How much does a start-up engineer make?

The average start-up engineer salary in the United States is $96,978. Start-up engineer salaries typically range between $62,000 and $150,000 yearly. The average hourly rate for start-up engineers is $46.62 per hour. Start-up engineer salary is impacted by location, education, and experience. Start-up engineers earn the highest average salary in New Mexico.

Start-up engineer salary

Q: What state pays Start-Up Engineers the most?

New Mexico pays Start-Up Engineers the most in the United States, with an average salary of $118,085 per year, or $56.77 per hour.

Q: How do I know if I'm being paid fairly as a start-up engineer?

You know if you are being paid fairly as a start-up 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 $115,471 per year.

Quoted expert

Daisy Huang

Average start-up engineer salary

$96,978

$46.62 hourly rate

Entry-level start-up engineer salary

$62,000 yearly salary

Updated December 15, 2025

Average Start-Up Engineer Salary

As of October 2025, the average salary for a Start-Up Engineer is $96,978 annually, or $47 per hour. This compensation varies based on several factors including experience level, location, and the industry in which one works. Entry-level positions typically start at lower salaries but can increase significantly with experience.

How Experience Affects Salary

Start-Up Engineers with less than one year of experience can expect to earn around $80,000, while those with five to ten years may see salaries rise to approximately $110,000. Senior engineers with extensive experience can command even higher salaries, particularly in tech hubs.

Regional Salary Variations

Geographic location is a significant factor in salary determination. For instance, Start-Up Engineers in major cities like San Francisco and New York often earn above the national average due to the high cost of living and demand for tech talent.

Top Paying States

States such as California, Washington, and Massachusetts consistently rank as the highest paying for Start-Up Engineers. These areas not only offer competitive salaries but also vibrant job markets filled with opportunities.

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Start-up engineer salary by:

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Where can a Start-Up Engineer earn more?

Compare salary by location

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43k

Columbus, OH$123,608

Tampa, FL$73,396

Compare salary by company

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CyberCoders$135,314

Black & Veatch$74,444

Start-up engineer salaries by experience level

Average start-up engineer salary by state

The average start-up engineer salary in New Mexico, California, and Oregon are the highest in the U.S. The lowest average start-up engineer salary states are Nebraska, Florida, and North Dakota.

State view
County view

Average salary:

Highest paying states for start-up engineers

Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
1	Oregon	$108,866	$52.34
2	California	$115,471	$55.51
3	Washington	$106,450	$51.18
4	New Mexico	$118,085	$56.77
5	Colorado	$102,706	$49.38
6	Delaware	$100,139	$48.14
7	Nevada	$99,414	$47.80
8	Connecticut	$97,945	$47.09
9	District of Columbia	$99,004	$47.60
10	Massachusetts	$94,876	$45.61
11	Iowa	$96,869	$46.57
12	Idaho	$93,376	$44.89
13	Texas	$92,071	$44.26
14	Michigan	$89,358	$42.96
15	West Virginia	$93,974	$45.18
16	Arizona	$89,134	$42.85
17	Georgia	$94,631	$45.50
18	Maryland	$90,670	$43.59
19	Kansas	$90,589	$43.55
20	New York	$90,701	$43.61
21	Tennessee	$90,512	$43.52
22	Alaska	$93,113	$44.77
23	Louisiana	$92,229	$44.34
24	Virginia	$85,144	$40.93
25	South Carolina	$87,907	$42.26
26	Pennsylvania	$85,580	$41.14
27	Indiana	$85,345	$41.03
28	Oklahoma	$87,886	$42.25
29	Rhode Island	$82,158	$39.50
30	North Carolina	$83,600	$40.19
31	Illinois	$85,735	$41.22
32	Alabama	$82,141	$39.49
33	Wyoming	$82,966	$39.89
34	Utah	$78,564	$37.77
35	Ohio	$82,120	$39.48
36	New Jersey	$85,029	$40.88
37	New Hampshire	$80,343	$38.63
38	Missouri	$83,658	$40.22
39	Wisconsin	$81,881	$39.37
40	Montana	$77,446	$37.23
41	Kentucky	$80,076	$38.50
42	Minnesota	$74,284	$35.71
43	Vermont	$71,110	$34.19
44	Mississippi	$78,899	$37.93
45	South Dakota	$77,408	$37.22
46	Hawaii	$70,028	$33.67
47	North Dakota	$71,466	$34.36
48	Florida	$71,701	$34.47
49	Maine	$75,161	$36.14
50	Nebraska	$73,463	$35.32
51	Arkansas	$70,186	$33.74

Top start-up engineer jobs near you

Highest paying cities for start-up engineers

The highest-paying cities for start-up engineers are San Francisco, CA, Denver, CO, and Douglasville, GA.

Rank	City	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
1	San Francisco, CA	$123,608	$59.43
2	Denver, CO	$102,512	$49.28
3	Douglasville, GA	$94,693	$45.53
4	Boston, MA	$94,591	$45.48
5	Houston, TX	$91,297	$43.89
6	New York, NY	$91,185	$43.84
7	Overland Park, KS	$90,040	$43.29
8	Philadelphia, PA	$86,043	$41.37
9	Chicago, IL	$85,753	$41.23
10	Tampa, FL	$73,396	$35.29

Start-up engineer salary details

A start-up engineer's salary ranges from $62,000 a year at the 10th percentile to $150,000 at the 90th percentile.

