USA · Engineering · Salary

Computer hardware engineers: pay by state and city

What computer hardware engineers — the main job for this pathway — earn across the U.S., from the latest BLS wage survey (May 2025).

U.S. median$161,740
BLS OEWS · May 2025
Occupational Employment and Wage StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Period
May 2025
SOC
17-2061 Computer hardware engineers
File
oe.data.0.Current (download.bls.gov)
View official data
U.S. average (mean)$162,670
Jobs in the survey76,660
Most jobsCalifornia19,820 jobs · median $185,180

Pay where you want to work

Pick a state or search a metro area. The bar shows the spread from the lowest-paid 10% to the top 10% in that place.

United States

Computer hardware engineers · annual wages, May 2025
BLS OEWS · May 2025
Occupational Employment and Wage StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Period
May 2025
SOC
17-2061 Computer hardware engineers
File
oe.data.0.Current (download.bls.gov)
View official data
Lowest 10% below
$92,940
25th percentile
$126,090
Median
$161,740
75th percentile
$202,990
Top 10% above
$225,330
Middle half of workersMedianMean $162,670Jobs 76,660

BLS publishes this occupation for 46 state-level areas (50 states, DC and territories where available) and 107 metro and nonmetro areas. Places it does not publish are not estimated here.

Where the jobs are, and where pay is highest

Median annual pay, May 2025. Highest-pay lists only include places with at least 500 jobs. BLS wages are not adjusted for living costs, which are usually higher where pay is higher.

States with the most jobs

  1. California19,820 jobs$185,180
  2. Texas7,390 jobs$163,860
  3. New Mexico5,260 jobs$165,350
  4. Florida3,290 jobs$134,160
  5. Massachusetts3,150 jobs$167,600

Highest-paying states

  1. California19,820 jobs$185,180
  2. Washington1,800 jobs$169,120
  3. Massachusetts3,150 jobs$167,600
  4. New Mexico5,260 jobs$165,350
  5. Texas7,390 jobs$163,860

Metro areas with the most jobs

  1. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA7,940 jobs$209,860
  2. Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX3,850 jobs$165,530
  3. San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA3,330 jobs$174,440
  4. Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH2,840 jobs$167,600
  5. Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ2,820 jobs$167,010

Highest-paying metro areas

  1. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA7,940 jobs$209,860
  2. San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA2,810 jobs$203,890
  3. San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA3,330 jobs$174,440
  4. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA1,410 jobs$169,120
  5. Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH2,840 jobs$167,600
All 46 state-level areas (sortable)
Pay by state; select a column heading to sort
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Every job in this pathway

National figures. A field of study leads to several occupations, each with its own pay.

OccupationLowest 10%MedianTop 10%Jobs
Computer hardware engineers —$161,740——
Software developers —$135,980——
Electrical and electronics engineers —$125,040——

"Jobs" counts wage-and-salary jobs in the OEWS survey; it differs from the employment totals in BLS projections. "—": BLS publishes this group as separate occupations; the median shown is the group figure from the Occupational Outlook Handbook.

Median pay by industry · computer hardware engineers

  • Semiconductor and other electronic component manufacturing$166,150
  • Research and development in the physical, engineering, and life sciences$171,820
  • Computer systems design and related services$155,470
  • Information$169,030
  • Federal government$136,990
Data: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (national, state, metro and nonmetro estimates). How Margdarshan sources its data → · Back to Computer Engineering