Computer Engineer Salary

Before choosing a career, you should know about career opportunities, working conditions, work environment, insurance and especially the salary aspect. How much does a computer engineer make?

Salary Outlook

The average salary of computer engineer in the United States is $102,450 per year, which is 106% higher than the average U.S. salary. Our latest research found that new college graduates can earn an average salary range of $61,000 to $76,000 per year.

HourlyWeeklyMonthlyAnnual
$49.25$1,970$8,537$102,450

Salary Range

Percentile10%25%50%75%90%
Hourly$30.97$38.07$47.23$63.05$76.20
Weekly$1,238$1,522$1,889$2,522$3,048
Monthly$5,368$6,599$8,186$10,929$13,208
Annual$64,420$79,190$98,240$131,150$158,500

Software and Hardware Engineer

Computer engineering has two major specialties: Computer software engineer and Computer hardware engineer.

Computer software engineer develop, design and test software or construct, maintain computer networks, programs for companies. They create computer interfaces, operating systems, new programs and applications such as desktops, smartphones, tablets. The average software engineer salary is $107,840 per year.

Computer EngineerHardware EngineerSoftware Engineer
Junior$64,400 $69,000 $59,800
Intermediate$102,350 $117,852 $110,101
Senior$161,368 $167,030 $168,230

Computer hardware engineer research, develop and test hardware or computer equipment including chip-set, mainboard… etc. They ensure that their hardware work properly with the latest software technology. The average hardware engineer salary is $112,760 per year.

Overall, the average pay for a hardware engineer is 5% higher than for a software engineer.

Highest-Paying Companies

Based on our data, Google is the highest paying company in the computer engineering industry with employees earning an average of $124,000 per year, which is 21% higher than the average computer engineering salary in the United States. A senior engineer at Google can earn up to $285,000 or more.

CompanyHourlyMonthlyAnnual
Google$59.62$10,333 $124,000
LinkedIn$58.65$10,167 $122,000
Apple$57.69$10,000 $120,000
Facebook$57.21$9,917 $119,000
HP$56.73$9,833 $118,000
IBM$56.25$9,750 $117,000
Cisco Systems$55.77$9,667 $116,000
Microsoft$55.29$9,583 $115,000
Citrix Systems$53.36$9,250 $111,000
Oracle$51.92$9,000 $108,000
Amazon$51.44$8,917 $107,000
Qualcomm$51.44$8,833 $106,000
Intel Corporation$50.96$8,750 $105,000
eBay$50.00$8,667 $104,000
Workday$47.60$8,250 $99,000
Orbitz Worldwide$46.63$8,083 $97,000
Jabil Circuit$44.23$7,667 $92,000
Xerox$44.23$7,667 $92,000
Danaher$40.87$7,083 $85,000
Micron Technology$39.42$6,833 $82,000

Highest-Paying Jobs/Fields

Job/Field – CompanyAnnual
Software – Google$285,000
Software – Apple$258,000
Software – Intel$235,000
Software – LinkedIn$210,000
Manager – Facebook$209,000
Manager – Riverbed$190,000
Hardware – Qualcomm$185,000
Software – Citrix$180,000
Software – Agilent$177,000
Software – Red Hat$171,000
Software – Akamai$169,000
Software – SAP$154,000
Software – Workday$151,000
Manager – Eaton$146,000
Software – MITRE$143,000
Software – MathWorks$141,000
Hardware – NI$137,000
QA – Salesforce$136,000
Software – Rackspace$126,000
Software – Orbitz$121,000

Highest-Paying Cities

Silicon Valley (San Francisco Bay Area, California) is the best place to be a computer engineer; the median salary is around $131,500 per year.

CityHourlyMonthlyAnnual
San Francisco$64.42$11,167 $134,000
San Jose$63.46$11,000 $132,000
New York$55.29$9,583 $115,000
Washington D.C.$54.81$9,500 $114,000
Brooklyn$52.88$9,167 $110,000
Boston$51.92$9,000 $108,000
Chicago$51.44$8,916 $107,000
Los Angeles$50.96$8,833 $106,000
Dallas$50.48$8,750 $105,000
Philadelphia$49.52$8,583 $103,000

Salary by State

StateHourlyMonthlyAnnual
Alabama$50.24$8,708 $104,500
Alaska$40.10$6,950 $83,400
Arizona$41.44$7,183 $86,200
Arkansas$48.29$8,371 $100,450
California$55.05$9,542 $114,500
Colorado$41.13$7,129 $85,550
Connecticut$52.52$9,104 $109,250
Delaware$44.90$7,783 $93,400
Florida$45.79$7,938 $95,250
Georgia$53.08$9,200 $110,400
Hawaii$48.44$8,396 $100,750
Idaho$39.81$6,900 $82,800
Illinois$50.87$8,817 $105,800
Indiana$49.09$8,508 $102,100
Iowa$45.34$7,858 $94,300
Kansas$43.97$7,621 $91,450
Kentucky$42.24$7,321 $87,850
Louisiana$40.43$7,008 $84,100
Maine$43.13$7,475 $89,700
Maryland$48.46$8,400 $100,800
Massachusetts$55.29$9,583 $115,000
Michigan$47.00$8,146 $97,750
Minnesota$43.34$7,513 $90,150
Mississippi$56.39$9,775 $117,300
Missouri$48.13$8,342 $100,100
Montana$49.64$8,604 $103,250
Nebraska$39.25$6,804 $81,650
Nevada$44.78$7,763 $93,150
New Hampshire$47.55$8,242 $98,900
New Jersey$51.42$8,913 $106,950
New Mexico$43.68$7,571 $90,850
New York$56.95$9,871 $118,450
North Carolina$48.32$8,375 $100,500
North Dakota$45.19$7,833 $94,000
Ohio$46.08$7,988 $95,850
Oklahoma$44.23$7,667 $92,000
Oregon$45.94$7,963 $95,550
Pennsylvania$41.88$7,258 $87,100
Rhode Island$48.94$8,483 $101,800
South Carolina$43.53$7,546 $90,550
South Dakota$37.60$6,517 $78,200
Tennessee$46.23$8,013 $96,150
Texas$45.41$7,871 $94,450
Utah$41.32$7,163 $85,950
Vermont$45.29$7,850 $94,200
Virginia$48.65$8,433 $101,200
Washington$46.44$8,050 $96,600
West Virginia$47.86$8,296 $99,550
Wisconsin$42.57$7,379 $88,550
Wyoming$44.64$7,738 $92,850