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Tool engineer salary
Average tool engineer salary
$101,135
Understanding Tool Engineer Salaries
Tool Engineers play a vital role in the manufacturing and engineering sectors, focusing on the design and development of tools and machinery. As of October 2025, the average salary for a Tool Engineer is $101,135 per year, equating to about $49 per hour. Salaries can vary widely based on factors such as experience level, industry, and location.
Experience Level Impact
Entry-level Tool Engineers typically start at lower salaries, but as they gain experience, their earning potential increases significantly. For example:
- Entry-Level: $70,000 - $80,000
- Mid-Level: $90,000 - $110,000
- Senior-Level: $120,000+
Geographic Variability
Salaries also differ by state. States like California and Texas often offer higher salaries due to the concentration of engineering firms and the cost of living. For instance, California Tool Engineers can earn up to $120,000 while those in states with lower living costs may earn around $90,000.
By exploring various job opportunities and understanding the factors that influence salaries, Tool Engineers can make informed decisions about their career trajectories.
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Where can a Tool Engineer earn more?
Tool engineer salaries by experience level
Tool engineer salary estimates from across the web
Average tool engineer salary by state
The average tool engineer salary in California, Oregon, and Washington are the highest in the U.S. The lowest average tool engineer salary states are North Dakota, Kansas, and Indiana.
- State view
- County view
Highest paying states for tool engineers
| Rank | State | Avg. salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | $138,894 | $66.78 |
| 2 | Oregon | $121,082 | $58.21 |
| 3 | Washington | $119,095 | $57.26 |
| 4 | Utah | $103,537 | $49.78 |
| 5 | Arizona | $100,570 | $48.35 |
| 6 | Idaho | $111,791 | $53.75 |
| 7 | New Mexico | $103,396 | $49.71 |
| 8 | Nevada | $110,798 | $53.27 |
| 9 | Texas | $98,188 | $47.21 |
| 10 | New York | $104,045 | $50.02 |
| 11 | Colorado | $94,710 | $45.53 |
| 12 | Massachusetts | $93,694 | $45.05 |
| 13 | Alaska | $102,458 | $49.26 |
| 14 | Maryland | $97,172 | $46.72 |
| 15 | Michigan | $86,982 | $41.82 |
| 16 | Virginia | $91,434 | $43.96 |
| 17 | District of Columbia | $95,536 | $45.93 |
| 18 | Louisiana | $93,325 | $44.87 |
| 19 | West Virginia | $90,255 | $43.39 |
| 20 | New Hampshire | $86,283 | $41.48 |
| 21 | Connecticut | $88,823 | $42.70 |
| 22 | Maine | $89,741 | $43.14 |
| 23 | North Carolina | $85,491 | $41.10 |
| 24 | South Carolina | $87,045 | $41.85 |
| 25 | Georgia | $87,727 | $42.18 |
| 26 | South Dakota | $88,609 | $42.60 |
| 27 | Montana | $87,890 | $42.25 |
| 28 | Illinois | $87,491 | $42.06 |
| 29 | Pennsylvania | $85,113 | $40.92 |
| 30 | Alabama | $83,529 | $40.16 |
| 31 | New Jersey | $88,831 | $42.71 |
| 32 | Florida | $88,533 | $42.56 |
| 33 | Oklahoma | $86,250 | $41.47 |
| 34 | Kentucky | $84,598 | $40.67 |
| 35 | Rhode Island | $82,593 | $39.71 |
| 36 | Delaware | $82,161 | $39.50 |
| 37 | Missouri | $85,073 | $40.90 |
| 38 | Wisconsin | $80,307 | $38.61 |
| 39 | Iowa | $82,873 | $39.84 |
| 40 | Minnesota | $81,014 | $38.95 |
| 41 | Vermont | $81,495 | $39.18 |
| 42 | Wyoming | $82,076 | $39.46 |
| 43 | Tennessee | $81,512 | $39.19 |
| 44 | Arkansas | $79,969 | $38.45 |
| 45 | Indiana | $78,068 | $37.53 |
| 46 | Hawaii | $80,759 | $38.83 |
| 47 | North Dakota | $78,571 | $37.77 |
| 48 | Kansas | $78,151 | $37.57 |
| 49 | Ohio | $70,365 | $33.83 |
| 50 | Nebraska | $73,653 | $35.41 |
| 51 | Mississippi | $76,074 | $36.57 |
Highest paying cities for tool engineers
The highest-paying cities for tool engineers are Novato, CA, Hillsboro, OR, and Everett, WA.
| Rank | City | Avg. salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Novato, CA | $151,270 | $72.73 |
| 2 | Hillsboro, OR | $120,279 | $57.83 |
| 3 | Everett, WA | $119,580 | $57.49 |
| 4 | New York, NY | $104,228 | $50.11 |
| 5 | Salt Lake City, UT | $102,916 | $49.48 |
| 6 | Phoenix, AZ | $101,248 | $48.68 |
| 7 | Austin, TX | $98,611 | $47.41 |
| 8 | Annapolis, MD | $97,447 | $46.85 |
| 9 | Washington, DC | $95,540 | $45.93 |
| 10 | Boston, MA | $93,714 | $45.05 |
| 11 | New Orleans, LA | $93,507 | $44.96 |
| 12 | Tampa, FL | $92,045 | $44.25 |
| 13 | Arlington, VA | $90,817 | $43.66 |
| 14 | Columbus, GA | $88,400 | $42.50 |
| 15 | Chicago, IL | $87,532 | $42.08 |
| 16 | Sterling Heights, MI | $86,990 | $41.82 |
| 17 | Saint Louis, MO | $84,676 | $40.71 |
| 18 | Little Rock, AR | $80,265 | $38.59 |
| 19 | Wichita, KS | $79,289 | $38.12 |
| 20 | Columbus, IN | $78,038 | $37.52 |
Tool engineer salary details
A tool engineer's salary ranges from $75,000 a year at the 10th percentile to $135,000 at the 90th percentile.
