Side-by-side distribution
Automotive Engineer
$153,500
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 49.2%
- Live roles
- 394
Petroleum Engineer
$98,200
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 11.1%
- Live roles
- 36
Highest-paying jobs
Principal Software Engineer – Core OS, Vehicle Compute
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Staff Software Engineer – Core OS, Vehicle Compute
Senior / Staff Machine Learning Engineer, Vehicle Dynamics
Space Vehicle Chief Engineer (Level 7)
Chief Engineer, Space Vehicle Autonomy
Staff Software Engineer, Vehicle Software, C++
Principal Systems Engineer, Air Vehicle Systems
Principal Systems Engineer, Air Vehicle Software
Mission Software Engineer, Vehicle Software, Computer Vision
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
|
Anduril Industries
|
$194,500 | 31 |
Relativity Space
|
$136,000 | 17 |
|
Northrop Grumman
|
$148,000 | 16 |
|
General Motors
|
$149,618 | 14 |
The Aerospace Corporation
|
$155,100 | 12 |
Rocket Lab Corporation
|
$127,500 | 9 |
SpaceX
|
$142,500 | 8 |
Inversion
|
$130,500 | 7 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Chevron
|
$90,608 | 2 |
FormFactor
|
$157,508 | 1 |
Residential Home Health and Hospice
|
$88,400 | 1 |
Automotive Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| Seattle | $242,650 | 6 |
| Boston | $193,000 | 7 |
| Austin | $158,263 | 4 |
| San Francisco | $157,500 | 5 |
| Los Angeles | $144,750 | 6 |
Automotive Engineer vs Petroleum Engineer: which pays more?
The median for Automotive Engineer is $153,500 per year (typically $129,750–$193,000), versus $98,200 for Petroleum Engineer ($84,604–$120,377). That puts Automotive Engineer about 56% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Automotive Engineer and Petroleum 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.