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Team lead engineer salary

Quoted expert
Michael Rudisill

Average team lead engineer salary

$114,867

$55.22 hourly rate

Entry-level team lead engineer salary
$84,000 yearly salary
Updated January 8, 2025

Average Team Lead Engineer Salary

The average salary for a team lead engineer in the United States is $114,867 per year. This figure can fluctuate based on various factors such as geographic location, years of experience, and specific industry sectors. Understanding these differences is crucial for both job seekers and current professionals aiming to negotiate salaries effectively.

Experience Level Impact

Salary increases typically correlate with experience. For instance, entry-level team lead engineers may earn around $85,000, while those with over ten years of experience can see salaries exceeding $130,000.

Top Paying States

Team lead engineers in states like California, Washington, and New York often report higher salaries. This is influenced by local demand for technology professionals and cost of living adjustments. For example, California's tech hubs offer competitive compensation to attract talent.

Highest Paying Cities

Cities such as San Francisco and Seattle lead in offering the highest salaries. These urban centers not only provide robust job markets but also abundant opportunities for professional growth and networking.

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Where can a Team Lead Engineer earn more?

Compare salary by location
Vs
187k
167k
147k
127k
107k
87k
67k
Columbus, OH$162,409
Saint Paul, MN$97,034
Compare salary by company
Vs
206k
186k
166k
146k
126k
106k
Meta$181,753
Volvo Trucks$136,182

Team lead engineer salaries by experience level

Average team lead engineer salary by state

The average team lead engineer salary in California, New Jersey, and Massachusetts are the highest in the U.S. The lowest average team lead engineer salary states are Mississippi, North Dakota, and Arkansas.

  • State view
  • County view
Average salary:

Highest paying states for team lead engineers

RankStateAvg. salaryHourly rate
1California$151,531$72.85
2Massachusetts$132,173$63.54
3Connecticut$130,098$62.55
4Arizona$124,821$60.01
5Nevada$122,853$59.06
6Maryland$122,930$59.10
7New York$127,656$61.37
8Virginia$121,860$58.59
9Idaho$118,048$56.75
10Pennsylvania$117,919$56.69
11District of Columbia$122,638$58.96
12Utah$113,044$54.35
13New Jersey$135,939$65.36
14New Mexico$121,046$58.20
15West Virginia$121,579$58.45
16Oregon$113,653$54.64
17Washington$113,517$54.58
18Texas$118,149$56.80
19Maine$116,809$56.16
20New Hampshire$112,411$54.04
21Colorado$107,985$51.92
22Alabama$103,470$49.75
23Delaware$105,640$50.79
24Georgia$109,659$52.72
25North Carolina$111,374$53.55
26Michigan$109,847$52.81
27Alaska$102,373$49.22
28Illinois$105,296$50.62
29Vermont$105,069$50.51
30Louisiana$109,498$52.64
31Rhode Island$107,250$51.56
32Oklahoma$101,409$48.75
33South Dakota$102,537$49.30
34Tennessee$104,177$50.09
35Minnesota$96,939$46.61
36Kansas$99,669$47.92
37Florida$99,087$47.64
38Ohio$95,642$45.98
39Missouri$101,382$48.74
40Montana$93,327$44.87
41Wyoming$90,625$43.57
42Arkansas$87,901$42.26
43South Carolina$93,137$44.78
44Hawaii$90,440$43.48
45Wisconsin$92,424$44.43
46Indiana$91,517$44.00
47North Dakota$89,447$43.00
48Nebraska$87,817$42.22
49Iowa$86,931$41.79
50Mississippi$89,524$43.04
51Kentucky$85,691$41.20

Highest paying cities for team lead engineers

The highest-paying cities for team lead engineers are San Francisco, CA, Jersey City, NJ, and Boston, MA.

RankCityAvg. salaryHourly rate
1San Francisco, CA$162,409$78.08
2Jersey City, NJ$136,092$65.43
3Boston, MA$132,361$63.64
4New York, NY$127,936$61.51
5Phoenix, AZ$125,367$60.27
6McLean, VA$123,662$59.45
7Washington, DC$122,631$58.96
8Fort Worth, TX$118,964$57.19
9Pittsburgh, PA$115,085$55.33
10Seattle, WA$113,889$54.75
11Raleigh, NC$112,564$54.12
12Salt Lake City, UT$112,436$54.06
13Detroit, MI$110,383$53.07
14Atlanta, GA$109,802$52.79
15Colorado Springs, CO$108,944$52.38
16Chicago, IL$105,480$50.71
17Huntsville, AL$102,563$49.31
18Saint Louis, MO$101,400$48.75
19Olathe, KS$99,324$47.75
20Saint Paul, MN$97,034$46.65

Team lead engineer salary details

A team lead engineer's salary ranges from $84,000 a year at the 10th percentile to $156,000 at the 90th percentile.

