Engineer salary in California
Typical advertised pay for Engineer roles in California, from real job postings on FindRole.
Median advertised base salary
$208,000
Most postings fall between $170,500 and $245,363.
Based on 94 postings across 22 companies. Updated September 10, 2026.
As of September 2026, the median advertised base salary for Engineer roles in California is $208,000, based on 94 live job postings from 22 employers tracked by FindRole.
Published by FindRole · free to quote and reuse with attribution and a link to this page · how this is computed
Salary by seniority
| Level | 25th %ile | Median | 75th %ile | Postings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Senior | $142,175 | $157,500 | $176,000 | 19 |
| Staff | $170,000 | $208,000 | $208,000 | 27 |
| Principal | $251,000 | $285,000 | $346,088 | 21 |
Top companies hiring Engineers
- Samsung Semiconductor 22 postings · median $208,000
- Qualcomm 17 postings · median $176,000
- GEICO 15 postings · median $170,000
- Nvidia 7 postings · median $235,750
- Oracle 5 postings · median $174,600
- SpaceX 5 postings · median $155,000
- Pinterest 3 postings · median $367,496
- MSCI 2 postings · median $237,500
Open Engineer roles right now
The postings these numbers come from — see all Engineer jobs.
- Distinguished Principal Engineer, AI Science MSCI · San Francisco, CA View →
- Principal Engineer, Storage Product Standards Samsung Semiconductor · San Jose, CA View →
- Senior Engineer, AI Edge Adobe · San Jose, CA View →
- Distinguished Principal Engineer, AI Science MSCI · San Francisco, CA View →
- Staff Engineer Qualcomm · San Diego, CA View →
- Staff Engineer, Storage Business Enablement Samsung Semiconductor · San Jose, CA View →
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Create a free accountThese figures are the midpoint of the advertised salary range on real Engineer job postings indexed by FindRole — employer-stated base pay, not total compensation (they exclude equity and bonuses), and they reflect the roles we index rather than the whole market. A guide, not a guarantee.