US Semiconductor Salaries: Where Posted Ranges Reach $250,000+
Data as of October 19, 2026.
Of the 6,819 active US semiconductor and hardware postings in our job index with published base salaries, 2,091 list ranges reaching $250,000 or more. That’s 31%.
Architecture and AI hardware have the highest median salaries among the disciplines below. Physical design, verification and RTL also have dozens of postings with ranges reaching $250,000.
These are advertised base salaries, excluding bonuses and equity. The upper end of a range is not necessarily what an employer will offer.
Published US semiconductor salaries by discipline
The table shows the median listed minimum and maximum for each discipline. Posting counts include only positions with published salaries.
| Discipline | Postings with salaries | Median minimum | Median maximum | Ranges reaching $250,000+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SoC / Chip Architecture | 173 | $179,000 | $292,000 | 125 (72%) |
| AI / ML Hardware Engineering | 135 | $178,500 | $287,500 | 86 (64%) |
| Physical Design | 118 | $143,800 | $240,000 | 55 (47%) |
| Digital / RTL Design | 167 | $150,000 | $232,000 | 65 (39%) |
| Design Verification | 190 | $144,700 | $230,500 | 78 (41%) |
| Post-Silicon Validation | 109 | $136,000 | $222,755 | 39 (36%) |
| Chiplet / Advanced Packaging | 36 | $144,500 | $222,500 | 14 (39%) |
| Power Electronics | 37 | $141,998 | $216,056 | 12 (32%) |
| Hardware Systems Engineering | 383 | $125,400 | $200,300 | 96 (25%) |
Examples of current openings
These positions show how much published salaries vary by employer and role.
| Company | Position | Published base salary |
|---|---|---|
| NVIDIA | SoC Product Architect, Memory Ecosystem | $320,000 to $488,750 |
| Qualcomm | Server Product Architect, RISC-V, Senior Director | $284,900 to $427,300 |
| Arm | Principal Systems Architect, AGI CPU, Austin | $249,900 to $338,100 |
| Altera | Physical Design Lead, Execution | $231,500 to $341,075 |
| MatX | Performance Modeling Engineer | $275,000 to $600,000 |
| SambaNova | Director of ASIC Design Verification | $270,000 to $340,000 |
| Cerebras | Senior Staff Design Verification Engineer | $250,000 to $300,000 |
| Positron AI | Principal ASIC Design Engineer, Austin | $225,000 to $350,000 |
Reading the figures
The figures combine different experience levels and locations. Some postings cover several levels, which can produce a wide salary range.
California, Washington, Colorado and New York are better represented in the salary data than Texas and Arizona. Positions without published salaries are excluded.
Wide ranges are generally included as published. The median calculations exclude salary values outside $60,000 to $700,000.
Related posts
- Texas semiconductor jobs and salaries by discipline
- Austin semiconductor jobs and salaries
- Senior semiconductor positions still open in the US
Source: SemiconductorJobs.com index of employer career sites, October 19, 2026.
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