Systems Engineer salary
What a systems engineer actually earns, from 448 live job postings blended with the official US OEWS (Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics) wage anchor. Pick a market for its median and range, then read the seniority split, the trend, and the country comparison below. Updated 2026-09-22.
Switch the market above to see systems engineer pay in the 2 countries our sources cover, each with its own cost of living. The trend, seniority, and state detail below are United States data, where the official record runs deepest.
What the number means
A systems engineer earns a blended US median near 141,507 dollars, with the typical middle running from 110,975 dollars to 178,931 dollars. The official OEWS median is 117,750 dollars, under the posted figure, because the advertised roles skew senior or well-funded. The official trend has moved up about 19 percent since 2019. By seniority, posted pay runs from roughly 109,354 dollars to 152,001 dollars. Demand is rated high, and 14% of postings are fully remote. The nearest adjacent move on our skill graph is systems administrator, at 76 percent coverage; the instrument maps the rest.
Open systems engineer roles
Live openings, freshest first. Apply at the source.
Ingénieur systèmes avioniques - Spatial (H/F) at AltenToulouse, FRTodayUnlock- System Engineer Avionics - Flight Control (a) at SwissDrones Operating AGBuchs SG, St. Gallen, Switzerland · Remote1d agoApply
- System Engineer (all genders) at BRUSA Elektronik AGBuchs SG, St. Gallen, Switzerland1d agoApply
Systems Engineer- Server VMDR at Moody'sHeredia1d agoApply
Application & Integration Engineer – Security Systems (m/w/x) at K-tronik GmbHMunich1d agoApply
Systems Engineer / Architect for the Reactor System (f/m/d) at FocusedDarmstadt, DE1d agoApply
By seniority
Posted-median pay by seniority signal in the title, from our corpus. Noisy at the edges where sample sizes are small.
By country
- United States$110,975$141,507$178,931
- United Kingdom$65,226$78,939$107,036
Top-paying US states
OEWS median by state, highest first.
- California$156,415
- Alabama$146,480
- Virginia$142,110
- Maryland$135,990
- Massachusetts$132,020
- Colorado$125,330
Roles that pay more, that these skills already reach
Median pay from each destination’s own postings, with the readiness a systems engineer profile already covers.
- 1246 open solutions architect roles$160,571 median · +$19,064 · 40% readiness
- 590 open security engineer roles$145,962 median · +$4,455 · 38% readiness
Every measured move out of this role, ranked by readiness: alternative careers for a systems engineer.
Is your offer fair?
Run a specific number through FairElephant, which weighs it against this data, your location, and remote market rates.
Related salaries
- Systems Administrator salary$103,310 median
- Network Engineer salary$126,130 median
- Solutions Architect salary$160,571 median
Quick answers
How much does a systems engineer make?
The blended US median is about 141,507 dollars, with a typical range from 110,975 dollars to 178,931 dollars, against an official OEWS median of 117,750 dollars.
Is systems engineer a good career in 2026?
Demand for the role is rated high in our July 2026 corpus, with 14% of postings fully remote. The pay is shown above by seniority and by country.
What can a systems engineer move into?
The nearest adjacent role on our skill graph is systems administrator, at 76 percent skill coverage. Run the instrument for the full set of reachable moves.
Method: bands are the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles of live US postings with stated pay, shrunk toward the official OEWS anchor by sample size (the “blended” figure). Trend is the OEWS annual median for SOC (Standard Occupational Classification) code 17-2199. Live corpus 448 observations, 2026-09-22. Definitions in the glossary.