Software Design Engineer Salary

Q: How much does a Software Design Engineer make?

Software design engineers make $102,314 per year on average, or $49.19 per hour, in the United States. Software design engineers on the lower end of that spectrum, the bottom 10% to be exact, make roughly $78,000 a year, while the top 10% makes $133,000. Location impacts how much a software design engineer can expect to make. Software design engineers make the most in Washington, California, Oregon, Connecticut, and New Hampshire.

Updated July 11, 2022

Average Software Design Engineer Salary

$102,314 yearly
To create our salary estimates, Zippia starts with data published in publicly available sources such as the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Foreign Labor Certification Data Center (FLC) Show More

$49.19 hourly

Entry level Salary

$78,000 yearly

$78,000

10 %

$102,314

Median

$133,000

90 %

How much does a Software Design Engineer make?

Software design engineers make $102,314 per year on average, or $49.19 per hour, in the United States. Software design engineers on the lower end of that spectrum, the bottom 10% to be exact, make roughly $78,000 a year, while the top 10% makes $133,000.

Location impacts how much a software design engineer can expect to make. Software design engineers make the most in Washington, California, Oregon, Connecticut, and New Hampshire.

Highest Paying States For Software Design Engineers

The darker areas on the map show where software design engineers earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

State View
County View

Average Salary:

Software Design Engineer average salary by State

Rank	State	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Count
1	Washington	$117,362	$56.42	5,942
2	Oregon	$108,074	$51.96	2,645
3	California	$114,442	$55.02	19,910
4	Rhode Island	$96,758	$46.52	715
5	Vermont	$97,343	$46.80	420
6	New Hampshire	$99,832	$48.00	681
7	Delaware	$96,656	$46.47	653
8	Connecticut	$100,072	$48.11	1,229
9	Texas	$94,573	$45.47	8,100
10	New York	$99,351	$47.76	5,081
11	Virginia	$95,262	$45.80	5,340
12	Nevada	$95,130	$45.74	648
13	Massachusetts	$94,860	$45.61	4,338
14	Minnesota	$93,078	$44.75	2,470
15	Pennsylvania	$89,579	$43.07	3,949
16	Kansas	$89,472	$43.02	987
17	District of Columbia	$94,788	$45.57	1,074
18	Arizona	$90,570	$43.54	2,170
19	New Jersey	$93,363	$44.89	3,155
20	Michigan	$87,485	$42.06	2,502
21	Maryland	$92,310	$44.38	3,412
22	Tennessee	$87,355	$42.00	1,199
23	North Carolina	$85,739	$41.22	3,582
24	Arkansas	$85,367	$41.04	809
25	Maine	$86,915	$41.79	415
26	Montana	$84,569	$40.66	511
27	North Dakota	$84,519	$40.63	322
28	Alabama	$85,007	$40.87	1,284
29	South Carolina	$87,212	$41.93	888
30	Wisconsin	$85,502	$41.11	1,520
31	Ohio	$83,796	$40.29	2,822
32	Colorado	$84,640	$40.69	2,597
33	New Mexico	$83,798	$40.29	610
34	Illinois	$83,207	$40.00	4,292
35	Idaho	$79,887	$38.41	671
36	Kentucky	$82,642	$39.73	864
37	Missouri	$82,938	$39.87	1,549
38	West Virginia	$80,697	$38.80	336
39	Wyoming	$77,547	$37.28	244
40	Utah	$75,479	$36.29	1,724
41	Iowa	$81,096	$38.99	995
42	South Dakota	$78,133	$37.56	328
43	Nebraska	$77,645	$37.33	767
44	Louisiana	$80,660	$38.78	666
45	Georgia	$78,178	$37.59	3,355
46	Florida	$80,323	$38.62	4,623
47	Mississippi	$80,007	$38.46	377
48	Indiana	$75,625	$36.36	2,006
49	Alaska	$73,791	$35.48	260
50	Hawaii	$76,602	$36.83	254
51	Oklahoma	$74,785	$35.95	566

Top Software Design Engineer Jobs Near You

Highest Paying Cities For Software Design Engineers

Rank	City	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate
1	San Francisco, CA	$123,760	$59.50
2	Seattle, WA	$119,244	$57.33
3	Hillsboro, OR	$108,539	$52.18
4	New York, NY	$99,621	$47.89
5	Houston, TX	$96,543	$46.41
6	Reston, VA	$95,314	$45.82
7	Washington, DC	$94,787	$45.57
8	Saint Louis Park, MN	$93,053	$44.74
9	Germantown, MD	$91,982	$44.22
10	Glendale, AZ	$90,601	$43.56
11	Troy, MI	$87,797	$42.21
12	Raleigh, NC	$86,470	$41.57
13	Colorado Springs, CO	$84,631	$40.69
14	Fargo, ND	$84,417	$40.59
15	Columbus, OH	$83,538	$40.16

Software Design Engineer Salary Details

What is a Software Design Engineer's Salary?

