Sales Engineers salary

SOC 41-9031 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$124,900

per year, nationally

Middle half

$92,890–$161,230

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

51,790

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+5.5%

5,000 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$73,870$195,270

10th: $73,870
25th: $92,890
Median: $124,900
75th: $161,230
90th: $195,270

Getting in

Typical education to enter: Bachelor's degree
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: Moderate-term on-the-job training

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where sales engineers earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Delaware	$167,200	99.8	80	0.47×
2	Maryland	$153,410	105.0	850	0.93×
3	Rhode Island	$149,750	102.3	30	0.21×
4	Washington	$147,620	107.0	760	0.64×
5	Colorado	$139,990	103.1	2,800	2.93×
6	California	$139,160	110.7	6,310	1.04×
7	New Jersey	$139,010	108.8	1,760	1.24×
8	New York	$137,480	107.9	3,150	0.98×
9	Massachusetts	$136,200	105.8	3,150	2.60×
10	West Virginia	$135,260	89.5	40	0.15×
11	Arizona	$131,870	100.7	1,000	0.93×
12	Arkansas	$130,760	86.9	30	0.07×
13	Texas	$130,610	97.1	6,800	1.45×
14	Oregon	$128,170	103.4	540	0.83×
15	Idaho	$128,030	95.5	360	1.26×
16	Florida	$125,530	103.4	2,410	0.73×
17	Connecticut	$123,660	103.6	760	1.34×
18	Louisiana	$121,680	88.2	—	—
19	North Carolina	$121,530	94.3	2,530	1.54×
20	New Mexico	$119,420	92.2	80	0.27×
21	South Dakota	$119,110	88.6	100	0.65×
22	Wisconsin	$117,970	94.1	1,300	1.33×
23	Utah	$117,650	98.9	480	0.84×
24	Vermont	$116,790	98.0	—	—
25	Oklahoma	$114,520	87.8	290	0.51×
26	South Carolina	$114,250	93.7	770	1.01×
27	Michigan	$114,180	96.2	2,290	1.56×
28	Tennessee	$111,580	91.9	530	0.49×
29	New Hampshire	$107,850	104.2	300	1.31×
30	Alabama	$104,410	88.8	220	0.32×
31	Minnesota	$100,570	98.6	990	1.00×
32	Illinois	$99,710	100.0	1,150	0.57×
33	Nevada	$99,020	100.0	320	0.62×
34	Georgia	$98,840	96.3	1,630	1.00×
35	Pennsylvania	$98,500	97.6	1,980	0.98×
36	Kansas	$98,000	90.1	220	0.45×
37	Ohio	$97,420	92.8	1,210	0.65×
38	Maine	$95,180	97.0	140	0.65×
39	Missouri	$90,960	90.8	710	0.73×
40	Kentucky	$90,190	90.2	380	0.57×
41	Nebraska	$90,140	90.1	130	0.39×
42	Iowa	$83,450	87.8	310	0.61×
43	Indiana	$74,960	93.3	980	0.92×
44	Alaska	$71,080	102.4	—	—

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where sales engineers wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for sales engineers

The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$177,490	110.4	1,600	4.24×
2	Durham-Chapel Hill, NC	$175,310	97.6	330	2.88×
3	San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA	$163,810	108.6	30	0.81×
4	Ocala, FL	$158,190	95.2	40	0.99×
5	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$153,560	111.1	520	0.75×
6	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$153,410	108.9	1,010	0.97×
7	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$151,610	115.6	930	1.18×
8	Fort Collins-Loveland, CO	$151,450	101.1	80	1.34×
9	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$147,570	112.6	3,440	1.09×
10	North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, FL	$147,130	102.4	50	0.47×
11	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$143,970	108.8	40	0.59×
12	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$139,990	105.8	2,010	3.75×
13	Midland, TX	$138,930	95.8	70	1.66×
14	Boulder, CO	$138,720	105.2	350	5.45×
15	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$138,560	106.7	220	0.61×
16	Greeley, CO	$138,420	100.2	30	0.84×
17	Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX	$137,960	98.1	1,230	2.86×
18	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$136,620	108.3	2,410	2.67×
19	Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh, NY	$136,430	109.4	90	0.98×
20	Albuquerque, NM	$136,260	95.5	60	0.43×
21	Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ	$135,050	103.3	850	1.07×
22	Odessa, TX	$134,740	93.9	50	1.73×
23	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$133,380	113.6	1,770	0.85×
24	Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA	$133,350	100.3	40	0.43×
25	Trenton-Princeton, NJ	$133,300	103.2	50	0.57×
26	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	$133,280	103.1	2,690	1.99×
27	New Orleans-Metairie, LA	$133,010	92.6	—	—
28	Bakersfield-Delano, CA	$132,510	100.9	40	0.38×
29	Colorado Springs, CO	$130,360	100.7	170	1.61×
30	Chambersburg, PA	$130,310	94.6	90	4.28×
31	Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL	$130,170	100.0	70	0.92×
32	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$129,850	105.4	490	1.22×
33	Raleigh-Cary, NC	$129,520	98.2	570	2.29×
34	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	$128,670	114.2	510	0.54×
35	Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, FL	$128,200	97.7	60	0.91×
36	San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX	$128,170	94.7	220	0.60×
37	Tallahassee, FL	$128,000	93.9	40	0.72×
38	Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX	$127,800	98.6	1,340	1.22×
39	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$126,310	110.5	90	0.84×
40	Worcester, MA	$125,800	102.5	320	2.71×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where sales engineers wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.

Real Estate Sales Agents$52,830
Sales and Related Workers, All Other$48,280
Demonstrators and Product Promoters$39,320
Telemarketers$35,450
Real Estate Brokers$73,220
Models$48,470
Door-to-Door Sales Workers, News and Street Vendors, and Related Workers$41,380