What is a tool engineer's salary?
| Percentile | Annual salary | Monthly salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 90th Percentile | $135,000 | $11,250 | $65 |
| 75th Percentile | $118,000 | $9,833 | $57 |
| Average | $101,135 | $8,428 | $49 |
| 25th Percentile | $86,000 | $7,167 | $41 |
| 10th Percentile | $75,000 | $6,250 | $36 |
Highest paying tool engineer jobs
The highest paying types of tool engineers are staff engineer, senior mechanical engineer, and research and development engineer.
| Job title | Annual salary | Monthly salary | Hourly rate | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Research And Development Engineer | $100,169 | $8,347 | $48.16 | 187,910 |
| Mechanical Design Engineer | $75,821 | $6,318 | $36.45 | 120,258 |
| Manufacturing Engineer | $78,522 | $6,543 | $37.75 | 115,384 |
| Product Development Engineer | $86,075 | $7,173 | $41.38 | 202,155 |
| Product Design Engineer | $94,827 | $7,902 | $45.59 | 170,485 |
| Equipment Engineer | $97,539 | $8,128 | $46.89 | 108,449 |
How would you rate the starting salaries for tool engineers, as well as the prospects for salary advancement?
Michael Rudisill
Department Head and Professor of Engineering Technology, Northern Michigan University
Top companies hiring tool engineers now:
Which companies pay tool engineers the most?
Tool engineer salaries at Meta and ByteDance are the highest-paying according to our most recent salary estimates. In addition, the average tool engineer salary at companies like Apple and Waymo are highly competitive.
| Rank | Company | Average salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Meta | $154,680 | $74.37 |
| 2 | ByteDance | $147,851 | $71.08 |
| 3 | Apple | $140,538 | $67.57 |
| 4 | Waymo | $137,137 | $65.93 |
| 5 | Coursera | $135,742 | $65.26 |
| 6 | Cloudflare | $135,106 | $64.95 |
| 7 | Pure Storage | $132,109 | $63.51 |
| 8 | Zoox | $131,341 | $63.14 |
| 9 | MongoDB | $130,133 | $62.56 |
| 10 | eBay | $129,899 | $62.45 |
| 11 | Amazon | $128,573 | $61.81 |
| 12 | NVIDIA | $127,328 | $61.22 |
| 13 | Adobe | $124,329 | $59.77 |
| 14 | Unity Technologies | $120,788 | $58.07 |
| 15 | Salesforce | $120,574 | $57.97 |
| 16 | Cisco | $119,020 | $57.22 |
| 17 | Morgan Stanley | $118,505 | $56.97 |
| 18 | Udacity | $117,629 | $56.55 |
| 19 | Roblox | $117,181 | $56.34 |
| 20 | Citrix | $115,059 | $55.32 |
Wage gap by gender, race and education
Tool Engineer salary by industry
The average tool engineer salary varies across industries:
- The average tool engineer salary in the technology industry is $94,406, the highest of any industry.
- The average tool engineer salary in the finance industry is $94,358.
- Tool engineers in the manufacturing industry earn an average salary of $84,487, the lowest of any industry.
Highest paying industries for tool engineers
| Rank | Industry | Average salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Technology | $94,406 | $45.39 |
| 2 | Professional | $94,358 | $45.36 |
| 3 | Automotive | $92,682 | $44.56 |
| 4 | Transportation | $86,127 | $41.41 |
| 5 | Manufacturing | $84,487 | $40.62 |
High paying tool engineer jobs
Tool engineer salary trends
The average tool engineer salary has risen by $12,261 over the last ten years. In 2014, the average tool engineer earned $88,874 annually, but today, they earn $101,135 a year. That works out to a 7% change in pay for tool engineers over the last decade.
Compare tool engineer salaries for cities or states with the national average over time.
Average tool engineer salary over time
Compare tool engineer salaries for individual cities or states with the national average.
Tool engineer salary by year
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $101,000 | $48.62 | +1.9% |
| 2024 | $99,200 | $47.69 | +1.2% |
| 2023 | $98,000 | $47.12 | +1.7% |
| 2022 | $96,300 | $46.31 | +2.0% |
| 2021 | $94,400 | $45.40 | +0.7% |
Recently added tool engineer salaries
| Company | Job | Location | Date added | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jeppesen | Experienced Equipment & Tool Engineer | Noma, FL | 06/30/2025 | $90,100 |
| Jeppesen | Equipment & Tool Engineer (Asset Engineering) | Mesa, AZ | 06/30/2025 | $110,500 |
| Solectron Corp | Tooling Engineer | Buffalo Grove, IL | 06/30/2025 | $104,400 |
| Blue Origin | Tooling Engineer II-New Glenn | Seattle, WA | 06/30/2025 | $96,310 |
| Perspecta | Network Monitoring Tools Engineer, SME | Ashburn, VA | 06/29/2025 | $104,000 |
| Modular | MAX Platform Tooling Engineer | Los Altos, CA | 06/28/2025 | $198,000 |
| Lockheed Martin | Software Engineer-Digital Tools & Engineering Junior | Orlando, FL | 06/26/2025 | $69,200 |
| Apple | Tools Engineer, Testing | Cupertino, CA | 06/25/2025 | $175,800 |
| Howmet Aerospace | Engineer, Tooling | Fontana, CA | 06/24/2025 | $90,000 |
| Peraton | Network Monitoring Tools Engineer, SME | Ashburn, VA | 06/22/2025 | $104,000 |
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