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Senior performance engineer salary

Quoted expert
Michael Rudisill

Average senior performance engineer salary

$110,382

$53.07 hourly rate

Entry-level senior performance engineer salary
$83,000 yearly salary
Updated January 8, 2025

Understanding Senior Performance Engineer Salaries

A Senior Performance Engineer typically earns around $110,382 annually. This figure can fluctuate based on factors such as location, industry, and experience level. For instance, senior engineers in technology hubs like San Francisco or New York often command higher salaries due to the cost of living and demand for expertise in performance testing and optimization.

Average Salaries by State

When examining salaries across the United States, states like California, Washington, and Virginia consistently rank as the highest paying for Senior Performance Engineers. Understanding these geographical dynamics can greatly inform your career decisions.

Career Opportunities

In addition to salary, Senior Performance Engineers can find diverse opportunities in various sectors, including finance, healthcare, and technology. With the right skills, such as performance tuning and load testing, you can enhance your career prospects and earning potential. Consider investing in certifications or specialized training to stand out in this competitive field.

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Where can a Senior Performance Engineer earn more?

Compare salary by location
Vs
178k
158k
138k
118k
98k
78k
58k
Columbus, OH$150,634
Indianapolis, IN$88,252
Compare salary by company
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186k
166k
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Netflix$162,827
Amazon$136,073

Senior performance engineer salary estimates from across the web

Based on the latest salary information compiled by Zippia, Salary.com, Glassdoor and Ziprecruiter, the average salary for a senior performance engineer typically falls between $110,382 and $175,486.
zippia
$110,382yearly
glassdoor[1]
$175,486yearly
Salary.com[2]
$123,507yearly
ZipRecruiter[3]
$121,500yearly

Average senior performance engineer salary by state

The highest-paying states for senior performance engineers are California, Oregon, and Washington. The lowest average senior performance engineer salary states are Kentucky, Iowa, and Tennessee.

  • State view
  • County view
Average salary:

Highest paying states for senior performance engineers

RankStateAvg. salaryHourly rate
1California$141,731$68.14
2Oregon$130,405$62.69
3Utah$114,959$55.27
4Washington$116,514$56.02
5Wyoming$109,239$52.52
6Arizona$110,827$53.28
7Texas$108,580$52.20
8Nevada$110,118$52.94
9Rhode Island$104,749$50.36
10Massachusetts$106,412$51.16
11Vermont$103,517$49.77
12Idaho$105,788$50.86
13New Jersey$109,225$52.51
14South Dakota$104,004$50.00
15Delaware$103,254$49.64
16Montana$103,474$49.75
17New York$105,189$50.57
18Nebraska$101,383$48.74
19Minnesota$102,078$49.08
20Virginia$100,904$48.51
21Illinois$101,955$49.02
22Pennsylvania$100,115$48.13
23Michigan$99,623$47.90
24Louisiana$103,513$49.77
25Hawaii$108,377$52.10
26Alaska$103,960$49.98
27North Carolina$98,951$47.57
28North Dakota$98,708$47.46
29South Carolina$101,859$48.97
30New Hampshire$98,515$47.36
31Mississippi$100,509$48.32
32Alabama$96,575$46.43
33Maryland$97,932$47.08
34West Virginia$97,698$46.97
35Missouri$100,369$48.25
36Arkansas$96,299$46.30
37Ohio$97,011$46.64
38Colorado$95,617$45.97
39Connecticut$98,591$47.40
40District of Columbia$94,559$45.46
41Florida$94,640$45.50
42Georgia$94,115$45.25
43Wisconsin$93,311$44.86
44New Mexico$92,860$44.64
45Kansas$93,041$44.73
46Kentucky$92,234$44.34
47Tennessee$91,868$44.17
48Iowa$91,981$44.22
49Indiana$88,283$42.44
50Maine$89,833$43.19
51Oklahoma$87,576$42.10

Highest paying cities for senior performance engineers

The highest-paying cities for senior performance engineers are San Mateo, CA, Seattle, WA, and Phoenix, AZ.

RankCityAvg. salaryHourly rate
1San Mateo, CA$150,634$72.42
2Seattle, WA$117,297$56.39
3Phoenix, AZ$111,210$53.47
4Parsippany-Troy Hills, NJ$109,145$52.47
5Austin, TX$109,055$52.43
6Quincy, MA$106,506$51.20
7New York, NY$105,272$50.61
8Woonsocket, RI$104,743$50.36
9Wilmington, DE$103,351$49.69
10Chicago, IL$102,067$49.07
11McLean, VA$101,119$48.61
12Pittsburgh, PA$99,294$47.74
13Merrimack, NH$98,600$47.40
14Charlotte, NC$98,510$47.36
15Columbus, OH$96,988$46.63
16Littleton, CO$95,685$46.00
17Orlando, FL$94,697$45.53
18Washington, DC$94,638$45.50
19Atlanta, GA$94,112$45.25
20Indianapolis, IN$88,252$42.43

Senior performance engineer salary details

A senior performance engineer's salary ranges from $83,000 a year at the 10th percentile to $146,000 at the 90th percentile.

