Engineering manager vs senior engineer salary
Engineering Managers earn more at the median — $165,370 vs $140,000, a gap of about $25,370 (18%).
Engineering Manager
Verified$165,370
Median annual wage
- Entry level
- $102,910
- Top earners
- $239,200
- Discipline
- Architecture & Engineering
Engineering managers plan, direct, and coordinate activities in architecture and engineering, leading teams and owning technical delivery.
Engineering Manager salary details →Senior Engineer
Mapped est.$140,000
Median annual wage
- Entry level
- $95,000
- Top earners
- $215,000
- Discipline
- Architecture & Engineering
Senior engineers are experienced individual contributors, typically with 8+ years of experience, who own complex systems and set technical direction without managing people.
Senior Engineer salary details →Source details
Engineering manager is BLS-verified (SOC 11-9041). Senior engineer is an experience-band estimate from the upper percentiles of engineering occupations.
Benchmarks come from published government wage data via BLS OEWS. Local and emerging-role figures are labeled estimates. Full methodology →