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Signal engineer salary
Average signal engineer salary
$87,939
Understanding Signal Engineer Salaries
The average salary for a signal engineer is $87,939 annually, translating to approximately $42 per hour. These figures can vary significantly based on several factors, including geographic location, years of experience, and specific industries. For instance, signal engineers in high-demand areas may earn substantially more than the national average.
Salary by Experience Level
Entry-level signal engineers typically start with lower salaries, while those with over five years of experience can see significant increases. For example, experienced engineers can earn upwards of $100,000 annually.
Top Paying States
States like California, Texas, and New York offer some of the highest salaries for signal engineers, largely due to the concentration of technology and engineering firms. Understanding these regional differences can help candidates target their job searches effectively.
Job Opportunities
Signal engineers can find roles in various sectors, including telecommunications, transportation, and defense. By exploring job openings across these industries, candidates can identify positions that align with their skills and salary expectations.
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Where can a Signal Engineer earn more?
Signal engineer salaries by experience level
| Experience level | Avg. salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|
| Entry-level signal engineer | $58,600 | $28.20 |
| Mid-level signal engineer | $93,500 | $44.94 |
| Senior-level signal engineer | $138,000 | $66.46 |
Signal engineer salary estimates from across the web
Average signal engineer salary by state
The average signal engineer salary in California, New Mexico, and Alaska are the highest in the U.S. The lowest average signal engineer salary states are South Carolina, West Virginia, and Utah.
- State view
- County view
Highest paying states for signal engineers
| Rank | State | Avg. salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | $111,052 | $53.39 |
| 2 | New Mexico | $107,558 | $51.71 |
| 3 | Virginia | $99,564 | $47.87 |
| 4 | Maryland | $98,112 | $47.17 |
| 5 | Texas | $93,528 | $44.97 |
| 6 | District of Columbia | $100,893 | $48.51 |
| 7 | Alaska | $106,620 | $51.26 |
| 8 | Delaware | $91,962 | $44.21 |
| 9 | New Hampshire | $92,700 | $44.57 |
| 10 | Washington | $92,993 | $44.71 |
| 11 | Vermont | $92,201 | $44.33 |
| 12 | Idaho | $92,291 | $44.37 |
| 13 | North Carolina | $94,058 | $45.22 |
| 14 | Alabama | $88,961 | $42.77 |
| 15 | Florida | $92,950 | $44.69 |
| 16 | Louisiana | $98,309 | $47.26 |
| 17 | Iowa | $87,772 | $42.20 |
| 18 | Oklahoma | $91,940 | $44.20 |
| 19 | Michigan | $83,914 | $40.34 |
| 20 | Nevada | $85,039 | $40.88 |
| 21 | Wyoming | $82,028 | $39.44 |
| 22 | Hawaii | $86,037 | $41.36 |
| 23 | Connecticut | $86,652 | $41.66 |
| 24 | Missouri | $84,386 | $40.57 |
| 25 | Illinois | $86,005 | $41.35 |
| 26 | Oregon | $83,289 | $40.04 |
| 27 | Massachusetts | $83,609 | $40.20 |
| 28 | North Dakota | $83,048 | $39.93 |
| 29 | New York | $86,134 | $41.41 |
| 30 | Maine | $80,484 | $38.69 |
| 31 | Georgia | $82,330 | $39.58 |
| 32 | Kansas | $80,512 | $38.71 |
| 33 | Rhode Island | $82,790 | $39.80 |
| 34 | Tennessee | $80,593 | $38.75 |
| 35 | South Dakota | $79,061 | $38.01 |
| 36 | New Jersey | $86,180 | $41.43 |
| 37 | Wisconsin | $78,458 | $37.72 |
| 38 | Colorado | $77,610 | $37.31 |
| 39 | Arizona | $77,038 | $37.04 |
| 40 | Nebraska | $77,703 | $37.36 |
| 41 | Utah | $73,090 | $35.14 |
| 42 | Kentucky | $77,873 | $37.44 |
| 43 | Mississippi | $77,636 | $37.33 |
| 44 | Pennsylvania | $76,776 | $36.91 |
| 45 | Arkansas | $76,172 | $36.62 |
| 46 | Minnesota | $76,923 | $36.98 |
| 47 | West Virginia | $74,599 | $35.86 |
| 48 | South Carolina | $75,426 | $36.26 |
| 49 | Ohio | $72,375 | $34.80 |
| 50 | Montana | $70,464 | $33.88 |
| 51 | Indiana | $72,385 | $34.80 |
Highest paying cities for signal engineers
The highest-paying cities for signal engineers are San Francisco, CA, McLean, VA, and Annapolis, MD.
| Rank | City | Avg. salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Francisco, CA | $118,398 | $56.92 |
| 2 | McLean, VA | $99,961 | $48.06 |
| 3 | Annapolis, MD | $98,412 | $47.31 |
| 4 | Austin, TX | $94,160 | $45.27 |
| 5 | Redmond, WA | $93,395 | $44.90 |
| 6 | Melbourne, FL | $93,371 | $44.89 |
| 7 | New York, NY | $86,428 | $41.55 |
| 8 | Chicago, IL | $86,206 | $41.45 |
| 9 | Newark, NJ | $86,063 | $41.38 |
| 10 | Kansas City, MO | $84,577 | $40.66 |
| 11 | Boston, MA | $83,635 | $40.21 |
| 12 | Hillsboro, OR | $82,796 | $39.81 |
| 13 | LaGrange, GA | $82,419 | $39.62 |
| 14 | Colorado Springs, CO | $78,256 | $37.62 |
| 15 | Omaha, NE | $77,415 | $37.22 |
| 16 | Philadelphia, PA | $77,318 | $37.17 |
| 17 | Phoenix, AZ | $77,077 | $37.06 |
| 18 | Fairborn, OH | $71,383 | $34.32 |
Signal engineer salary details
A signal engineer's salary ranges from $59,000 a year at the 10th percentile to $129,000 at the 90th percentile.
