Side-by-side distribution
Electrical Engineer
$136,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 42.2%
- Live roles
- 4,182
Hardware Engineer
$158,450
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 41.5%
- Live roles
- 1,249
Highest-paying jobs
Staff Electrical Engineer - Low Voltage
Staff Electrical Engineer - Medium Voltage
Electrical Engineer, Robotics
Data Center Electrical Engineer
Principal Electrical Engineer (Hardware Design)
Senior Electrical Delivery Engineer
Principal Electrical Engineer
Electrical Engineer, Hardware Systems
Electrical Engineer
Principal Power Electronics Engineer
Highest-paying jobs
Hardware / Software CoDesign Engineer - 3P
Mechanical Engineer, Hardware Systems
Software Engineer, Hardware Health
Data Engineer, Hardware & Consumer Devices
Research Engineer - Robotic Hardware, Simulation and Data
Manufacturing Engineer - Data Center Hardware
Internal Acceleration, Engineer (Hardware)
Principal Electrical Engineer (Hardware Design)
Hardware Engineer, PCB
Principal Hardware Engineer, Precision Instrumentation
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Northrop Grumman
|
$123,000 | 177 |
Anduril Industries
|
$170,000 | 112 |
Blue Origin
|
$173,014 | 59 |
Syska Hennessy Group
|
$110,696 | 52 |
Leidos
|
$122,275 | 46 |
SpaceX
|
$125,000 | 32 |
| GV GE Vernova | $119,000 | 30 |
Amentum
|
$125,000 | 28 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
|
Blue Origin
|
$156,847 | 44 |
|
Northrop Grumman
|
$136,000 | 27 |
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
|
$159,500 | 24 |
|
SpaceX
|
$126,250 | 24 |
|
Anduril Industries
|
$164,500 | 21 |
Cisco
|
$190,100 | 16 |
Draper
|
$151,150 | 11 |
|
Applied Intuition
|
$173,750 | 10 |
Electrical Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| Seattle | $174,226 | 71 |
| San Francisco | $172,200 | 73 |
| Denver | $156,847 | 51 |
| Austin | $149,000 | 33 |
| Los Angeles | $148,664 | 86 |
| Boston | $143,063 | 41 |
| Atlanta | $125,000 | 13 |
| Chicago | $122,215 | 32 |
| New York | $122,000 | 40 |
| Toronto | $111,961 | 3 |
Hardware Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| London | $300,000 | 4 |
| Austin | $205,505 | 5 |
| San Francisco | $190,100 | 35 |
| New York | $181,000 | 11 |
| Los Angeles | $156,847 | 41 |
| Seattle | $156,847 | 48 |
| Denver | $156,847 | 26 |
| Boston | $149,250 | 11 |
Electrical Engineer vs Hardware Engineer: which pays more?
The median for Electrical Engineer is $136,000 per year (typically $110,000–$167,581), versus $158,450 for Hardware Engineer ($122,500–$195,250). That puts Hardware Engineer about 17% 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.