Percentile	Annual Salary	Monthly Salary	Hourly Rate
90th Percentile	$133,000	$11,083	$64
75th Percentile	$117,000	$9,750	$56
Average	$102,314	$8,526	$49
25th Percentile	$88,000	$7,333	$42
10th Percentile	$78,000	$6,500	$38

Average Salary By Related Titles

Job Title	Annual Salary	Monthly Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Openings
Software Analyst	$78,865	$6,572	$37.92	274,053
Computer Engineer	$97,031	$8,086	$46.65	126,709
Software Engineer-Consultant	$112,626	$9,386	$54.15	317,033
Principal Software Engineer	$136,635	$11,386	$65.69	345,893
Software Developer	$94,431	$7,869	$45.40	294,329
Software Tester	$76,847	$6,404	$36.95	208,853

Here are the five companies hiring the most now:

Which Companies Pay Software Design Engineers The Most?

According to our most recent salary estimates, Google and Broadcom are the highest paying companies for software design engineers.

Rank	Company	Average Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Openings
1	Google	$146,085	$70.23	1453
2	Broadcom	$132,975	$63.93	62
3	PMC-Sierra	$130,130	$62.56
4	Microsoft	$127,527	$61.31	2343
5	Microsemi	$127,144	$61.13
6	Kopin	$125,324	$60.25
7	STMicroelectronics	$121,863	$58.59	2
8	Animoto	$118,084	$56.77	1
9	Thoughtworks	$117,517	$56.50	8
10	Apple	$116,931	$56.22	2689
11	HP	$115,498	$55.53	92
12	Analog Devices	$115,130	$55.35	83
13	Qualys	$114,847	$55.21	35
14	Expedia Group	$113,914	$54.77	27
15	Big Fish Games	$111,917	$53.81	3
16	Groupon	$111,070	$53.40	6
17	Nokia	$110,545	$53.15	97
18	Barnes & Noble	$109,808	$52.79	13
19	Cloudera	$109,443	$52.62	83
20	ServiceNow	$108,617	$52.22	267

Software Design Engineer Salary Trends

The salary for a software design engineer can vary depending on the years of experience that a person has, from entry level to senior level. Data on how experience level affects total compensation is provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) as part of their National Compensation Survey, which is based on factors such as knowledge, complexity, contacts, and environment.

Software Design Engineer Salary By Experience Level

Experience Level	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate
Entry Level	$64,500	$31.02
Mid Level	$90,600	$43.56
Senior Level	$162,000	$77.75

Average Software Design Engineer Salary Over Time

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

Software Design Engineer Salary By Year

Year	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate	% Change
2022	$102,000	$49.19	+3.3%
2021	$98,900	$47.57	+2.3%
2020	$96,700	$46.49	+1.8%
2019	$95,000	$45.67	+1.7%
2018	$93,400	$44.90	+1.8%

Recently Added Software Design Engineer Salaries

Company	Job	Location	Date Added	Salary
Rightstone	Software Design Engineer	Garden City, ID	06/01/2022	$110,611
The Standard	Software Engineer-Design Systems	Portland, OR	05/30/2022	$81,900
The Standard	Software Engineer-Design Systems	Atlanta, GA	05/28/2022	$81,900
University of Utah	Associate Software Design Engineer	Salt Lake City, UT	05/27/2022	$31,600
National Security Agency	Hardware/Software Design Engineer-Entry To Experienced Level	Fort Meade, MD	05/18/2022	$106,823
National Security Agency	Hardware/Software Design Engineer-Entry To Experienced Level	Fort Meade, MD	05/09/2022	$106,823
The Standard	Software Engineer-Design Systems	Portland, OR	05/07/2022	$81,900
Northrop Grumman	Software Design Engineer/Principal Software Design Engineer	Redondo Beach, CA	05/06/2022	$82,400
Stancorp Financial Group, Inc.	Software Engineer-Design Systems	Atlanta, GA	05/05/2022	$81,900
Randstad Us	Software Design Engineer	Redmond, WA	04/29/2022	$177,395

Software Design Engineer Salaries FAQs

What state pays Software Design Engineers the most?

Washington pays Software Design Engineers the most in the United States, with an average salary of $117,362 per year, or $56.42 per hour.

How do I know if I'm being paid fairly as a Software Design Engineer?

You know if you are being paid fairly as a Software Design Engineer 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 $114,442 per year.

What type of Software Design Engineer gets paid the most?

Principal Software Engineer gets paid the most. Principal Software Engineer made a median salary of $136,635. The best-paid 10 percent make $156,000, while the lowest-paid 10 percent make $119,000.

Have more questions? See all answers to common computer and mathematical questions.

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