Engineering manager vs senior engineer salary
Engineering Managers earn more at the median — $167,740 vs $153,216, a gap of about $14,524 (9%).
Engineering Manager
Verified$167,740
Median annual wage
- Entry level
- $111,450
- 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
Estimate$153,216
Median annual wage
- Entry level
- $120,395
- Top earners
- $190,407
- 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 →