Side-by-side distribution
Automotive Engineer
$165,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 54.1%
- Live roles
- 209
Materials Engineer
$158,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 51.1%
- Live roles
- 90
Highest-paying jobs
Principal Engineer, Embedded Vehicle Software
Senior Manufacturing Engineer (Arc Vehicle)
Staff Robotics Software Engineer, Air Vehicle Autonomy
Staff Robotics Software Engineer, Air Vehicle Autonomy
Staff Robotics Software Engineer, Air Vehicle Autonomy
Site Reliability Engineering Manager, Vehicle Software
Automotive System Engineer
Chief Engineer, Software-Defined Vehicle Platform
Principal Systems Engineer, Air Vehicle Systems
Staff Software Engineer, Vehicle Software, C++
Highest-paying jobs
Principal Nuclear Materials Engineer
Materials Scientist / Engineer
Materials Engineer (New Grad Summer 2027)
Materials Engineer (New Grad December 2026)
Principal TPS Materials Engineer
Senior Data Engineer, Bioinformatics, Cheminformatics, Materials
Senior Materials Engineer, Diagnostics
Senior Materials Engineer, Dielectrics
Senior Materials Engineer, Ceramic Fabrication
Staff Materials Engineer, Design Allowables & Materials Data
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
|
Anduril Industries
|
$193,000 | 37 |
Relativity Space
|
$144,000 | 14 |
Scout Motors
|
$122,500 | 10 |
|
Inversion
|
$130,500 | 9 |
Rocket Lab Corporation
|
$122,500 | 8 |
|
Wayve
|
$277,150 | 4 |
Stoke Space
|
$154,350 | 3 |
Motional
|
$146,000 | 3 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
|
Anduril Industries
|
$170,000 | 7 |
|
Helion
|
$200,000 | 5 |
SpaceX
|
$111,875 | 4 |
|
Freeform
|
$249,600 | 3 |
|
Relativity Space
|
$155,000 | 2 |
General Matter
|
$145,000 | 2 |
Antares
|
$141,250 | 2 |
Neuralink
|
$116,900 | 2 |
Automotive Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| Seattle | $193,000 | 6 |
| Boston | $193,000 | 5 |
| Los Angeles | $144,750 | 4 |
Materials Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | $163,750 | 8 |
| San Francisco | $140,500 | 4 |
Automotive Engineer vs Materials Engineer: which pays more?
The median for Automotive Engineer is $165,000 per year (typically $130,125–$199,063), versus $158,000 for Materials Engineer ($125,600–$184,625). That puts Automotive Engineer about 4% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Automotive Engineer and Materials Engineer are compared on equal terms regardless of the currency each role was originally posted in. Only roles that publish a salary range feed the medians; numbers refresh every few hours as new roles post and older ones close, so this comparison reflects the market right now rather than a fixed survey. Use it as a directional benchmark when weighing one path against the other.