What is the average CFD salary?

$195K a year on average and $188K at the median, across 305 open CFD 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 $151K to $225K a year. A quarter offer less and a quarter offer more.

Which companies advertise the highest CFD pay?

OpenAI ($266K), Glean ($228K), True Anomaly ($208K), by the median of their open postings that state pay (three postings or more).

Is a cfd a high-paying job?

The median CFD posting advertises $188K a year, more than the median of all 55,899 job postings with pay on Jobs Every Hour ($174K). That is 8% above the middle of the market.

How much can you earn as a cfd?

A tenth of the postings offer $278K a year or more; the highest open CFD role advertises up to $489K. Pay rises with level: see the table by level.

What is the CFD salary per hour and per month?

The median of $188K a year is about $90 an hour (2,080 working hours) and $15,625 a month before tax. The middle half of postings: $73 to $108 an hour.

Which skills pay more for CFD roles?

Postings that ask for Zendesk (+$40K, 89 postings), ServiceNow (+$40K, 89 postings), Microsoft Teams (+$40K, 89 postings) advertise more than the $188K median of all CFD 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.

CFD Salary: $195K Average, $188K Median (Nov 2026)

CFD salary by level

Lead roles advertise a median of $222K, 20% more than senior roles ($185K). The level comes from the job title; titles without a level word are counted separately.

Level	Median salary	Middle half	Roles
Senior	$185K	$161K–$198K	63
Lead and above	$222K	$183K–$255K	70
No level in the title	$178K	$138K–$225K	169

CFD salary by location

Name	Median salary	Roles counted
🇺🇸San Francisco Bay Area	$220K	85
🇺🇸California	$193K	184
🇺🇸United States	$190K	294
🇺🇸New York, NY	$166K	27
🇺🇸Los Angeles, CA	$138K	29

Skills that pay more for CFD roles

Skill	Median with it	Above the median	Postings
Zendesk	$228K	+$40K	89
ServiceNow	$228K	+$40K	89
Microsoft Teams	$228K	+$40K	89
LLM	$226K	+$39K	100
Sensor fusion	$193K	+$6K	48

Top-paying companies

Name	Median salary	Roles counted
OpenAI	$266K	5
Glean	$228K	89
True Anomaly	$208K	3
Shield AI	$202K	10
Anduril Industries	$193K	45
Mill	$188K	3
Engine	$188K	3
Valar Atomics	$178K	8
Cowboyspace	$175K	7
Critical Energy	$170K	3
Rocket Lab	$147K	12
SpaceX	$138K	17
Rescale	$130K	5
Re:Build Manufacturing	$121K	5
Hermeus	$116K	3
HubSpot	$72K	5

Highest-paying open CFD roles

All CFD jobs

CISOGlean · 🇺🇸Mountain View, CA$424K - $489KLLMZendeskAI agents3w
Staff Mechanical EngineerLambda · 🇺🇸San Francisco Office (Fremont St)$314K - $465KHybridLead and aboveMachine LearningPE licenseHigh-performance computing2mo
Staff Mechanical Engineer - Data Center CoolingLambda · 🇺🇸San Francisco Office (Fremont St)$349K - $465KHybridLead and aboveMachine LearningPE licenseHigh-performance computing2mo
Regional Vice President, New York CityGlean · 🇺🇸New York, NY$364K - $440KLead and aboveLLMZendeskServiceNow8mo
Data Center Mechanical EngineerAnthropic · 🇺🇸Remote-Friendly, United States$320K - $405KRemoteFEAHVACHydraulics2mo
Principal Thermal Engineer - Aircraft Avionics & Thermal Systems (R3930)Shield AI · 🇺🇸Seattle, WA, US$267K - $400KLead and aboveSecurity clearanceCADAviation4w
Senior Director, Finance TransformationHubSpot · 🇺🇸Remote - USA$245K - $392KRemoteLead and aboveMachine LearningCPAPipeline management2w
Principal Product Manager, Creation PlatformRoblox · 🇺🇸San Mateo, CA, United States$331K - $383KLead and aboveAI agentsData modelingCDN6d
Principal Combustion Devices EngineerRocket Lab · 🇺🇸Long Beach, CA$162K - $350KLead and aboveMATLABGD&TFEA5w
Staff Product Manager - AI & Data FoundationsPlaid · 🇺🇸San Francisco HQ$208K - $340KHybridLead and aboveLLMAIDatabricks6w
Power Generation Design Engineer, Electrical & MechanicalOpenAI · 🇺🇸San Francisco$257K - $327KHybridPE licenseData centersTest planning3d
Senior Combustion Devices Engineer IIRocket Lab · 🇺🇸Long Beach, CA$132K - $320KSeniorMATLABGD&TFEA6w
Sr. Staff Thermal Engineer - Aircraft Avionics & Thermal Systems (R3930)Shield AI · 🇺🇸Seattle, WA, US$208K - $312KLead and aboveSecurity clearanceCADAviation4w
Product Designer, Engineering AccelerationOpenAI · 🇺🇸Seattle$245K - $310KHybridObservabilityInteraction designInformation architecture3mo
GNC EngineerTrue Anomaly · 🇺🇸Denver, CO; Long Beach, CA$115K - $300KPythonC++Agile3mo
GNC Engineer, Missile DefenseTrue Anomaly · 🇺🇸Denver, CO; Long Beach, CA$115K - $300KPythonC++Agile7mo
Director, Model & SimulationValar Atomics · 🇺🇸Torrance, California, United States$225K - $300KLead and abovePythonHigh-performance computingAviation2mo
Senior ML Engineer, Core DevelopmentAnduril Industries · 🇺🇸Costa Mesa, California, United States$220K - $292KSeniorPythonDockerMachine Learning2mo
Staff Discovery EngineerAnduril Industries · 🇺🇸Washington, District of Columbia, United States$220K - $292KLead and abovePythonMATLABComputer Vision4mo
Hardware Design Engineering, Senior Director - Signal Connectivity Rack-Scale PlatformsAstera Labs · 🇺🇸San Jose, California, United States$220K - $280KLead and aboveAirflowAWSMandarin5mo

Questions about CFD pay

What is the average CFD salary?: $195K a year on average and $188K at the median, across 305 open CFD 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 $151K to $225K a year. A quarter offer less and a quarter offer more.
Which companies advertise the highest CFD pay?: OpenAI ($266K), Glean ($228K), True Anomaly ($208K), by the median of their open postings that state pay (three postings or more).
Is a cfd a high-paying job?: The median CFD posting advertises $188K a year, more than the median of all 55,899 job postings with pay on Jobs Every Hour ($174K). That is 8% above the middle of the market.
How much can you earn as a cfd?: A tenth of the postings offer $278K a year or more; the highest open CFD role advertises up to $489K. Pay rises with level: see the table by level.
What is the CFD salary per hour and per month?: The median of $188K a year is about $90 an hour (2,080 working hours) and $15,625 a month before tax. The middle half of postings: $73 to $108 an hour.
Which skills pay more for CFD roles?: Postings that ask for Zendesk (+$40K, 89 postings), ServiceNow (+$40K, 89 postings), Microsoft Teams (+$40K, 89 postings) advertise more than the $188K median of all CFD 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.

CFD salary: $188K median