting salaries for technical design engineers, as well as the prospects for salary advancement?
Daisy Huang
Assistant Professor, University of Alaska Fairbanks
Top companies hiring technical design engineers now:
Which companies pay technical design engineers the most?
Technical design engineer salaries at Western Digital and Amazon are the highest-paying according to our most recent salary estimates. In addition, the average technical design engineer salary at companies like Hartzell Propeller and KLA are highly competitive.
| Rank | Company | Average salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Western Digital | $139,493 | $67.06 |
| 2 | Amazon | $128,519 | $61.79 |
| 3 | Hartzell Propeller | $124,861 | $60.03 |
| 4 | KLA | $113,118 | $54.38 |
| 5 | QC HOLDINGS | $104,027 | $50.01 |
| 6 | Capgemini | $98,704 | $47.45 |
| 7 | NBCUniversal | $96,058 | $46.18 |
| 8 | Tesla | $93,196 | $44.81 |
| 9 | Terex | $90,838 | $43.67 |
| 10 | Morgan Stanley | $89,308 | $42.94 |
| 11 | The Aerospace Corporation | $89,069 | $42.82 |
| 12 | Cummins | $88,302 | $42.45 |
| 13 | Boeing | $88,123 | $42.37 |
| 14 | Blue Origin | $87,741 | $42.18 |
| 15 | Cardinal Health | $87,618 | $42.12 |
| 16 | Exelon | $83,750 | $40.26 |
| 17 | L3Harris | $80,699 | $38.80 |
| 18 | Sam | $80,531 | $38.72 |
| 19 | Black & Veatch | $79,841 | $38.39 |
| 20 | ILC Dover | $79,213 | $38.08 |
Wage gap by gender, race and education
Technical Design Engineer salary by industry
The average technical design engineer salary varies across industries:
- The average technical design engineer salary in the technology industry is $97,192, the highest of any industry.
- The average technical design engineer salary in the finance industry is $74,794.
- Technical design engineers in the government industry earn an average salary of $62,934, the lowest of any industry.
Highest paying industries for technical design engineers
| Rank | Industry | Average salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Technology | $97,192 | $46.73 |
| 2 | Manufacturing | $74,794 | $35.96 |
| 3 | Construction | $73,594 | $35.38 |
| 4 | Government | $62,934 | $30.26 |
High paying technical design engineer jobs
Technical design engineer salary trends
The average technical design engineer salary has risen by $9,164 over the last ten years. In 2014, the average technical design engineer earned $66,435 annually, but today, they earn $75,599 a year. That works out to a 7% change in pay for technical design engineers over the last decade.
Compare technical design engineer salaries for cities or states with the national average over time.
Average technical design engineer salary over time
Compare technical design engineer salaries for individual cities or states with the national average.
Technical design engineer salary by year
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $75,600 | $36.35 | +1.9% |
| 2024 | $74,100 | $35.65 | +1.2% |
| 2023 | $73,300 | $35.22 | +1.7% |
| 2022 | $72,000 | $34.62 | +2.0% |
| 2021 | $70,600 | $33.94 | +0.7% |
Recently added technical design engineer salaries
| Company | Job | Location | Date added | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nextracker | Technical Design Engineer II | San Jose, CA | 06/30/2025 | $140,000 |
| PDS Defense | Technical Design Engineer 3 | Seattle, WA | 06/28/2025 | $79,306 |
| Exelon | Assoc Engineer Design Tech-Multiple Locations | Chicago, IL | 06/27/2025 | $58,400 |
| University of Maryland Medical Center Baltimore Washington | IT Innovation, Architecture and Design Engineer | Baltimore, MD | 06/27/2025 | $108,148 |
| Advastar | Engineering Design Technician | Kansas City, MO | 06/20/2025 | $52,175 |
| Barton & Loguidice | Engineering Technician/Designer | Albany, NY | 06/10/2025 | $54,262 |
| Westwood Professional Services | Engineering/Cad Technician | Fresno, CA | 06/10/2025 | $58,436 |
| Fairlife | Process Technology and Design Engineer | Webster, NY | 06/09/2025 | $90,000 |
| Avispa | CAD Technician-Engineering Document Control | South San Francisco, CA | 05/30/2025 | $52,175 |
| Barton & Loguidice | Engineering Technician/Designer | Albany, NY | 05/26/2025 | $54,262 |
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