PCB design salary: $170K median
The median advertised PCB design salary is $170K a year, and the middle half of postings offer $142K to $202K: counted from 715 open roles that publish a yearly US-dollar range: about $82 an hour or $14,167 a month. A tenth of the postings offer $230K or more. Advertised ranges, not verified pay.
Check an offer against these figuresAll PCB design jobs
$170Kmedian advertised salary
$142K – $202Kmiddle half of roles
$175Kaverage advertised salary
715roles counted
PCB design salary by level
Lead roles advertise a median of $213K, 16% more than senior roles ($183K). The level comes from the job title; titles without a level word are counted separately.
| Level | Median salary | Middle half | Roles |
|---|---|---|---|
| Senior | $183K | $168K–$202K | 225 |
| Lead and above | $213K | $188K–$235K | 132 |
| No level in the title | $148K | $125K–$170K | 347 |
PCB design salary by location
| Name | Median salary | Roles counted |
|---|---|---|
| 🇺🇸San Francisco Bay Area | $198K | 181 |
| 🇺🇸California | $172K | 522 |
| 🇺🇸United States | $170K | 705 |
| 🇺🇸Los Angeles, CA | $154K | 122 |
| 🇺🇸Seattle, WA | $150K | 60 |
| 🇺🇸Denver, CO | $150K | 15 |
Skills that pay more for PCB design roles
| Skill | Median with it | Above the median | Postings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Firmware | $185K | +$15K | 199 |
| FEA | $181K | +$11K | 74 |
| Linux | $174K | +$4K | 88 |
| Test automation | $172K | +$2K | 107 |
| Sensor fusion | $172K | +$2K | 177 |
Top-paying companies
| Name | Median salary | Roles counted |
|---|---|---|
| OpenAI | $361K | 12 |
| Sunday | $250K | 3 |
| DensityAI | $240K | 5 |
| SambaNova | $231K | 4 |
| Zoox | $230K | 7 |
| Shield AI | $227K | 18 |
| Apptronik | $222K | 4 |
| PsiQuantum | $221K | 4 |
| Waymo | $219K | 3 |
| Pure Storage | $218K | 4 |
| Oura | $216K | 5 |
| Astera Labs | $212K | 12 |
| Cerebras | $210K | 3 |
| Helion | $209K | 4 |
| Muon Space | $202K | 15 |
| Reliable Robotics | $198K | 8 |
| Astranis | $195K | 25 |
| Sandboxaq | $193K | 3 |
| Figure | $192K | 6 |
| Skydio | $182K | 7 |
| IonQ | $182K | 4 |
| Applied | $178K | 10 |
| Lightmatter | $176K | 10 |
| Cowboyspace | $175K | 7 |
| Anduril Industries | $172K | 174 |
Highest-paying open PCB design roles
All PCB design jobs- Hardware Systems ArchitectAnthropic · 🇺🇸San Francisco, CA | New York City, NY | Seattle, WA$320K - $485KNetwork engineeringFirmwareHigh-performance computing
- PCB Layout Engineer, RoboticsOpenAI · 🇺🇸San Francisco$318K - $485KHybridHardware testingHardware interfacesPCB design
- Electrical Engineer, PCBA Test Infrastructure, RoboticsOpenAI · 🇺🇸San Francisco$318K - $485KPythonPRDsFirmware
- Systems Software EngineerSunday · 🇺🇸Redwood City, CA$200K - $400KRustC++Linux
- Lead Electrical EngineerSabi · 🇺🇸San Francisco$300K - $400KHybridLead and aboveFirmwareHardware testingPCB design
- Power Electronics - Principal Electrical Engineer (R4822)Shield AI · 🇺🇸Seattle, WA, US$253K - $380KLead and aboveSecurity clearancePCB designAnalog design
- Hardware Engineering ManagerPure Storage · 🇺🇸Santa Clara, California$217K - $359KLoad testingHardware testingStorage systems
- Hardware Engineer - ElectricalRai · 🇺🇸Cambridge, MA$126K - $358KRustWi-FiFirmware
- Head of Drone HardwareApplied · 🇺🇸Sunnyvale$270K - $355KLead and aboveHardware testingPCB designRoot cause analysis
- Senior Medical Director, Medical AffairsBeeline Medicines · 🇺🇸Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States$293K - $345KLead and aboveProduct marketingInvestor relationsRegulatory compliance
- Principal RF Engineer (Starshield)SpaceX · 🇺🇸Hawthorne, CA$210K - $340KLead and abovePythonC++MATLAB
- Head of Hardware OperationsApplied · 🇺🇸Sunnyvale$275K - $335KLead and aboveContract negotiationControl systemsPCB design
- Principal Electrical Engineer - Compute and SensingApptronik · 🇺🇸Sunnyvale, CA$295K - $330KLead and aboveDesign systemsHardware interfacesPCB design
- Senior Staff Engineer, PCB Design (R5752)Shield AI · 🇺🇸Seattle, WA, US$217K - $325KLead and abovePCB designAnalog designBlueprint reading
- Applied AI Engineer, Startups (Physical AI)Anthropic · 🇺🇸San Francisco, CA$280K - $320KLLMAIAI agents
- Principal Digital Hardware Engineer (FPGA/VHDL)Anduril Industries · 🇺🇸Costa Mesa, California, United States$241K - $319KLead and aboveVerilogComputer VisionSecurity clearance
- Staff Signal Integrity and Power Integrity Engineer (SI/PI)Zoox · 🇺🇸Foster City, CA$259K - $311KLead and aboveTest equipmentHardware interfacesPCB design
- Principal Hardware Systems Technical LeadLightmatter · 🇺🇸Mountain View, CA$217K - $308KLead and aboveMachine LearningData centersTest planning
- Head of Supply Chain & Manufacturing StrategySkydio · 🇺🇸San Mateo, California, United States$230K - $302KHybridLead and abovePCB designProcurementAviation
- Vice President, Hardware QualityWhoop · 🇺🇸Boston, MA$200K - $300KLead and abovePCB designProcurementLean manufacturing
Questions about PCB design pay
- What is the average PCB design salary?
- $175K a year on average and $170K at the median, across 715 open PCB design 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 $142K to $202K a year. A quarter offer less and a quarter offer more.
- Which companies advertise the highest PCB design pay?
- OpenAI ($361K), Sunday ($250K), DensityAI ($240K), by the median of their open postings that state pay (three postings or more).
- Is a pcb design a high-paying job?
- The median PCB design posting advertises $170K a year, less than the median of all 55,899 job postings with pay on Jobs Every Hour ($174K). That is 2% below the middle of the market.
- How much can you earn as a pcb design?
- A tenth of the postings offer $230K a year or more; the highest open PCB design role advertises up to $485K. Pay rises with level: see the table by level.
- What is the PCB design salary per hour and per month?
- The median of $170K a year is about $82 an hour (2,080 working hours) and $14,167 a month before tax. The middle half of postings: $69 to $97 an hour.
- Which skills pay more for PCB design roles?
- Postings that ask for Firmware (+$15K, 199 postings), FEA (+$11K, 74 postings), Linux (+$4K, 88 postings) advertise more than the $170K median of all PCB design postings with pay.
- What does an entry-level pcb design make?
- 11 junior and intern PCB design 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.
Writing about this? A sentence you can quote
The median advertised salary for PCB design roles at companies is $170K a year, and the middle half of postings offer $142K to $202K. Counted from 715 open job postings that state pay, November 2026. Source: Jobs Every Hour, https://jobseveryhour.com/salaries/pcb-design/
Free to use with the link.