What is a signal engineer's salary?
| Percentile | Annual salary | Monthly salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 90th Percentile | $129,000 | $10,750 | $62 |
| 75th Percentile | $107,000 | $8,917 | $51 |
| Average | $87,939 | $7,328 | $42 |
| 25th Percentile | $71,000 | $5,917 | $34 |
| 10th Percentile | $59,000 | $4,917 | $28 |
Highest paying signal engineer jobs
The highest paying types of signal engineers are principal engineer, electrical engineer lead, and senior electrical engineer.
| Job title | Annual salary | Monthly salary | Hourly rate | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electrical & Instrumentation Designer | $81,188 | $6,766 | $39.03 | 81,243 |
| Electrical Designer | $64,930 | $5,411 | $31.22 | 82,332 |
| Instrumentation & Control Engineer | $92,464 | $7,705 | $44.45 | 51,065 |
| Electrical Engineer Internship | $63,398 | $5,283 | $30.48 | 80,744 |
| Electrical Controls Engineer | $82,681 | $6,890 | $39.75 | 54,037 |
| Instrumentation Engineer | $88,783 | $7,399 | $42.68 | 45,735 |
How would you rate the starting salaries for signal engineers, as well as the prospects for salary advancement?
Michael Rudisill
Department Head and Professor of Engineering Technology, Northern Michigan University
Top companies hiring signal engineers now:
Which companies pay signal engineers the most?
Signal engineer salaries at Apple and NVIDIA are the highest-paying according to our most recent salary estimates. In addition, the average signal engineer salary at companies like Synaptics and Amazon are highly competitive.
| Rank | Company | Average salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Apple | $143,759 | $69.11 |
| 2 | NVIDIA | $131,905 | $63.42 |
| 3 | Synaptics | $119,948 | $57.67 |
| 4 | Amazon | $118,195 | $56.82 |
| 5 | Eli Lilly and Company | $116,635 | $56.07 |
| 6 | Parsons | $109,350 | $52.57 |
| 7 | Broadcom | $104,824 | $50.40 |
| 8 | Texas Instruments | $104,795 | $50.38 |
| 9 | CableLabs | $103,116 | $49.58 |
| 10 | Keysight Technologies | $99,607 | $47.89 |
| 11 | Country-Wide Insurance | $97,491 | $46.87 |
| 12 | Intel | $97,397 | $46.83 |
| 13 | Mythic | $96,630 | $46.46 |
| 14 | Analog Devices | $95,648 | $45.98 |
| 15 | California Institute of Technology | $95,294 | $45.81 |
| 16 | Wabtec Corporation | $94,843 | $45.60 |
| 17 | Aricent | $94,313 | $45.34 |
| 18 | Progress Rail | $93,791 | $45.09 |
| 19 | Global Signal | $93,690 | $45.04 |
| 20 | MediaTek | $93,436 | $44.92 |
Wage gap by gender, race and education
Signal Engineer salary by industry
The average signal engineer salary varies across industries:
- The average signal engineer salary in the technology industry is $96,987, the highest of any industry.
- The average signal engineer salary in the finance industry is $89,198.
- Signal engineers in the manufacturing industry earn an average salary of $85,746, the lowest of any industry.
Highest paying industries for signal engineers
| Rank | Industry | Average salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Technology | $96,987 | $46.63 |
| 2 | Construction | $89,198 | $42.88 |
| 3 | Transportation | $88,918 | $42.75 |
| 4 | Manufacturing | $85,746 | $41.22 |
High paying signal engineer jobs
Signal engineer salary trends
The average signal engineer salary has risen by $13,004 over the last ten years. In 2014, the average signal engineer earned $74,935 annually, but today, they earn $87,939 a year. That works out to a 7% change in pay for signal engineers over the last decade.
Compare signal engineer salaries for cities or states with the national average over time.
Average signal engineer salary over time
Compare signal engineer salaries for individual cities or states with the national average.
Signal engineer salary by year
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $87,900 | $42.28 | +2.3% |
| 2024 | $85,900 | $41.31 | +1.9% |
| 2023 | $84,300 | $40.52 | +1.6% |
| 2022 | $82,900 | $39.86 | +0.9% |
| 2021 | $82,200 | $39.50 | +1.3% |
Recently added signal engineer salaries
| Company | Job | Location | Date added | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perspecta | Technical Security and Signals Countermeasures (Tssc) Engineer | Bethesda, MD | 06/29/2025 | $112,000 |
| Peraton | Technical Security and Signals Countermeasures (Tssc) Engineer | Bethesda, MD | 06/29/2025 | $112,000 |
| Wabtec Corporation | SR. Signal Engineer | Omaha, NE | 06/27/2025 | $89,100 |
| Qualcomm | Staff SOC Mixed Signal Engineer | San Diego, CA | 06/17/2025 | $166,941 |
| State of Virginia | 04127-Engineer Signals | Staunton, VA | 06/13/2025 | $71,867 |
| Iteris | Signal Optimization Engineer | Fairfax, VA | 06/11/2025 | $65,000 |
| Two Six Technologies | Signal Propagation Engineer | Chantilly, VA | 06/09/2025 | $200,000 |
| Iteris | Signal Optimization Engineer | Fairfax, VA | 05/29/2025 | $65,000 |
| Progress Rail Services Corporation, a Caterpillar Company | Signal Engineer | Omaha, NE | 05/26/2025 | $50,000 |
| Wabtec | SR. Signal Engineer | Wayne, PA | 05/17/2025 | $89,100 |
Signal engineer salary FAQs
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