Qualcomm hardware engineering salaries

Across 222 open hardware engineering postings at Qualcomm that state a range, the middle half pays $127k–$200k a year, with a median of $168k. The lowest posted floor is $38k and the highest ceiling $385k. This is base pay as posted by Qualcomm, converted to US dollars; equity and bonus are not included.

From pay ranges in open postingsRebuilt 7 Oct 2026

The range

Lowest floor$38k
25th percentile$127k
Median$168k
75th percentile$200k
Highest ceiling$385k

Postings by the midpoint of the posted range, in steps of $25k

Middle halfMedian bucket

Median by team at Qualcomm

Engineering leadership$297k
Marketing$228k
Product management$227k
Management$212k
Legal$210k
QA and testing$197k
Industrial engineering$182k

Postings with a stated range: Engineering leadership 19 · Marketing 7 · Product management 36 · Management 23 · Legal 6 · AI and machine learning 73 · QA and testing 17 · Industrial engineering 101

Hardware engineering pay by level

LevelPostingsMedianMiddle half
Intern14$55k$55k–$55k
Junior34$137k$125k–$152k
Mid-level20$182k$161k–$200k
Senior64$167k$147k–$185k
Staff and principal66$185k$171k–$218k
Lead9$250k$233k–$276k

Best-paid open hardware engineering roles

CPU Verification Engineer, Director
Santa ClaraHead and director
$253k–$379kSep 21
CPU-Core RTL Director
Austin · Santa ClaraHead and director
$228k–$343kAug 26
$221k–$332kFeb 7
Rack Systems Architect
Santa ClaraStaff and principal
$221k–$332kApr 17

528 hardware engineering roles open at Qualcomm now

222 of them show the pay range on the posting.

Questions

How much does Qualcomm pay for hardware engineering roles?

The median of the 222 posted ranges is $168k a year; the middle half sits between $127k and $200k.

Is this base salary or total compensation?

Base salary as written in the posting. Many US employers post ranges under state pay transparency laws (California, New York, Washington, Colorado and others); equity and bonus are not part of these figures.

Why posted ranges and not self-reported salaries?

A posted range is what the employer commits to for a role it has open today. It is fresher than a survey and cannot be inflated by respondents. Each posting counts once, at the midpoint of its range.

Which level pays most?

Lead roles have the highest median here: $250k a year across 9 postings.

Source: the pay ranges of 222 open postings on Qualcomm's careers board; the midpoint of each rangeUpdated 7 Oct 2026MethodologyJSONCC BY-SA 4.0