Side-by-side distribution
Hardware Engineer
$158,950
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 41.5%
- Live roles
- 1,235
Robotics
$173,014
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 47.6%
- Live roles
- 555
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, Research Engineer (Hardware)
Internal Acceleration, Engineer (Hardware)
Hardware Engineer, RTL
Hardware Engineer, PCB
Highest-paying jobs
Software Engineer, Robotics
PCB Layout Engineer, Robotics
Control Systems Software Engineer, Robotics
Lead Safety Engineer, Robotics
Electrical Engineer, Robotics
Software Engineer, Distributed Data Systems - Robotics
Inference Engineer, Robotics
Staff Robotics Engineer / Tech Lead – Whole-Body Control & Robot Learning
Senior Engineer (AI / Robotics / R&D), In-Home Care AI
Software Engineer: Robotics Controls
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Blue Origin
|
$156,847 | 44 |
Northrop Grumman
|
$142,500 | 27 |
SpaceX
|
$125,000 | 23 |
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
|
$159,500 | 22 |
Anduril Industries
|
$164,500 | 21 |
Cisco
|
$189,450 | 14 |
Draper
|
$160,575 | 12 |
|
Applied Intuition
|
$172,500 | 11 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
|
Anduril Industries
|
$222,000 | 59 |
Neuralink
|
$153,500 | 9 |
|
OpenAI
|
$380,000 | 7 |
| LS Lila Sciences | $177,333 | 7 |
| GV GE Vernova | $119,000 | 6 |
Formic
|
$75,920 | 6 |
Intrinsic
|
$177,725 | 5 |
Field Ai
|
$150,000 | 5 |
Hardware Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| London | $300,000 | 4 |
| Austin | $205,505 | 5 |
| San Francisco | $190,050 | 34 |
| New York | $185,000 | 9 |
| Los Angeles | $156,847 | 45 |
| Seattle | $156,847 | 49 |
| Denver | $156,847 | 26 |
| Boston | $151,959 | 10 |
Robotics salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $203,500 | 34 |
| Seattle | $193,000 | 10 |
| Boston | $193,000 | 12 |
| Austin | $158,000 | 15 |
| Los Angeles | $150,000 | 9 |
| Denver | $150,000 | 7 |
| Atlanta | $135,625 | 4 |
| New York | $133,175 | 3 |
| Chicago | $132,838 | 4 |
Hardware Engineer vs Robotics: which pays more?
The median for Hardware Engineer is $158,950 per year (typically $122,500–$196,938), versus $173,014 for Robotics ($139,132–$214,500). That puts Robotics about 9% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Hardware Engineer and Robotics 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.