Computer Hardware Engineers
Information TechnologyO*NET 17-2061.00United States
Research, design, develop, or test computer or computer-related equipment for commercial, industrial, military, or scientific use. May supervise the manufacturing and installation of computer or computer-related equipment and components.
- Median annual earnings
- $160,653
- Projected change
- +9.4%
- Typical education
- Bachelor's degree
- Employment
- 79.87K jobs
50th percentile, United States
2025 to 2035
48.3% of the workforce
Growing to 87.4K by 2035
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These courses and certificates are connected through catalog career relationships and Lightcast skill tags.
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The work
What computer hardware engineers do
Tasks reported for this occupation, ordered by how often they come up in the role.
- Update knowledge and skills to keep up with rapid advancements in computer technology.
- Design and develop computer hardware and support peripherals, including central processing units (CPUs), support logic, microprocessors, custom integrated circuits, and printers and disk drives.
- Confer with engineering staff and consult specifications to evaluate interface between hardware and software and operational and performance requirements of overall system.
- Build, test, and modify product prototypes, using working models or theoretical models constructed with computer simulation.
- Write detailed functional specifications that document the hardware development process and support hardware introduction.
- Test and verify hardware and support peripherals to ensure that they meet specifications and requirements, by recording and analyzing test data.
- Direct technicians, engineering designers or other technical support personnel as needed.
- Provide technical support to designers, marketing and sales departments, suppliers, engineers and other team members throughout the product development and implementation process.
- Select hardware and material, assuring compliance with specifications and product requirements.
- Store, retrieve, and manipulate data for analysis of system capabilities and requirements.
- Analyze user needs and recommend appropriate hardware.
- Evaluate factors such as reporting formats required, cost constraints, and need for security restrictions to determine hardware configuration.
- Provide training and support to system designers and users.
- Monitor functioning of equipment and make necessary modifications to ensure system operates in conformance with specifications.
- Specify power supply requirements and configuration, drawing on system performance expectations and design specifications.
Pay and outlook
What the job pays and where it is heading
Annual earnings range
Reported earnings by percentile, United States
- 10th percentile
- $92,153
- 25th percentile
- $125,040
- 50th percentile
- $160,653
- 75th percentile
- $202,205
- 90th percentile
- $225,817
The gold marker shows the median. Half earn more than $160,653 and half earn less.
Employment outlook
2025 to 2035 projection
+9.4%faster than average
202579,872 jobs
2035 projected87,397 jobs
7,525 more positions over the decade, before replacement hiring.
Preparation
Education levels
What people currently working in the career hold. These are not entry requirements.
- Bachelor's degree
- 48.3%
- Master's or Professional degree
- 37.9%
- Some college
- 6.9%
- Doctoral degree or more
- 6.9%
Skills
Skills employers ask for
Technical skills appearing most often in job postings for this occupation.
How the work gets done
Core competencies
Broad capabilities associated with strong performance in this occupation.
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Critical Thinking
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Writing
- Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Active Listening
- Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Active Learning
- Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Systems Evaluation
- Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
- Operations Analysis
- Analyzing needs and product requirements to create a design.
- Systems Analysis
- Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
- Mathematics
- Using mathematics to solve problems.
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Instructing
- Teaching others how to do something.
- Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
- Science
- Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.
- Learning Strategies
- Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
- Quality Control Analysis
- Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance.
In the market
Job titles and employers
Recent job postings in United StatesCommon job titles
- 01Hardware Engineers2,160 postings
- 02Hardware Design Engineers804 postings
- 03FPGA Engineers533 postings
- 04PCB Design Engineers428 postings
- 05FPGA Design Engineers413 postings
- 06Hardware Test Engineers407 postings
- 07Hardware Systems Engineers333 postings
- 08Hardware Development Engineers315 postings
- 09Analog Design Engineers264 postings
- 10Principal Engineers263 postings
- 11Digital Design Engineers244 postings
- 12Signal Integrity Engineers232 postings
- 13Electrical Hardware Engineers223 postings
- 14Electrical Hardware Design Engineers191 postings
- 15Engineers183 postings
- 16Test Engineers178 postings
- 17Staff Hardware Engineers174 postings
- 18PCB Layout Engineers163 postings
- 19ASIC and FPGA Design Engineers155 postings
- 20Digital Hardware Engineers154 postings
Top employers
- 01Apple796 postings
- 02Actalent490 postings
- 03Amazon477 postings
- 04Northrop Grumman385 postings
- 05RTX378 postings
- 06Blue Origin303 postings
- 07Lockheed Martin280 postings
- 08Cisco190 postings
- 09Micron Technology167 postings
- 10Qualcomm162 postings
- 11Marvell Technology161 postings
- 12General Motors156 postings
- 13Insight Global154 postings
- 14AMD153 postings
- 15BAE Systems153 postings
- 16Boeing136 postings
- 17Nvidia136 postings
- 18Google130 postings
- 19Microsoft117 postings
- 20Akamai Technologies109 postings
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