PLC salary: $150K median
The median advertised PLC salary is $150K a year, and the middle half of postings offer $122K to $180K: counted from 185 open roles that publish a yearly US-dollar range: about $72 an hour or $12,500 a month. A tenth of the postings offer $222K or more. Advertised ranges, not verified pay.
Check an offer against these figuresAll PLC jobs
$150Kmedian advertised salary
$122K – $180Kmiddle half of roles
$160Kaverage advertised salary
185roles counted
PLC salary by level
Lead roles advertise a median of $194K, 13% more than senior roles ($172K). The level comes from the job title; titles without a level word are counted separately.
| Level | Median salary | Middle half | Roles |
|---|---|---|---|
| Senior | $172K | $150K–$182K | 52 |
| Lead and above | $194K | $168K–$218K | 29 |
| No level in the title | $133K | $114K–$154K | 101 |
PLC salary by location
| Name | Median salary | Roles counted |
|---|---|---|
| 🇺🇸San Francisco Bay Area | $188K | 16 |
| 🇺🇸California | $162K | 101 |
| 🇺🇸United States | $150K | 185 |
| 🇺🇸Los Angeles, CA | $143K | 24 |
Skills that pay more for PLC roles
| Skill | Median with it | Above the median | Postings |
|---|---|---|---|
| ERP | $192K | +$42K | 22 |
| Security clearance | $168K | +$18K | 29 |
| Computer Vision | $163K | +$13K | 44 |
| Sensor fusion | $161K | +$11K | 38 |
| Network engineering | $160K | +$10K | 23 |
Top-paying companies
| Name | Median salary | Roles counted |
|---|---|---|
| OpenAI | $231K | 3 |
| Valar Atomics | $192K | 12 |
| Skydio | $184K | 3 |
| Anduril Industries | $161K | 38 |
| Varda Space Industries | $160K | 3 |
| Crusoe | $159K | 10 |
| K2 Space | $158K | 5 |
| General Matter | $150K | 4 |
| Rocket Lab | $142K | 6 |
| Formic | $135K | 5 |
| PsiQuantum | $119K | 3 |
| SpaceX | $118K | 18 |
| ALTEN Technology USA | $115K | 6 |
| ARCO/Murray National Construction | $112K | 4 |
| McMaster-Carr | $106K | 4 |
| Gotion | $100K | 12 |
Highest-paying open PLC roles
All PLC jobs- Preconstruction Manager - Water SolutionsLoenbro · 🇺🇸Austin, TX; Centennial, CO; Dallas, TX; Loveland, CO; Wes…$100K - $1,500KEvent marketingConstruction managementPLC
- Data Center OFE - Sourcing Lead, Data Center Power & CoolingAnthropic · 🇺🇸Remote-Friendly, United States$320K - $405KRemoteLead and aboveTest planningControl systemsFirmware
- Senior Mechanical Controls EngineerLambda · 🇺🇸San Francisco Office (Fremont St)$230K - $340KHybridSeniorMachine LearningDesign systemsControl systems
- Manufacturing Engineer, Motors & ActuatorsOpenAI · 🇺🇸San Francisco$225K - $318KHybridPRDsMechatronicsCAD
- Manufacturing Electrical Test EngineerFigure · 🇺🇸San Jose, CA$130K - $300KPythonMechatronicsTest equipment
- Staff Full-Stack Software Engineer (Arsenal 2)Anduril Industries · 🇺🇸Santa Ana, California, United States$220K - $290KLead and aboveTypeScriptJavaScriptReact
- Staff Software Engineer, Full-Stack (Arsenal 2)Anduril Industries · 🇺🇸Santa Ana, California, United States$220K - $290KLead and aboveTypeScriptJavaScriptReact
- Controls Engineer, BMS & EPMSOpenAI · 🇺🇸San Francisco$177K - $285KData qualityData centersControl systems
- Staff Business Systems Engineer, Data Center SystemsCoreWeave · 🇺🇸Sunnyvale, CA$188K - $275KLead and aboveGoPythonTerraform
- Manager, Manufacturing SystemsZoox · 🇺🇸Hayward, CA$220K - $264KSAPERPControl systems
- Head of Manufacturing Engineering Automation & ControlsSkydio · 🇺🇸Hayward, California, United States$196K - $257KLead and aboveControl systemsMechatronicsAviation
- Digital Factory Lead (R5265)Shield AI · 🇺🇸Seattle, WA, US$171K - $257KLead and aboveMachine LearningERPPreventive maintenance
- Principal Electrical EngineerCrusoe · 🇺🇸Arvada, CO - US$225K - $255KLead and aboveRegulatory compliancePLCAutoCAD
- Senior Software Engineer, Plant ControlHelion · 🇺🇸Everett, WA$240K - $255KSeniorRustPythonC++
- Sr. Automation Controls Specialist, Operations TeamTwelve · 🇺🇸Moses Lake, WA$204K - $255KSeniorNetwork engineeringFirewallsControl systems
- Manager, Cryogenics Process ControlPsiQuantum · 🇺🇸Milpitas, California$146K - $245KControl systemsMechatronicsOptics
- Lead Electrical and Instrumentation EngineerValar Atomics · 🇺🇸Torrance, California, United States$196K - $240KLead and aboveAUTOSARIndustrial automationPLC
- Principal Automation and Controls EngineerValar Atomics · 🇺🇸Torrance, California, United States$196K - $240KLead and aboveData modelingNISTControl systems
- Technical Program ManagerPure Storage · 🇺🇸Santa Clara, California$191K - $233KGitFirmwarePLC
- Director, Global Category Strategy - Home / Beauty / MotorizedSharkNinja · 🇺🇸Needham, MA, United States$135K - $230KLead and aboveE-commerceProcurementPLC
Questions about PLC pay
- What is the average PLC salary?
- $160K a year on average and $150K at the median, across 185 open PLC 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 $122K to $180K a year. A quarter offer less and a quarter offer more.
- Which companies advertise the highest PLC pay?
- OpenAI ($231K), Valar Atomics ($192K), Skydio ($184K), by the median of their open postings that state pay (three postings or more).
- Is a plc a high-paying job?
- The median PLC posting advertises $150K a year, less than the median of all 55,899 job postings with pay on Jobs Every Hour ($174K). That is 14% below the middle of the market.
- How much can you earn as a plc?
- A tenth of the postings offer $222K a year or more; the highest open PLC role advertises up to $1,500K. Pay rises with level: see the table by level.
- What is the PLC salary per hour and per month?
- The median of $150K a year is about $72 an hour (2,080 working hours) and $12,500 a month before tax. The middle half of postings: $59 to $87 an hour.
- Which skills pay more for PLC roles?
- Postings that ask for ERP (+$42K, 22 postings), Security clearance (+$18K, 29 postings), Computer Vision (+$13K, 44 postings) advertise more than the $150K median of all PLC 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 PLC roles at companies is $150K a year, and the middle half of postings offer $122K to $180K. Counted from 185 open job postings that state pay, November 2026. Source: Jobs Every Hour, https://jobseveryhour.com/salaries/plc/
Free to use with the link.