Side-by-side distribution
Hardware Engineer
$175,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 51.5%
- Live roles
- 460
Robotics
$200,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 43.8%
- Live roles
- 381
Highest-paying jobs
Hardware / Software CoDesign Engineer - 3P
Hardware Engineer
SOC Emulation Engineer - Hardware Emulation Infrastructure
Software Engineer, Hardware
ML Research Engineer - Hardware Codesign
Software Engineer, Hardware Health
Hardware Tools Engineer
Research Engineer - Robotic Hardware, Simulation and Data
Offensive Hardware Security Engineer, Platform Security
Systems Software Engineer, Security, First Party Hardware
Highest-paying jobs
Lead Safety Engineer, Robotics
Machine Learning Engineer, Distributed Data Systems - Robotics
Firmware Engineer, Robotics
Software Engineer, Distributed Data Systems - Robotics
Inference Engineer, Robotics
Electrical Engineer, Robotics
Staff Robotics Engineer / Tech Lead – Whole-Body Control & Robot Learning
Software Engineer: Robotics Controls
Software Engineer: ML Robotics Systems
Staff Robotics Software Engineer, Air Vehicle Autonomy
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
SpaceX
|
$113,750 | 15 |
Relativity Space
|
$185,000 | 12 |
Freeform
|
$170,000 | 10 |
|
Anduril Industries
|
$191,500 | 9 |
|
OpenAI
|
$335,000 | 7 |
|
Applied Intuition
|
$159,500 | 7 |
Nebius
|
$152,500 | 7 |
Everpure
|
$203,000 | 6 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
|
Anduril Industries
|
$222,000 | 53 |
Field Ai
|
$185,000 | 9 |
|
OpenAI
|
$370,000 | 7 |
| SA Skild AI | $200,000 | 7 |
Neuralink
|
$155,750 | 6 |
DoorDash USA
|
$207,500 | 5 |
Intrinsic
|
$174,050 | 5 |
Agility Robotics
|
$215,750 | 4 |
Hardware Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| London | $242,500 | 3 |
| New York | $240,000 | 9 |
| Seattle | $220,000 | 5 |
| San Francisco | $206,000 | 29 |
| Chicago | $200,000 | 6 |
| Los Angeles | $160,000 | 17 |
| Boston | $155,000 | 7 |
Robotics salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| Boston | $222,000 | 13 |
| New York | $214,750 | 4 |
| Seattle | $214,750 | 6 |
| Austin | $212,000 | 9 |
| San Francisco | $206,000 | 36 |
| Denver | $150,000 | 3 |
| Los Angeles | $131,250 | 6 |
Hardware Engineer vs Robotics: which pays more?
The median for Hardware Engineer is $175,000 per year (typically $140,000–$207,750), versus $200,000 for Robotics ($170,250–$222,000). That puts Robotics about 14% 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.