How much does a senior mechanical designer make?

The average senior mechanical designer salary in the United States is $103,765. Senior mechanical designer salaries typically range between $81,000 and $131,000 yearly. The average hourly rate for senior mechanical designers is $49.89 per hour. Senior mechanical designer salary is impacted by location, education, and experience. Senior mechanical designers earn the highest average salary in California.

Senior mechanical designer salary

Q: What state pays Senior Mechanical Designers the most?

California pays Senior Mechanical Designers the most in the United States, with an average salary of $129,214 per year, or $62.12 per hour.

Q: How do I know if I'm being paid fairly as a senior mechanical designer?

You know if you are being paid fairly as a senior mechanical designer if your pay is close to the average pay for the state you live in. For example, if you live in California you should be paid close to $126,050 per year.

Quoted expert

Marco Schoen Ph.D.

Average senior mechanical designer salary

$103,765

$49.89 hourly rate

Entry-level senior mechanical designer salary

$81,000 yearly salary

Updated January 8, 2025

As of October 2025, the Senior Mechanical Designer salary averages about $103,765 annually, with hourly rates around $50. This figure varies significantly based on factors such as geographic location, level of experience, and the specific industry. States with the highest salaries for this role include California, Texas, and New York, reflecting the demand for skilled professionals in engineering and design.

In addition to base salary, senior mechanical designers often enjoy benefits such as bonuses, health insurance, and retirement plans. The aerospace and automotive industries tend to offer the most competitive compensation packages. Job seekers should consider both salary and potential career growth when exploring opportunities.

Prospective candidates can enhance their earning potential by gaining experience in specialized software or obtaining relevant certifications. Networking within professional organizations can also lead to better job prospects and increased salary negotiations. Understanding the salary landscape and industry trends can empower individuals to make informed career decisions and pursue roles that align with their financial goals.

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Where can a Senior Mechanical Designer earn more?

Compare salary by location

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130k

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90k

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Columbus, OH$133,518

Milwaukee, WI$79,853

Compare salary by company

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Google$150,503

Jefferson Lab$109,842

Senior mechanical designer salary estimates from across the web

Based on the latest salary information compiled by Zippia, Indeed, Glassdoor and Payscale, the average salary for a senior mechanical designer typically falls between $81,347 and $122,889.

zippia

$103,765yearly

glassdoor[1]

$122,889yearly

indeed[2]

$107,273yearly

payscale[3]

$81,347yearly

Average senior mechanical designer salary by state

The highest-paying states for senior mechanical designers are California, Washington, and Nevada. The lowest average senior mechanical designer salary states are Wyoming, Pennsylvania, and Nebraska.

State view
County view

Average salary:

Highest paying states for senior mechanical designers

Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
1	Washington	$122,753	$59.02
2	California	$126,050	$60.60
3	District of Columbia	$129,214	$62.12
4	Arizona	$110,809	$53.27
5	Massachusetts	$107,520	$51.69
6	Nevada	$113,850	$54.74
7	New Mexico	$109,560	$52.67
8	Texas	$106,357	$51.13
9	Oregon	$101,588	$48.84
10	Connecticut	$105,728	$50.83
11	New Hampshire	$99,430	$47.80
12	Maine	$106,373	$51.14
13	Idaho	$108,576	$52.20
14	Utah	$96,964	$46.62
15	West Virginia	$105,040	$50.50
16	North Carolina	$96,420	$46.36
17	Maryland	$102,372	$49.22
18	Delaware	$100,943	$48.53
19	Illinois	$98,296	$47.26
20	New York	$99,471	$47.82
21	Louisiana	$102,379	$49.22
22	Tennessee	$100,858	$48.49
23	Colorado	$96,909	$46.59
24	Virginia	$96,630	$46.46
25	Iowa	$96,153	$46.23
26	Alabama	$93,851	$45.12
27	Georgia	$93,727	$45.06
28	Alaska	$100,007	$48.08
29	Florida	$96,602	$46.44
30	Rhode Island	$91,411	$43.95
31	Michigan	$88,715	$42.65
32	Minnesota	$90,161	$43.35
33	Kansas	$89,305	$42.94
34	New Jersey	$94,847	$45.60
35	Oklahoma	$91,192	$43.84
36	Kentucky	$90,814	$43.66
37	South Carolina	$90,946	$43.72
38	North Dakota	$86,348	$41.51
39	Vermont	$87,100	$41.88
40	Missouri	$88,318	$42.46
41	Indiana	$86,913	$41.79
42	Ohio	$83,324	$40.06
43	Hawaii	$91,940	$44.20
44	Pennsylvania	$82,725	$39.77
45	Montana	$86,181	$41.43
46	Wisconsin	$79,829	$38.38
47	Wyoming	$82,998	$39.90
48	Mississippi	$84,269	$40.51
49	Nebraska	$82,712	$39.77
50	Arkansas	$80,251	$38.58
51	South Dakota	$77,458	$37.24

