What is the average Hardware testing salary?

$185K a year on average and $182K at the median, across 1,151 open Hardware testing 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 $150K to $215K a year. A quarter offer less and a quarter offer more.

Which companies advertise the highest Hardware testing pay?

Anthropic ($362K), OpenAI ($332K), Wayve ($286K), by the median of their open postings that state pay (three postings or more).

Is a hardware testing a high-paying job?

The median Hardware testing posting advertises $182K a year, more than the median of all 55,899 job postings with pay on Jobs Every Hour ($174K). That is 5% above the middle of the market.

How much can you earn as a hardware testing?

A tenth of the postings offer $241K a year or more; the highest open Hardware testing role advertises up to $850K. Pay rises with level: see the table by level.

What is the Hardware testing salary per hour and per month?

The median of $182K a year is about $88 an hour (2,080 working hours) and $15,208 a month before tax. The middle half of postings: $72 to $103 an hour.

Which skills pay more for Hardware testing roles?

Postings that ask for Firmware (+$12K, 303 postings), Rust (+$11K, 116 postings), Sensor fusion (+$10K, 293 postings) advertise more than the $182K median of all Hardware testing postings with pay.

What does an entry-level hardware testing make?

14 junior and intern Hardware testing postings state pay, with a median of $125K a year ($60 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.

Hardware testing Salary: $185K Average, $182K Median (Nov 2026)

Hardware testing salary by level

Lead roles advertise a median of $222K, 16% more than senior roles ($191K). The level comes from the job title; titles without a level word are counted separately.

Level	Median salary	Middle half	Roles
Senior	$191K	$172K–$215K	373
Lead and above	$222K	$195K–$248K	214
No level in the title	$154K	$132K–$193K	550

Hardware testing salary by location

Name	Median salary	Roles counted
🇺🇸San Francisco Bay Area	$208K	282
🇺🇸Boston, MA	$196K	28
🇺🇸Washington, DC	$193K	17
🇺🇸Denver, CO	$192K	37
🇺🇸Seattle, WA	$188K	81
🇺🇸California	$186K	838
🇺🇸United States	$183K	1,128
🇺🇸Los Angeles, CA	$155K	194

Skills that pay more for Hardware testing roles

Skill	Median with it	Above the median	Postings
Firmware	$194K	+$12K	303
Rust	$194K	+$11K	116
Sensor fusion	$193K	+$10K	293
Computer Vision	$193K	+$10K	282
CI/CD	$193K	+$10K	132

Top-paying companies

Name	Median salary	Roles counted
Anthropic	$362K	3
OpenAI	$332K	18
Wayve	$286K	6
DensityAI	$249K	6
Apptronik	$240K	8
Waymo	$238K	10
Sunday	$238K	4
Pure Storage	$232K	11
Shield AI	$220K	32
Zoox	$219K	24
Nuro	$216K	8
CoreWeave	$214K	4
Crusoe	$212K	4
Astera Labs	$212K	16
Sesame	$212K	3
Lightmatter	$211K	8
Cerebras	$210K	3
1 Arc Power	$210K	6
Siftstack	$205K	5
Muon Space	$201K	27
Skydio	$200K	11
1X	$200K	11
Figure	$200K	6
Oura	$198K	11
Mill	$198K	3

