---
title: "Computer Hardware Engineer"
description: "Research, design, develop, or test computer or computer-related equipment for commercial, industrial, military, or scientific use. May supervise the…"
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/computer-hardware-engineer"
last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z"
---

# Computer Hardware Engineer

**Category:** Architecture and Engineering · **SOC code:** 17-2061 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 17-2061.00

Research, design, develop, or test computer or computer-related equipment for commercial, industrial, military, or scientific use. May supervise the manufacturing and installation of computer or computer-related equipment and components.

Also advertised as: Design Engineer; Engineer; Field Service Engineer; Hardware Design Engineer; Hardware Engineer; Physical Design Engineer; Project Engineer; Staff Engineer.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $161,740 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $77.76/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $92,940 to $225,330, with the middle half between $126,090 and $202,990
- **Total US employment:** 76,660
- **Typical entry education:** Bachelor's
- **Preparation required:** Medium preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** +9.1% over 2025–2035 (BLS EP, 2025–2035)
- **Annual job openings:** 4,100 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 20/100 — a NueCareer heuristic over O\*NET work activities and context, not a BLS or O\*NET figure

## Pay

National wage distribution, BLS OEWS, May 2025, across 76,660 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $92,940 |
| 25th | $126,090 |
| 50th (median) | $161,740 |
| 75th | $202,990 |
| 90th | $225,330 |
| Mean (average) | $162,670 |

### Pay by state

The 15 highest-paying states, by median annual wage. The cost-of-living-adjusted column divides the state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, so the columns answer different questions: the first is what the job pays there, the second is what that pay buys there.

| State | Median annual wage | Cost-of-living adjusted | Employment |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| CA | $185,180 | $167,251 | 19,820 |
| WA | $169,120 | $158,037 | 1,800 |
| MA | $167,600 | $158,477 | 3,150 |
| NM | $165,350 | $179,315 | 5,260 |
| TX | $163,860 | $168,829 | 7,390 |
| NY | $163,470 | $151,472 | 3,020 |
| DC | $163,360 | $148,643 | 210 |
| HI | $159,880 | $145,410 | 90 |
| AZ | $158,280 | $157,216 | 3,110 |
| CO | $156,080 | $151,458 | 2,660 |
| MD | $152,730 | $145,514 | 1,720 |
| NJ | $142,880 | $131,317 | 580 |
| VA | $139,030 | $137,512 | 1,720 |
| AL | $136,990 | $154,228 | 680 |
| DE | $135,690 | $135,951 | 30 |

27 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 42 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/computer-hardware-engineer/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/computer-hardware-engineer.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 76,100 in the 2025–2035 base year to 83,000 by the end of the cycle — a gain of 6,900 jobs, or +9.1%. Much faster than average: 9.1% against 3.5% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 4,100 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2025–2035.

## How to get in

- **Typical entry education:** Bachelor's degree (BLS Employment Projections).
- **Preparation level:** Medium preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed".
- **Related work experience typically required:** None.
- **Typical on-the-job training:** None.

### Education people in this job actually hold

O\*NET surveys incumbents, so this distribution describes who is in the job today and can differ from the BLS entry requirement above.

| Education level | Share of workers |
| --- | --- |
| Bachelor's Degree | 48.3% |
| Master's Degree | 34.5% |
| Some College Courses | 6.9% |
| Doctoral Degree | 6.9% |
| First Professional Degree | 3.5% |

## What the work involves

- Update knowledge and skills to keep up with rapid advancements in computer technology.
- Confer with engineering staff and consult specifications to evaluate interface between hardware and software and operational and performance requirements of overall system.
- Write detailed functional specifications that document the hardware development process and support hardware introduction.
- Test and verify hardware and support peripherals to ensure that they meet specifications and requirements, by recording and analyzing test data.
- Select hardware and material, assuring compliance with specifications and product requirements.
- Store, retrieve, and manipulate data for analysis of system capabilities and requirements.
- Provide training and support to system designers and users.
- Design and develop computer hardware and support peripherals, including central processing units (CPUs), support logic, microprocessors, custom integrated circuits, and printers and disk drives.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Reading Comprehension — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Critical Thinking — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Listening — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Monitoring — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Transferable skills

These are the skills that carry into other occupations, and they drive the related-occupation and career-change rankings on this site.

- Complex Problem Solving — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Operations Analysis — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Systems Analysis — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Systems Evaluation — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Coordination — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Time Management — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Instructing — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- Computers and Electronics — importance 4.7 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Engineering and Technology — importance 4.7 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Design — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- English Language — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Physics — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Oral Comprehension — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Written Comprehension — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Expression — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Deductive Reasoning — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Inductive Reasoning — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Information Ordering — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

## Who it suits

O\*NET rates every occupation on the six Holland (RIASEC) interest areas, on a 1–7 scale. This occupation's strongest areas are Realistic (R), Investigative (I), Conventional (C).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| R — Realistic | 5.69 |
| I — Investigative | 5.56 |
| C — Conventional | 5.37 |
| E — Enterprising | 1.98 |
| A — Artistic | 1.83 |
| S — Social | 1.82 |

### Personality fit

These scores are **derived by NueCareer**, not published by any government agency: they are cosine similarities between a personality type's trait profile and this occupation's O\*NET interest and work-style ratings, expressed 0–100. Treat them as a starting point for exploration, not as evidence that a type belongs in a job.

| Type | Fit score (0–100) |
| --- | --- |
| ISTJ | 91.0 |
| ISTP | 84.1 |
| INTJ | 80.2 |
| ESTJ | 67.0 |
| ISFJ | 66.8 |

Best-fitting types: ISTJ. The bank also flags this occupation as introvert-friendly, meaning O\*NET work-context ratings put it low on public contact and performing for the public.

## Related occupations

O\*NET's primary related occupations, in its own ranked order.

- [Electronics Engineer, Except Computer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/electronics-engineer) — median $130,220
- [Electrical and Electronic Engineering Technologist and Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/electrical-and-electronic-engineering-technologist-and-technician) — median $78,190
- [Microsystems Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/microsystems-engineer) — median $122,930
- [Software Developer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/software-developer) — median $135,980
- [Robotics Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/robotics-technician) — median $73,900
- [Mechatronics Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/mechatronics-engineer) — median $122,930
- [Computer Systems Engineers/Architect](https://nuecareer.com/careers/computer-systems-engineers-architect) — median $116,580
- [Robotics Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/robotics-engineer) — median $122,930
- [Electrical Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/electrical-engineer) — median $120,630
- [Mechanical Engineering Technologist and Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/mechanical-engineering-technologist-and-technician) — median $74,510

## Sources

- **O\*NET** — O\*NET 31.0 Database, August 2026. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS OEWS** — BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS EP** — BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, 2025–2035. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **BLS OOH** — BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2025–2035 edition. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/
- **BEA RPP** — BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024. https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology

JSON representation of this page: https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/computer-hardware-engineer