Hardware Engineer (General)

What Does a Professional in this Career Do?

A Hardware Engineer designs and develops computer hardware such as circuit boards, chips, modems, and keyboards. Works with computer software engineers and developers to improve technology.

Job Outlook

There were 55 Hardware Engineer (General) job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 3285 in the United States.

In combination with other careers in the Hardware Engineer industry, which includes the Hardware Engineer (General) career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2016:

Salary

Many new Hardware Engineer (General) jobs have salaries estimated to be in the following ranges, based on the requirements and responsibilities listed in job postings from the past year.

National

The average estimated salary in the United States for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $124,196.

State

The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $116,582.

Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Hardware Engineer (General) postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $102,233.

Education and Experience

Posted Hardware Engineer (General) jobs typically require the following level of education. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list education requirements.

Education Level	Percentage
Associate's Degree	0%
Bachelor's Degree	66.85%
Master's Degree	34.03%
Doctoral Degree	9.16%
Other	3.29%

Posted Hardware Engineer (General) jobs typically require the following number of years of experience. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.

Years of Experience	Percentage
0 to 2 years	19.74%
3 to 5 years	38.49%
6 to 8 years	17.91%
9+ years	23.86%

Skills

Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Hardware Engineer (General) positions expect applicants to have as well as the most common skills that distinguish individuals from their peers. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is also listed.

Baseline Skills

A skill that is required across a broad range of occupations, including this one.

Communication (43.96%)
Troubleshooting (Problem Solving) (28.86%)
Problem Solving (21.4%)
Operations (20.94%)
Management (20.52%)
Leadership (17.02%)
Innovation (14.4%)
Research (13.97%)
Writing (11.81%)
Planning (11.32%)

Defining Skills

A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.

Systems Engineering (26.68%)
Computer Science (24.58%)
Electrical Engineering (43.44%)
Computer Engineering (38.66%)
Hardware Architecture (42.99%)

Necessary Skills

A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.

Project Engineering (8.79%)
C (Programming Language) (7.3%)
Artificial Intelligence (6.23%)
Software Development (9.75%)
AutoCAD (3.07%)
Automation (14.34%)
Oscilloscope (10.76%)
Avionics (9.46%)
Printed Circuit Board (9.92%)
C++ (Programming Language) (10.72%)
Digital Electronics (3.39%)
Computer Hardware (5.94%)
Electronic Engineering (3.1%)
Engineering Design Process (4.43%)
Debugging (20.32%)
Hardware Design (20.09%)
Linux (12.02%)
Embedded Systems (13.89%)
Electronics (12.53%)
Mechanical Engineering (12.37%)
Firmware (15.96%)
Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) (14.15%)
Operating Systems (9.53%)
Prototyping (10.01%)
Python (Programming Language) (14.92%)
Physics (11.92%)
Schematic Capture (7.11%)
Project Management (16.86%)
New Product Development (15.86%)
Scripting (7.95%)
Test Planning (15.5%)
Simulations (15.28%)
Software Engineering (8.43%)
Systems Integration (17.96%)
Systems Design (14.47%)
Systems Architecture (11.47%)
Sensors (11.08%)

Salary Boosting Skills

A professional who wishes to excel in this career path may consider developing the following highly valued skills. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is listed.

Computer Science (44.32%)
Hardware Architecture (77.52%)

Alternative Job Titles

Sometimes employers post jobs with Hardware Engineer (General) skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:

Hardware Engineer
Hardware Systems Engineer
Project Engineer
Spacecraft Engineer
Systems Engineer
Systems Integration Engineer
Hardware Technician
Hardware Engineer Co-Op
FPGA Engineer
Hardware Project Engineer

Similar Occupations

If you are interested in exploring occupations with similar skills, you may want to research the following job titles. Note that we only list occupations that have at least one corresponding NC State Online and Distance Education program.

Common Employers

Here are the employers that have posted the most Hardware Engineer (General) jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.

United States

Meta (163)
Apple (119)
Southwest Research Institute (111)
Amazon (103)
Actalent (71)
Blue Origin (58)
Northrop Grumman (54)
Cisco (52)
Open Systems Incorporated (41)
Insight Global (38)

North Carolina

Lenovo (7)
Southwest Research Institute (5)
Milvets Systems Technology (3)
Inframark (3)
Honeywell International (2)
Reperio Human Capital (2)
Insight Global (2)
WilsonHCG (2)
CyberCoders (2)
BD (2)

NC State Programs Relevant to this Career

If you are interested in preparing for a career in this field, the following NC State Online and Distance Education programs offer a great place to start!

All wages, job posting statistics, employment trend projections, and information about skill desirability on this page represents historical data and does not guarantee future conditions. Data is provided by and downloaded regularly from Lightcast. For more information about how Lightcast gathers data and what it represents, see Lightcast Data: Basic Overview on Lightcast's Knowledge Base website.

Engineering