Discover Salaries

Mechanical Engineer
San Diego
Select skill
Select industry

Mechanical Engineer Salary and Equity in San Diego 2026

How much does a Mechanical Engineer expect to make at San Diego-based startups? The average expected salary for Mechanical Engineers in San Diego-based startups is 121k per year, with a range from 90k to 137k. These amounts were gathered from Wellfound self-reported data and represent the median salary range. The salary range for Mechanical Engineers in San Diego startups varies depending on factors such as industry, experience, skills, and startup stage.

120.5k

Average Salary

Hiring data hero image

Salary

By quarter
The average salary for a Mechanical Engineer in San Diego is $120,500, which is 5.7% higher than the average San Diego startup salary of$114,042. Mechanical Engineer salaries in San Diego 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

$136,500/yr

Range $137k - $137k

Average

$120,500/yr

Range $105k - $137k

Below Average

$108,000/yr

Range $90k - $126k


Industries

The highest average salary a Mechanical Engineer in San Diego can get in Design, that is $172,500. This pay is 6.6% higher than the average Mechanical Engineer salary in San Diego, which is $161,800. The highest-paying industries in 2023 are: Design (avg $172,500 per year), Software Engineering (avg $170,500 per year), Hardware (avg $165,000 per year).

Years of experience

Below Average

Average

Top of Market

The highest average salary a Mechanical Engineer in San Diego can get with 10+ years of experience, that is $170,000. This pay is 49.1% higher than the average salary in San Diego startups, which is $114,042. The salary range varies with years of experience and depends on other factors such as skill set, size of company, and industry.