CAN bus salary: $165K median
The median advertised CAN bus salary is $165K a year, and the middle half of postings offer $144K to $205K: counted from 158 open roles that publish a yearly US-dollar range: about $79 an hour or $13,750 a month. A tenth of the postings offer $225K or more. Advertised ranges, not verified pay.
Check an offer against these figuresAll CAN bus jobs
$165Kmedian advertised salary
$144K – $205Kmiddle half of roles
$174Kaverage advertised salary
158roles counted
CAN bus salary by level
Lead roles advertise a median of $221K, 27% more than senior roles ($174K). The level comes from the job title; titles without a level word are counted separately.
| Level | Median salary | Middle half | Roles |
|---|---|---|---|
| Senior | $174K | $150K–$215K | 59 |
| Lead and above | $221K | $203K–$242K | 20 |
| No level in the title | $150K | $133K–$178K | 76 |
CAN bus salary by location
| Name | Median salary | Roles counted |
|---|---|---|
| 🇺🇸San Francisco Bay Area | $198K | 26 |
| 🇺🇸Los Angeles, CA | $175K | 18 |
| 🇺🇸California | $172K | 115 |
| 🇺🇸United States | $165K | 157 |
Skills that pay more for CAN bus roles
Top-paying companies
| Name | Median salary | Roles counted |
|---|---|---|
| Wayve | $285K | 3 |
| Waymo | $223K | 3 |
| Zoox | $202K | 12 |
| Nuro | $200K | 3 |
| Lucid Motors | $188K | 14 |
| Anduril Industries | $178K | 33 |
| Applied | $178K | 12 |
| General Matter | $169K | 6 |
| Rocket Lab | $165K | 10 |
| Samsara | $162K | 15 |
| Motional | $146K | 10 |
| ALTEN Technology USA | $145K | 11 |
| SpaceX | $140K | 8 |
| Harbinger Motors Inc. | $140K | 11 |
| May Mobility | $130K | 3 |
Highest-paying open CAN bus roles
All CAN bus jobs- Director, Field Sales EngineeringSamsara · 🇺🇸Remote - US$273K - $342KRemoteLead and aboveMicrocontrollersCAN bus
- Staff Software Engineer - Platform Integration, Robot SoftwareWayve · 🇺🇸Sunnyvale, California USA$275K - $300KHybridLead and aboveRustC++Linux
- Systems Engineer, RobotaxiWayve · 🇺🇸Sunnyvale, California USA$276K - $294KHybridLinuxHardware interfacesAUTOSAR
- Senior Robotics Software Engineer, Sentry TowerAnduril Industries · 🇺🇸Irvine, California, United States$220K - $292KSeniorRustGoPython
- Software Engineer, Sentry Software (Manufacturing)Anduril Industries · 🇺🇸Irvine, California, United States$220K - $292KRustPythonC++
- Staff Vehicle Controls Engineer, SteeringWaymo · 🇺🇸Mountain View, Ca, USA;Novi, Mi, USA$230K - $284KLead and abovePythonC++MATLAB
- Sr. Electrical Integration Engineer - DiagnosticsZoox · 🇺🇸Foster City, CA$204K - $280KSeniorPythonSQLMachine Learning
- Lead Embedded Software EngineerGeneral Matter · 🇺🇸Los Angeles, CA$165K - $280KLead and aboveRustC++Control systems
- Hardware Systems Lead, IndustrialsApplied · 🇺🇸Sunnyvale$200K - $270KLead and aboveMechatronicsAUTOSARLidar
- Staff Chassis Engineer, Steering and Braking ActuationZoox · 🇺🇸Foster City, CA$195K - $269KLead and aboveJiraAgileComputer Vision
- Lead Software Engineer, Components Test (Starshield)SpaceX · 🇺🇸Hawthorne, CA$165K - $265KLead and abovePythonLinuxAgile
- Sr. Software Engineer (Components)SpaceX · 🇺🇸Hawthorne, CA$165K - $265KSeniorPythonLinuxAgile
- Senior Embedded Software EngineerNuro · 🇺🇸Mountain View, California (HQ)$176K - $264KSeniorEmbedded CControl systemsFirmware
- Staff Embedded Software Engineer – AUTOSAR, Platform SoftwareLucid Motors · 🇺🇸Newark, CA$179K - $263KLead and abovePythonC++C
- Staff Feature Owner – ADAS/AD Driving FeaturesLucid Motors · 🇺🇸Newark, CA$179K - $263KLead and aboveJiraAgileUsability testing
- Embedded Software Engineer, Motor Control & Real-Time SystemsGeneral Matter · 🇺🇸Los Angeles, CA$150K - $260KRustPythonC++
- Security Engineer (Purple Team)Applied · 🇺🇸Sunnyvale$140K - $260KPythonC++Linux
- Principal Flight Software EngineerRocket Lab · 🇺🇸Long Beach, CA$173K - $259KLead and aboveRustC++Linux
- Senior Harness Engineer IIRocket Lab · 🇺🇸Long Beach, CA$152K - $252KSeniorSecurity clearancePRDsHardware interfaces
- Embedded Software ManagerKodiak · 🇺🇸San Francisco Bay Area$220K - $250KC++AWSEmbedded C
Questions about CAN bus pay
- What is the average CAN bus salary?
- $174K a year on average and $165K at the median, across 158 open CAN bus postings at companies that state pay (November 2026). The median is the better guide: a few very high offers pull the average up.
- What is the typical range?
- The middle half of the postings offer $144K to $205K a year. A quarter offer less and a quarter offer more.
- Which companies advertise the highest CAN bus pay?
- Wayve ($285K), Waymo ($223K), Zoox ($202K), by the median of their open postings that state pay (three postings or more).
- Is a can bus a high-paying job?
- The median CAN bus posting advertises $165K a year, less than the median of all 55,899 job postings with pay on Jobs Every Hour ($174K). That is 5% below the middle of the market.
- How much can you earn as a can bus?
- A tenth of the postings offer $225K a year or more; the highest open CAN bus role advertises up to $342K. Pay rises with level: see the table by level.
- What is the CAN bus salary per hour and per month?
- The median of $165K a year is about $79 an hour (2,080 working hours) and $13,750 a month before tax. The middle half of postings: $69 to $99 an hour.
- Which skills pay more for CAN bus roles?
- Postings that ask for RTOS (+$43K, 32 postings), C (+$26K, 30 postings), Firmware (+$26K, 44 postings) advertise more than the $165K median of all CAN bus postings with pay.
- Where do these figures come from?
- From the pay ranges employers print in their own job postings, read from their careers pages every hour. The midpoint of each range is counted. These are advertised ranges for open roles, mostly in the United States and in US dollars, not what people are actually paid.
Writing about this? A sentence you can quote
The median advertised salary for CAN bus roles at companies is $165K a year, and the middle half of postings offer $144K to $205K. Counted from 158 open job postings that state pay, November 2026. Source: Jobs Every Hour, https://jobseveryhour.com/salaries/can-bus/
Free to use with the link.