Firmware salary: $194K median
The median advertised Firmware salary is $194K a year, and the middle half of postings offer $160K to $223K: counted from 1,047 open roles that publish a yearly US-dollar range: about $94 an hour or $16,208 a month. A tenth of the postings offer $269K or more. Advertised ranges, not verified pay.
Check an offer against these figuresAll Firmware jobs
$194Kmedian advertised salary
$160K – $223Kmiddle half of roles
$201Kaverage advertised salary
1,047roles counted
Firmware salary by level
Senior roles advertise a median of $198K, 46% more than junior roles ($135K). The level comes from the job title; titles without a level word are counted separately.
| Level | Median salary | Middle half | Roles |
|---|---|---|---|
| Junior | $135K | $102K–$142K | 17 |
| Senior | $198K | $172K–$220K | 341 |
| Lead and above | $222K | $206K–$254K | 241 |
| No level in the title | $170K | $145K–$212K | 448 |
Firmware salary by location
| Name | Median salary | Roles counted |
|---|---|---|
| 🇺🇸San Francisco Bay Area | $220K | 360 |
| 🇺🇸Seattle, WA | $208K | 80 |
| 🇺🇸California | $202K | 741 |
| 🇺🇸New York, NY | $199K | 38 |
| 🇺🇸United States | $194K | 1,036 |
| 🇺🇸Washington, DC | $190K | 16 |
| 🇺🇸Boston, MA | $182K | 47 |
| 🇺🇸Los Angeles, CA | $172K | 113 |
| 🇺🇸Denver, CO | $166K | 20 |
Skills that pay more for Firmware roles
| Skill | Median with it | Above the median | Postings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rust | $220K | +$26K | 107 |
| Embedded Linux | $219K | +$24K | 156 |
| ASIC | $212K | +$18K | 137 |
| RTOS | $205K | +$10K | 143 |
| C | $201K | +$6K | 207 |
Top-paying companies
| Name | Median salary | Roles counted |
|---|---|---|
| Anthropic | $362K | 11 |
| OpenAI | $356K | 38 |
| Sabi | $350K | 3 |
| Lambda | $312K | 5 |
| River AI Inc. | $310K | 3 |
| Digimarc | $295K | 3 |
| Roblox | $269K | 5 |
| Rocket Lab | $258K | 3 |
| Reliable Robotics | $258K | 8 |
| DensityAI | $255K | 5 |
| Wayve | $254K | 4 |
| Sunday | $250K | 7 |
| Together AI | $245K | 3 |
| SixGen, Inc. | $238K | 3 |
| Crusoe | $236K | 20 |
| Waymo | $234K | 13 |
| Shield AI | $234K | 10 |
| Sesame | $228K | 3 |
| Pure Storage | $225K | 15 |
| Muon Space | $225K | 11 |
| Zoox | $223K | 31 |
| Agility Robotics | $220K | 20 |
| Helion | $220K | 7 |
| 1 Arc Power | $220K | 6 |
| Skydio | $218K | 11 |
Highest-paying open Firmware roles
All Firmware jobs- Engineering Manager, Hardware Platform SecurityAnthropic · 🇺🇸San Francisco, CA | Seattle, WA$485K - $625KGoLinuxVulnerability management
- Principal Security Engineer, Infrastructure SecurityOpenAI · 🇺🇸US - Remote$401K - $510KRemoteLead and aboveAzureCI/CDKubernetes
- Principal Software Engineer, Infrastructure SecurityOpenAI · 🇺🇸US - Remote$401K - $510KRemoteLead and aboveGCPAzureCI/CD
- Head of TalentBuild Ai · 🇨🇳Shenzhen$150K - $500KLead and above.NETEnglishMandarin
- Engineering Manager, Integrity and AttestationAnthropic · 🇺🇸San Francisco, CA | Seattle, WA$405K - $485KThreat modelingPerformance managementFirmware
- Staff Software Engineer - ComputeLambda · Bellevue Office$314K - $465KHybridLead and aboveRustGoPython
- Staff HPC Systems ArchitectLambda · 🇺🇸San Jose Office (First St)$314K - $465KHybridLead and aboveMachine LearningKubernetesPRDs
- Compiler Engineer, HardwareRiver AI Inc. · 🇺🇸Palo Alto, CA$200K - $420KC++PyTorchCUDA
- Design Verification Emulation, HardwareRiver AI Inc. · 🇺🇸Austin, TX, Palo Alto, CA$200K - $420KPythonC++CI/CD
- Systems Software EngineerSunday · 🇺🇸Redwood City, CA$200K - $400KRustC++Linux
- Lead Electrical EngineerSabi · 🇺🇸San Francisco$300K - $400KHybridLead and aboveFirmwareHardware testingPCB design
- Lead Firmware EngineerSabi · 🇺🇸San Francisco$300K - $400KHybridLead and aboveFirmwareHardware testingTest equipment
- Principal Software Engineer, GPU ComputeRoblox · 🇺🇸San Mateo, CA, United States$345K - $399KLead and aboveGoKubernetesCUDA
- Lead Software Engineer - Medical OSNeko Health · 🇺🇸New York$225K - $385KHybridLead and aboveFirmware
- Staff/Senior Staff Software Engineer - Product SecurityZoox · 🇺🇸Foster City, CA$292K - $375KLead and aboveAWSInfrastructure as codeApplication security
- Senior Director, Fleet ManagementCrusoe · 🇺🇸San Francisco, CA - US$325K - $370KLead and aboveData centersLoad testingFirmware
- Senior Director, Product SecurityAnduril Industries · 🇺🇸Costa Mesa, California, United States$278K - $369KLead and aboveRustGoPython
- Senior Engineering Manager, Device SoftwareHinge Health · 🇺🇸San Francisco-HQ$240K - $360KHybridSeniorPythonTypeScriptReact
- Hardware Engineer - ElectricalRai · 🇺🇸Cambridge, MA$126K - $358KRustWi-FiFirmware
- Principal DFT Engineer (Silicon Engineering)SpaceX · 🇺🇸Palo Alto, CA$220K - $355KLead and abovePythonVerilogPerl
Questions about Firmware pay
- What is the average Firmware salary?
- $201K a year on average and $194K at the median, across 1,047 open Firmware 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 $160K to $223K a year. A quarter offer less and a quarter offer more.
- Which companies advertise the highest Firmware pay?
- Anthropic ($362K), OpenAI ($356K), Sabi ($350K), by the median of their open postings that state pay (three postings or more).
- Is a firmware a high-paying job?
- The median Firmware posting advertises $194K a year, more than the median of all 55,899 job postings with pay on Jobs Every Hour ($174K). That is 12% above the middle of the market.
- How much can you earn as a firmware?
- A tenth of the postings offer $269K a year or more; the highest open Firmware role advertises up to $625K. Pay rises with level: see the table by level.
- What is the Firmware salary per hour and per month?
- The median of $194K a year is about $94 an hour (2,080 working hours) and $16,208 a month before tax. The middle half of postings: $77 to $107 an hour.
- Which skills pay more for Firmware roles?
- Postings that ask for Rust (+$26K, 107 postings), Embedded Linux (+$24K, 156 postings), ASIC (+$18K, 137 postings) advertise more than the $194K median of all Firmware postings with pay.
- What does an entry-level firmware make?
- 17 junior and intern Firmware postings state pay, with a median of $135K a year ($65 an hour).
- 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 Firmware roles at companies is $194K a year, and the middle half of postings offer $160K to $223K. Counted from 1,047 open job postings that state pay, November 2026. Source: Jobs Every Hour, https://jobseveryhour.com/salaries/firmware/
Free to use with the link.