Side-by-side distribution
Embedded Engineer
$155,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 46.7%
- Live roles
- 1,125
Tech Lead
$164,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 26%
- Live roles
- 9,193
Highest-paying jobs
AI Support Engineer – Embedded Systems
Principal Engineer, Embedded Vehicle Software
Embedded software engineer
Principal Software Engineer, Embedded (RIS)
Principal Software Engineer - Embedded (RIS)
Principal Software Engineer - Embedded Platform Software Development
Principal Embedded Software Engineer
Principal Embedded Software Engineer
Staff Embedded Security Engineer
Embedded SW Engineer
Highest-paying jobs
Pre-training Distributed Systems Tech Lead / Manager
Lead Software Engineer
Engineering Team Lead
Cloud Engineering Team Lead
AI Solutions Engineering Delivery Lead
RISC-V AI / HPC & Agentic Software Engineering Lead
Technical Lead Manager - Training Runtime, Data(set) Movement
Lead Mobile Engineer, Performance
Web Platform Lead Engineer
Lead Software Engineer, Payment Platform
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Northrop Grumman
|
$142,500 | 81 |
Anduril Industries
|
$201,250 | 22 |
|
Blue Origin
|
$181,117 | 14 |
Leidos
|
$122,275 | 14 |
SpaceX
|
$145,000 | 13 |
Abbott
|
$171,000 | 11 |
Motorola Solutions
|
$121,750 | 11 |
Verkada
|
$225,000 | 9 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
|
Northrop Grumman
|
$191,100 | 100 |
| GV GE Vernova | $122,200 | 78 |
| BO Boeing | $161,000 | 75 |
|
Leidos
|
$151,475 | 70 |
Booz Allen Hamilton
|
$162,000 | 48 |
|
Anduril Industries
|
$170,000 | 42 |
STR
|
$195,000 | 33 |
| SA Salesforce | $244,875 | 26 |
Embedded Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $188,750 | 20 |
| Seattle | $185,150 | 22 |
| Denver | $181,117 | 13 |
| Los Angeles | $180,000 | 25 |
| New York | $178,800 | 5 |
| Toronto | $163,554 | 4 |
| Boston | $157,500 | 6 |
| Austin | $155,934 | 6 |
| Chicago | $153,000 | 3 |
Tech Lead salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $232,350 | 171 |
| Seattle | $219,831 | 86 |
| Austin | $205,000 | 69 |
| New York | $204,250 | 218 |
| Los Angeles | $193,300 | 44 |
| Boston | $180,200 | 79 |
| Atlanta | $176,400 | 61 |
| Denver | $163,750 | 48 |
| Chicago | $161,025 | 94 |
| Berlin | $148,465 | 9 |
Embedded Engineer vs Tech Lead: which pays more?
The median for Embedded Engineer is $155,000 per year (typically $128,000–$193,000), versus $164,000 for Tech Lead ($132,000–$200,000). That puts Tech Lead about 6% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Embedded Engineer and Tech Lead 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.