Highest-paying open Hardware testing roles

All Hardware testing jobs

Research Engineer, Pretraining ScalingAnthropic · 🇺🇸San Francisco, CA$350K - $850KLLMPyTorchJAX13mo
PCB Layout Engineer, RoboticsOpenAI · 🇺🇸San Francisco$318K - $485KHybridHardware testingHardware interfacesPCB design2mo
Principal Engineer - PlatformNeko Health · 🇺🇸New York$405K - $480KHybridLead and aboveAzureHardware testingMedical devices7mo
Staff HPC Systems ArchitectLambda · 🇺🇸San Jose Office (First St)$314K - $465KHybridLead and aboveMachine LearningKubernetesPRDs2mo
Software Engineer, Manufacturing InfrastructureOpenAI · 🇺🇸San Francisco$310K - $460KHybridRustPythonC++2mo
Principal System ArchitectWayve · 🇺🇸Sunnyvale, California USA$348K - $458KHybridLead and aboveLinuxHardware testingAUTOSAR12d
Forward Deployed Engineer, InferenceCohere · 🇺🇸United States$240K - $415KGoPythonC++2w
Data Center OFE - Sourcing Lead, Data Center Power & CoolingAnthropic · 🇺🇸Remote-Friendly, United States$320K - $405KRemoteLead and aboveTest planningControl systemsFirmware2mo
Systems Software EngineerSunday · 🇺🇸Redwood City, CA$200K - $400KRustC++Linux12mo
Lead Electrical EngineerSabi · 🇺🇸San Francisco$300K - $400KHybridLead and aboveFirmwareHardware testingPCB design6mo
Lead Firmware EngineerSabi · 🇺🇸San Francisco$300K - $400KHybridLead and aboveFirmwareHardware testingTest equipment6mo
Director, Systems Integration, DiagnosticsWaymo · 🇺🇸Mountain View, CA, USA$323K - $399KLead and aboveHardware testingIndustrial automation6w
Mission Systems LeadAnduril Industries · 🇺🇸Costa Mesa, California, United States$298K - $395KLead and aboveComputer VisionSecurity clearanceNetwork engineering4mo
Senior Staff Android Engineer, In-Car ExperienceWaymo · 🇺🇸Mountain View, CA, USA$298K - $368KLead and aboveC++KotlinLLM6mo
Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC) Engineer (R4815)Shield AI · 🇺🇸Seattle, WA, US$160K - $360KGoPythonC++12d
Hardware Engineering ManagerPure Storage · 🇺🇸Santa Clara, California$217K - $359KLoad testingHardware testingStorage systems6w
Hardware Engineer - ElectricalRai · 🇺🇸Cambridge, MA$126K - $358KRustWi-FiFirmware5d
Head of Drone HardwareApplied · 🇺🇸Sunnyvale$270K - $355KLead and aboveHardware testingPCB designRoot cause analysis4w
Staff Software Engineer - Humanoid ControlsApptronik · 🇺🇸Sunnyvale, CA$300K - $350KLead and abovePythonC++Reinforcement learning3mo
Senior / Staff Machine Learning Engineer - 3D Sensor SimulationZoox · 🇺🇸Foster City, CA$242K - $348KLead and abovePythonMachine LearningPyTorch4w

Questions about Hardware testing pay

What is the average Hardware testing salary?: $185K a year on average and $182K at the median, across 1,151 open Hardware testing 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 $150K to $215K a year. A quarter offer less and a quarter offer more.
Which companies advertise the highest Hardware testing pay?: Anthropic ($362K), OpenAI ($332K), Wayve ($286K), by the median of their open postings that state pay (three postings or more).
Is a hardware testing a high-paying job?: The median Hardware testing posting advertises $182K a year, more than the median of all 55,899 job postings with pay on Jobs Every Hour ($174K). That is 5% above the middle of the market.
How much can you earn as a hardware testing?: A tenth of the postings offer $241K a year or more; the highest open Hardware testing role advertises up to $850K. Pay rises with level: see the table by level.
What is the Hardware testing salary per hour and per month?: The median of $182K a year is about $88 an hour (2,080 working hours) and $15,208 a month before tax. The middle half of postings: $72 to $103 an hour.
Which skills pay more for Hardware testing roles?: Postings that ask for Firmware (+$12K, 303 postings), Rust (+$11K, 116 postings), Sensor fusion (+$10K, 293 postings) advertise more than the $182K median of all Hardware testing postings with pay.
What does an entry-level hardware testing make?: 14 junior and intern Hardware testing postings state pay, with a median of $125K a year ($60 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.

Hardware testing salary: $182K median