Average senior performance engineer salary graph
Average senior performance engineer salary graph, trends, and summary

What is a senior performance engineer's salary?

PercentileAnnual salaryMonthly salaryHourly rate
90th Percentile$146,000$12,167$70
75th Percentile$128,000$10,667$62
Average$110,382$9,199$53
25th Percentile$95,000$7,917$46
10th Percentile$83,000$6,917$40

Highest paying senior performance engineer jobs

The highest paying types of senior performance engineers are senior software engineer, senior quality assurance engineer, and performance engineer.

Job titleAnnual salaryMonthly salaryHourly rateJob openings
Quality Analyst$71,957$5,996$34.59110,980
Tester$65,202$5,433$31.3552,595
Quality Assurance$51,313$4,276$24.6769,366
Quality Assurance Analyst$73,532$6,128$35.35108,078
Quality Assurance Lead$94,758$7,897$45.5682,242
Quality Assurance Coordinator$57,130$4,761$27.4779,427

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

Michael Rudisill

Department Head and Professor of Engineering Technology, Northern Michigan University

From what we've seen, salaries haven't been reduced, even though demand is down. I would expect wages and salary progression to remain strong as the need for engineering will only continue to grow.

Top companies hiring senior performance engineers now:

  1. Citi jobs (12)
  2. JPMorgan Chase & Co. jobs (27)
  3. Intel jobs (16)
  4. Tesla jobs (14)
  5. ServiceNow jobs (19)

Which companies pay senior performance engineers the most?

Senior performance engineer salaries at Netflix and Google are the highest-paying according to our most recent salary estimates. In addition, the average senior performance engineer salary at companies like ICE Mortgage Technology and Anaplan are highly competitive.

RankCompanyAverage salaryHourly rate
1Netflix$162,827$78.28
2Google$161,474$77.63
3ICE Mortgage Technology$159,123$76.50
4Anaplan$158,259$76.09
5Safeway$155,271$74.65
6Apple$154,678$74.36
7MongoDB$150,791$72.50
8NVIDIA$150,738$72.47
9Veeva Systems$150,733$72.47
10Cruise Automation$148,660$71.47
11Box$145,000$69.71
12Move$144,853$69.64
13BlackLine$144,613$69.53
14Classy$144,376$69.41
15SoFi$143,190$68.84
16Barnes & Noble$138,674$66.67
17Über$138,463$66.57
18Intuit$137,698$66.20
19American Tower$137,108$65.92
20Amazon$136,073$65.42

Wage gap by gender, race and education

$111,000$109,800$108,600$107,400$106,200$105,000
MaleFemale

Senior Performance Engineer salary by industry

The average senior performance engineer salary varies across industries:

  • The average senior performance engineer salary in the technology industry is $116,983, the highest of any industry.
  • The average senior performance engineer salary in the finance industry is $116,610.
  • Senior performance engineers in the government industry earn an average salary of $85,234, the lowest of any industry.

Highest paying industries for senior performance engineers

RankIndustryAverage salaryHourly rate
1Technology$116,983$56.24
2Internet$116,610$56.06
3Insurance$110,218$52.99
4Education$109,744$52.76
5Finance$108,455$52.14
6Professional$108,396$52.11
7Automotive$102,166$49.12
8Government$85,234$40.98

High paying senior performance engineer jobs

Senior performance engineer salary trends

The average senior performance engineer salary has risen by $18,069 over the last ten years. In 2014, the average senior performance engineer earned $92,313 annually, but today, they earn $110,382 a year. That works out to a 10% change in pay for senior performance engineers over the last decade.

Compare senior performance engineer salaries for cities or states with the national average over time.

Average senior performance engineer salary over time

Compare senior performance engineer salaries for individual cities or states with the national average.

Senior performance engineer salary by year

YearAvg. salaryHourly rate% Change
2025$110,000$53.07+3.3%
2024$107,000$51.32+2.3%
2023$104,000$50.16+1.9%
2022$102,000$49.18+2.3%
2021$100,000$48.07+1.5%

Recently added senior performance engineer salaries

CompanyJobLocationDate addedSalary
Anduril IndustriesSenior Flight Performance EngineerCosta Mesa, CA06/29/2025$142,000
Lucid MotorsSenior Calibration Engineer-Drivability and PerformanceNewark, CA06/29/2025$154,000
Solv Energy, LLCSR. Performance Engineer (Remote)San Diego, CA06/29/2025$116,935
AppleSR. Machine Learning Performance EngineerCupertino, CA06/25/2025$207,800
CaterpillarSenior Performance Simulation Application EngineerEast Peoria, IL06/19/2025$110,520
ReiSenior Performance EngineerSumner, WA06/18/2025$152,443
Rocket LabSenior Propulsion Transients & Performance Engineer ILong Beach, CA06/18/2025$107,000
DHL (Deutsche PostSR Performance Engineer OEWesterville, OH06/11/2025$70,000
Hammel, Green and AbrahamsonSR Building Performance EngineerSanta Monica, CA06/10/2025$107,500
Hewlett Packard EnterpriseSenior Performance Devops/Performance Devops SeniorSan Jose, CA06/09/2025$117,500

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