Average start-up engineer salary graph, trends, and summary

What is a start-up engineer's salary?

Percentile	Annual salary	Monthly salary	Hourly rate
90th Percentile	$150,000	$12,500	$72
75th Percentile	$122,000	$10,167	$59
Average	$96,978	$8,082	$47
25th Percentile	$76,000	$6,333	$37
10th Percentile	$62,000	$5,167	$30

Highest paying start-up engineer jobs

The highest paying types of start-up engineers are contracting engineer, senior engineer, and staff engineer.

Job title	Annual salary	Monthly salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
Technical Services Engineer	$81,204	$6,767	$39.04	217,103
Product Design Engineer	$94,827	$7,902	$45.59	170,485
Development Engineer	$93,206	$7,767	$44.81	224,881
Consulting Engineer	$97,746	$8,145	$46.99	125,600
Mechanical Engineer	$75,352	$6,279	$36.23	105,618
Design Engineer	$77,134	$6,428	$37.08	138,173

How would you rate the starting salaries for start-up engineers, as well as the prospects for salary advancement?

Daisy Huang

Assistant Professor, University of Alaska Fairbanks

Above average, but you won't be a millionaire easily (you can with some effort, saving, and investing well). It is very unlikely you'll ever be *super* wealthy, but it's also very unlikely you'll ever not find employment in your field. You'll have a solid ticket to a modestly comfortable life, with some luxuries, too.

Top companies hiring start-up engineers now:

Which companies pay start-up engineers the most?

Start-up engineer salaries at CyberCoders and Motion Recruitment are the highest-paying according to our most recent salary estimates. In addition, the average start-up engineer salary at companies like Applied Materials and Technip USA Corporation are highly competitive.

Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate
1	CyberCoders	$135,314	$65.05
2	Motion Recruitment	$114,098	$54.85
3	Applied Materials	$113,029	$54.34
4	Technip USA Corporation	$97,230	$46.75
5	ComTec Information Systems	$92,593	$44.52
6	Kiewit	$85,098	$40.91
7	Black & Veatch	$74,444	$35.79

Wage gap by gender, race and education

$97,000$96,200$95,400$94,600$93,800$93,000

MaleFemale

Start-Up Engineer salary by industry

The average start-up engineer salary varies across industries:

The average start-up engineer salary in the manufacturing industry is $97,242, the highest of any industry.
The average start-up engineer salary in the finance industry is $96,433.
Start-up engineers in the construction industry earn an average salary of $81,237, the lowest of any industry.

Highest paying industries for start-up engineers

Rank	Industry	Average salary	Hourly rate
1	Manufacturing	$97,242	$46.75
2	Energy	$96,433	$46.36
3	Professional	$88,808	$42.70
4	Technology	$88,140	$42.38
5	Utilities	$82,039	$39.44
6	Construction	$81,237	$39.06

High paying start-up engineer jobs

Start-up engineer salary trends

The average start-up engineer salary has risen by $11,757 over the last ten years. In 2014, the average start-up engineer earned $85,221 annually, but today, they earn $96,978 a year. That works out to a 7% change in pay for start-up engineers over the last decade.

Compare start-up engineer salaries for cities or states with the national average over time.

Average start-up engineer salary over time

Compare start-up engineer salaries for individual cities or states with the national average.

Start-up engineer salary by year

Year	Avg. salary	Hourly rate	% Change
2025	$97,000	$46.62	+1.9%
2024	$95,100	$45.73	+1.2%
2023	$94,000	$45.18	+1.7%
2022	$92,400	$44.41	+2.0%
2021	$90,600	$43.54	+0.7%

Recently added start-up engineer salaries

Company	Job	Location	Date added	Salary
Brynz-On-Demand Hiring for Startups &SMBs In 72 Hours	Founding Engineer for Y Combinator Startups	San Francisco, CA	06/19/2025	$160,000
Broetje Automation	Startup Engineer/Service Tech	Savannah, GA	06/10/2025	$70,958
Stealth Startup	Full Stack Engineer-Early-Stage Startup	New York, NY	05/28/2025	$160,000
Broetje Automation	Startup Engineer/Service Tech	Savannah, GA	05/17/2025	$70,958
Anthropic	Applied AI, Startups	Ione, WA	04/28/2025	$170,000
The Developer Link	Frontend Engineer-Hybrid NYC-Fintech Startup	New York, NY	04/26/2025	$160,000
Bechtel	2025 University Graduate (U.S.)-Startup Engineer	South Burlington, VT	04/12/2025	$81,372
Stealth Startup	Full Stack Engineer-Early-Stage Startup	New York, NY	04/08/2025	$160,000
Applied Materials	Integration and Start-Up Engineer	Gloucester, MA	03/11/2025	$41,740
Stackedsp Inc.	Series A, IOT & API Startup: Founding IOS SDK Engineer	San Francisco, CA	02/18/2025	$150,000

Start-up engineer salary FAQs

What state pays Start-Up Engineers the most?

How do I know if I'm being paid fairly as a start-up engineer?

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

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Updated December 15, 2025

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