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Hardware Engineer Salary and Equity in Chicago 2026
How much does a Hardware Engineer expect to make at Chicago-based startups? The average expected salary for Hardware Engineers in Chicago-based startups is 90k per year, with a range from 62k to 225k. These amounts were gathered from Wellfound self-reported data and represent the median salary range. The salary range for Hardware Engineers in Chicago startups varies depending on factors such as industry, experience, skills, and startup stage.
90.3k
Average Salary
1 years
Average years of experience
Salary
The average salary for a Hardware Engineer in Chicago is $90,250, which is 20.0% lower than the average Chicago startup salary of$112,875. Hardware Engineer salaries in Chicago are based on exclusive Wellfound data. All data is updated on a weekly basis. Factors that may influence salary include: years of experience, title, size of company, skill-set, and industry.
Top of market
$102,750/yr
Range $62k - $225k
Average
$90,250/yr
Range $62k - $175k
Below Average
$79,000/yr
Range $62k - $163k
Industries
The highest average salary a Hardware Engineer in Chicago can get in Financial Services, that is $175,000. This pay is 20.5% higher than the average Hardware Engineer salary in Chicago, which is $145,188. The highest-paying industries in 2023 are: Financial Services (avg $175,000 per year), Market Research (avg $175,000 per year), Electronics (avg $175,000 per year).
Years of experience
Below Average
Average
Top of Market
The highest average salary a Hardware Engineer in Chicago can get with < 3 years of experience, that is $62,000. This pay is 45.1% lower than the average salary in Chicago startups, which is $112,875. The salary range varies with years of experience and depends on other factors such as skill set, size of company, and industry.
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