Side-by-side distribution
Electrical Engineer
$153,946
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 49.5%
- Live roles
- 1,376
Hardware Engineer
$172,500
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 48.9%
- Live roles
- 501
Highest-paying jobs
Electrical Engineer, Robotics
Data Center Electrical Engineer
Principal Electrical Engineer
Electrical Engineer
Data Center Design Engineer, Electrical - Industrial Compute
Data Center Infrastructure Electrical Engineer
Electrical Engineer, Actuator Test Infrastructure
Principal Electrical Engineer, Integration & Test
Senior Electrical Engineer II
Senior Registered Engineer / Project Manager, Electrical
Highest-paying jobs
Hardware / Software CoDesign Engineer - 3P
Software Engineer, Fleet Hardware Health
Software Engineer, Hardware
Software Engineer, Hardware Health
Hardware Tools Engineer
Research Engineer - Robotic Hardware, Simulation and Data
Offensive Hardware Security Engineer, Platform Security
Manufacturing Engineer - Data Center Hardware
Hardware Engineer, PCB
Hardware Engineer, RTL
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Anduril Industries
|
$170,000 | 103 |
Syska Hennessy Group
|
$128,692 | 37 |
SpaceX
|
$123,750 | 28 |
ALTEN Technology USA
|
$127,500 | 15 |
Helion
|
$220,000 | 14 |
Rocket Lab Corporation
|
$175,225 | 11 |
Fluidstack
|
$217,500 | 10 |
Atwell, LLC
|
$135,000 | 9 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
|
SpaceX
|
$122,500 | 21 |
|
Anduril Industries
|
$170,000 | 14 |
Relativity Space
|
$185,000 | 10 |
Freeform
|
$170,000 | 10 |
|
Applied Intuition
|
$159,500 | 9 |
|
OpenAI
|
$337,500 | 8 |
Everpure
|
$219,000 | 8 |
Astranis
|
$182,500 | 6 |
Electrical Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| Seattle | $208,500 | 21 |
| San Francisco | $185,000 | 55 |
| Austin | $179,475 | 16 |
| Denver | $160,000 | 15 |
| New York | $157,845 | 28 |
| Los Angeles | $150,000 | 47 |
| Boston | $145,775 | 23 |
| Chicago | $144,311 | 13 |
| Toronto | $110,416 | 3 |
| Atlanta | $100,000 | 6 |
Hardware Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| Seattle | $362,500 | 3 |
| New York | $300,000 | 8 |
| London | $300,000 | 4 |
| Chicago | $200,000 | 6 |
| San Francisco | $188,750 | 30 |
| Boston | $170,000 | 6 |
| Los Angeles | $162,500 | 20 |
Electrical Engineer vs Hardware Engineer: which pays more?
The median for Electrical Engineer is $153,946 per year (typically $125,000–$184,750), versus $172,500 for Hardware Engineer ($135,000–$200,000). That puts Hardware Engineer about 12% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Electrical Engineer and Hardware 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.