Average team lead engineer salary graph
Average team lead engineer salary graph, trends, and summary

What is a team lead engineer's salary?

PercentileAnnual salaryMonthly salaryHourly rate
90th Percentile$156,000$13,000$75
75th Percentile$135,000$11,250$65
Average$114,867$9,572$55
25th Percentile$97,000$8,083$47
10th Percentile$84,000$7,000$40

Highest paying team lead engineer jobs

The highest paying types of team lead engineers are senior staff engineer, senior principal engineer, and principal engineer.

Job titleAnnual salaryMonthly salaryHourly rateJob openings
Technical Team Lead$90,219$7,518$43.37254,215
Consulting Engineer$97,746$8,145$46.99125,600
Project Team Lead$105,306$8,775$50.63125,539
Principal Engineer$130,213$10,851$62.60312,683
Staff Engineer$107,530$8,961$51.70277,011
Tool Engineer$101,135$8,428$48.6298,936

How would you rate the starting salaries for team lead 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 team lead engineers now:

  1. Datadog jobs (14)
  2. Navistar jobs (13)
  3. Nordstrom jobs (15)
  4. Hewlett Packard Enterprise jobs (22)
  5. SAIC jobs (13)

Which companies pay team lead engineers the most?

Team lead engineer salaries at Meta and Google are the highest-paying according to our most recent salary estimates. In addition, the average team lead engineer salary at companies like Grubhub and Squarespace are highly competitive.

RankCompanyAverage salaryHourly rate
1Meta$181,753$87.38
2Google$175,073$84.17
3Grubhub$159,487$76.68
4Squarespace$159,270$76.57
5Apple$158,007$75.96
6Atlassian$156,756$75.36
7BP America Inc$153,906$73.99
8Federal Reserve Bank of New York$153,482$73.79
9Zendesk$153,030$73.57
10Algolia$148,261$71.28
11Fortinet$147,415$70.87
12Chevron$146,398$70.38
13Zscaler$141,869$68.21
14Genesys$141,585$68.07
15Hearst$140,157$67.38
16Datadog$137,410$66.06
17ENERGY RECOVERY, INC.$137,196$65.96
18CyberCoders$136,487$65.62
19#LiveAtTheQ$136,376$65.57
20Volvo Trucks$136,182$65.47

Wage gap by gender, race and education

$115,000$114,200$113,400$112,600$111,800$111,000
MaleFemale

Team Lead Engineer salary by industry

The average team lead engineer salary varies across industries:

  • The average team lead engineer salary in the technology industry is $117,918, the highest of any industry.
  • The average team lead engineer salary in the finance industry is $115,779.
  • Team lead engineers in the education industry earn an average salary of $108,726, the lowest of any industry.

Highest paying industries for team lead engineers

RankIndustryAverage salaryHourly rate
1Technology$117,918$56.69
2Manufacturing$115,779$55.66
3Automotive$114,344$54.97
4Professional$111,148$53.44
5Telecommunication$110,938$53.34
6Hospitality$109,641$52.71
7Education$108,726$52.27

High paying team lead engineer jobs

Team lead engineer salary trends

The average team lead engineer salary has risen by $13,925 over the last ten years. In 2014, the average team lead engineer earned $100,942 annually, but today, they earn $114,867 a year. That works out to a 7% change in pay for team lead engineers over the last decade.

Compare team lead engineer salaries for cities or states with the national average over time.

Average team lead engineer salary over time

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

Team lead engineer salary by year

YearAvg. salaryHourly rate% Change
2025$115,000$55.22+1.9%
2024$113,000$54.16+1.2%
2023$111,000$53.52+1.7%
2022$109,000$52.60+2.0%
2021$107,000$51.57+0.7%

Recently added team lead engineer salaries

CompanyJobLocationDate addedSalary
JeppesenF-18 Tools Team Lead Software Engineer//Flight Simulation | LabsBerkeley, MO06/30/2025$161,500
TargetLead Engineer-Red TeamBrooklyn Park, MN06/30/2025$128,000
Novartis AGTeam Lead, Engineering MaintenanceIndianapolis, IN06/29/2025$85,400
Staffmark GroupTeam Lead/Project Engineer-Land DevelopmentFort Mill, SC06/29/2025$90,000
PerspectaBlue Team EngineerVirginia Beach, VA06/29/2025$104,000
Get It-Professional ServicesSEO/ORM Team Leader & Lead Strategist-RemoteOrlando, FL06/29/2025$50,000
SteampunkData Engineering Team LeadMcLean, VA06/29/2025$150,000
M&T BankEngineering Team LeadBuffalo, NY06/27/2025$143,666
FCRS = Us469Team Lead, Engineering MaintenanceIndianapolis, IN06/27/2025$85,400
AecomEngineering Team LeadChicago, IL06/26/2025$130,000

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