Top senior mechanical designer jobs near you

Highest paying cities for senior mechanical designers

The highest-paying cities for senior mechanical designers are San Francisco, CA, Washington, DC, and Everett, WA.

Rank	City	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
1	San Francisco, CA	$133,518	$64.19
2	Washington, DC	$129,246	$62.14
3	Everett, WA	$123,401	$59.33
4	Sparks, NV	$117,141	$56.32
5	Phoenix, AZ	$110,912	$53.32
6	Billerica, MA	$107,395	$51.63
7	Austin, TX	$106,961	$51.42
8	Chicago, IL	$98,514	$47.36
9	Greenville, NC	$97,558	$46.90
10	Orlando, FL	$97,361	$46.81
11	Colorado Springs, CO	$96,994	$46.63
12	Atlanta, GA	$93,389	$44.90
13	Madison, AL	$92,407	$44.43
14	Greenville, SC	$90,288	$43.41
15	Minneapolis, MN	$90,202	$43.37
16	Novi, MI	$88,738	$42.66
17	Cincinnati, OH	$82,217	$39.53
18	Milwaukee, WI	$79,853	$38.39

Senior mechanical designer salary details

A senior mechanical designer's salary ranges from $81,000 a year at the 10th percentile to $131,000 at the 90th percentile.

Average senior mechanical designer salary graph, trends, and summary

What is a senior mechanical designer's salary?

Percentile	Annual salary	Monthly salary	Hourly rate
90th Percentile	$131,000	$10,917	$63
75th Percentile	$117,000	$9,750	$56
Average	$103,765	$8,647	$50
25th Percentile	$91,000	$7,583	$44
10th Percentile	$81,000	$6,750	$39

Highest paying senior mechanical designer jobs

The highest paying types of senior mechanical designers are senior principal engineer, senior piping designer, and lead design engineer.

Job title	Annual salary	Monthly salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
Engineer	$92,076	$7,673	$44.27	618,207
Design Engineer	$77,134	$6,428	$37.08	138,173
Product Design Engineer	$94,827	$7,902	$45.59	170,485
Designer	$66,347	$5,529	$31.90	52,433
Lead Design Engineer	$108,490	$9,041	$52.16	118,073
Piping Designer	$57,853	$4,821	$27.81	48,195

How would you rate the starting salaries for senior mechanical designers, as well as the prospects for salary advancement?

Marco Schoen Ph.D.

Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Director of the Measurement and Control Engineering Research Center (MCERC), Idaho State University

Starting salaries for new engineers have been competitive for many years. Engineers progress on two different pathways: technical and managerial, leading to different pay scales and careers.

Top companies hiring senior mechanical designers now:

Which companies pay senior mechanical designers the most?

Senior mechanical designer salaries at Google and Apple are the highest-paying according to our most recent salary estimates. In addition, the average senior mechanical designer salary at companies like Postmates and The Walt Disney Company are highly competitive.

Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate
1	Google	$150,503	$72.36
2	Apple	$137,053	$65.89
3	Postmates	$128,994	$62.02
4	The Walt Disney Company	$127,946	$61.51
5	NVIDIA	$126,436	$60.79
6	Amazon	$120,904	$58.13
7	CyberCoders	$117,941	$56.70
8	Koch Industries	$116,253	$55.89
9	Rivian	$113,132	$54.39
10	Arista Networks	$112,555	$54.11
11	KLA	$112,464	$54.07
12	Nokia	$111,371	$53.54
13	Brookhaven National Laboratory	$110,887	$53.31
14	Yoh	$110,610	$53.18
15	ENERGY RECOVERY, INC.	$110,574	$53.16
16	Woods Services	$110,565	$53.16
17	Ergotron	$110,428	$53.09
18	Hargrove Engineers + Constructors	$110,225	$52.99
19	ASTRA	$109,847	$52.81
20	Jefferson Lab	$109,842	$52.81

Wage gap by gender, race and education

$104,000$103,400$102,800$102,200$101,600$101,000

MaleFemale

Senior Mechanical Designer salary by industry

The average senior mechanical designer salary varies across industries:

The average senior mechanical designer salary in the automotive industry is $109,013, the highest of any industry.
The average senior mechanical designer salary in the finance industry is $102,213.
Senior mechanical designers in the health care industry earn an average salary of $97,352, the lowest of any industry.

Highest paying industries for senior mechanical designers

Rank	Industry	Average salary	Hourly rate
1	Automotive	$109,013	$52.41
2	Energy	$102,213	$49.14
3	Professional	$101,537	$48.82
4	Technology	$100,326	$48.23
5	Manufacturing	$98,752	$47.48
6	Health Care	$97,352	$46.80

High paying senior mechanical designer jobs

Senior mechanical designer salary trends

The average senior mechanical designer salary has risen by $12,579 over the last ten years. In 2014, the average senior mechanical designer earned $91,186 annually, but today, they earn $103,765 a year. That works out to a 7% change in pay for senior mechanical designers over the last decade.

Compare senior mechanical designer salaries for cities or states with the national average over time.

Average senior mechanical designer salary over time

Compare senior mechanical designer salaries for individual cities or states with the national average.

Senior mechanical designer salary by year

Year	Avg. salary	Hourly rate	% Change
2025	$104,000	$49.89	+1.9%
2024	$102,000	$48.93	+1.2%
2023	$101,000	$48.34	+1.7%
2022	$98,800	$47.52	+2.0%
2021	$96,900	$46.58	+0.7%

Recently added senior mechanical designer salaries

Company	Job	Location	Date added	Salary
Solectron Corp	Senior Mechanical Design Engineer	Littleton, MA	06/30/2025	$123,500
Nextracker	SR. Mechanical Design Engineer	Fremont, CA	06/30/2025	$190,000
Blue Origin	Senior Mechanical Design Engineer-New Glenn	Seattle, WA	06/30/2025	$140,959
Relativity	Senior Avionics Mechanical Design Engineer	Long Beach, CA	06/29/2025	$142,000
Lightship	Senior Mechanical Design Engineer-Vehicle Interiors	South San Francisco, CA	06/29/2025	$130,000
Staffmark Group	Senior Mechanical Design Engineer	Phoenix, AZ	06/28/2025	$113,700
Lsi Solutions Inc.	Mechanical Designer I, II, III or SR. (Days 8AM To 5PM) R &D	Victor, NY	06/27/2025	$115,000
Russell Tobin	Senior Mechanical Design Engineer	Lake Buena Vista, FL	06/27/2025	$146,090
Sterling Engineering	Senior Mechanical Design Engineer	Enon, VA	06/27/2025	$75,000
True Anomaly	SR. Mechanical Harness Design Engineer	Long Beach, CA	06/27/2025	$125,000

Senior mechanical designer salary FAQs

What state pays Senior Mechanical Designers the most?

How do I know if I'm being paid fairly as a senior mechanical designer?

Have more questions? See all answers to common architecture and engineering questions.

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Updated January 8, 2025

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