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Materials Engineers · SOC 17-2131

Materials Engineers Salary in the San Jose Metro Area

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA metro area

Figures describe the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA metropolitan statistical area as defined by BLS/OMB — the whole multi-county metro region, not San Jose city limits.

Median annual wage$156,730
Median hourly wage$75.35

Materials Engineers in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA metro area earned a median of $156,730 per year ($75.35 per hour) as of the May 2025 BLS OEWS estimates. Pay ranged from $101,450 at the 10th percentile to $218,760 at the 90th. BLS estimates 550 people work in this occupation in the area.

Pay distribution

Half of Materials Engineers in the San Jose metro area earn more than $156,730 per year, half earn less; the middle half earn between $130,770 and $180,130.

Wage percentiles (BLS OEWS)
Wage10th25thMedian75th90th
Annual$101,450$130,770$156,730$180,130$218,760
Hourly$48.78$62.87$75.35$86.60$105.17

A percentile is a cut point: 25% of workers in this occupation and area earn less than the 25th-percentile wage. The median is the 50th percentile — half earn less, half earn more.

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How this area compares

  • San Jose metro areathis metro area
    $156,730
  • Californiastate (CA)
    $128,470
  • United Statesnational
    $112,860

Bars span the 25th–75th percentile (the middle half of workers); the tick marks the median.

The median here is +22% vs California overall and +39% vs the U.S. median for this occupation.

Compare with other areas

Where this metro sits nationally

$71,820$100,123$128,427$156,730Utica-Rome, NY — $71,820Salt Lake City-Murray, UT — $77,470Lancaster, PA — $79,270San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX — $82,800Knoxville, TN — $83,240Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI — $84,880Memphis, TN-MS-AR — $85,000Lafayette-West Lafayette, IN — $85,130Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN — $89,040Pittsburgh, PA — $92,740Fort Collins-Loveland, CO — $94,700Oklahoma City, OK — $95,680Tucson, AZ — $95,930Spartanburg, SC — $96,610Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX — $96,730Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL — $96,740Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI — $96,790Lincoln, NE — $96,960Greensboro-High Point, NC — $98,380Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA — $98,440Waterbury-Shelton, CT — $98,460Reading, PA — $99,040Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN — $99,590Fort Wayne, IN — $99,640Birmingham, AL — $99,780Wichita, KS — $100,000Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI — $100,070Canton-Massillon, OH — $100,250Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN — $100,420Ogden, UT — $100,770Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL — $100,850Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA — $101,100Kansas City, MO-KS — $101,230Providence-Warwick, RI-MA — $101,670Richmond, VA — $102,440Akron, OH — $102,630Chattanooga, TN-GA — $103,360Omaha, NE-IA — $103,410Trenton-Princeton, NJ — $103,660Raleigh-Cary, NC — $104,310Jacksonville, FL — $104,360Columbus, OH — $104,370Mobile, AL — $104,610Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC — $104,910Youngstown-Warren, OH — $105,400Ann Arbor, MI — $105,950Cleveland, OH — $106,340Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY — $106,450Idaho Falls, ID — $106,560Greenville-Anderson-Greer, SC — $106,580Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT — $108,840Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA — $109,100Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI — $110,350Toledo, OH — $110,620Tulsa, OK — $110,690Madison, WI — $111,050Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH — $111,480Worcester, MA — $114,100St. Louis, MO-IL — $114,670Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ — $116,510Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC — $116,720Durham-Chapel Hill, NC — $117,000Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX — $117,700Huntsville, AL — $120,720Columbia, SC — $121,290Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA — $122,450Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX — $123,250Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL — $123,720San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA — $124,180Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ — $124,990Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD — $125,190Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA — $125,200Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO — $125,750Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN — $127,230Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN — $127,740Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA — $128,250San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA — $129,480Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA — $130,040Bakersfield-Delano, CA — $130,440Charleston-North Charleston, SC — $131,080Decatur, AL — $134,370Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY — $134,630Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH — $137,290Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL — $138,430Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV — $140,640Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD — $144,010New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ — $147,490Boulder, CO — $151,940Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA — $156,130San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA — $156,730

Each dot is one metro area with a published median — hover any dot for the name and figure. Metros without published estimates are not drawn.

The San Jose metro area has the 1st-highest published median for this occupation among the 90 metro areas where BLS publishes it. Higher medians often track higher living costs — this is a pay comparison, not a ranking of where the job is “best”.

Other metro areas in California

Metro areas in the same state with published May 2025 medians for materials engineers, highest first. Areas without published estimates are not listed.

  • San Jose metro areathis page
    $156,730
  • Bakersfield metro area
    $130,440
  • Sacramento metro area
    $130,040
  • San Francisco metro area
    $129,480
  • Los Angeles metro area
    $125,200
  • San Diego metro area
    $124,180
  • Oxnard metro area
    $122,450

Bars span the 25th–75th percentile (the middle half of workers); the tick marks the median.

Keep exploring

Other occupations in the same SOC group with published medians here, largest employment first:

Computer Hardware Engineers$209,860Electronics Engineers, Except Computer$194,370Mechanical Engineers$168,030Engineers, All Other$169,650Industrial Engineers$136,950Electrical Engineers$187,060

Highest-paying metro areas for materials engineerss · Highest-paying occupations in San Jose Metro

About this estimate

These figures are survey estimates from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program — modeled from employer reports collected over three years and benchmarked to May 2025. They describe what employers in this area currently pay across all industries, not what any individual worker will be offered.

Employment counts wage-and-salary jobs in the occupation (self-employed workers are excluded). Estimates carry sampling error; percentile wages are rounded by BLS. Some values are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality or quality — suppressed values appear here as “not published”, never as zero. Read the full methodology.

About this data. Estimates are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, May 2025 release, retrieved from bls.gov/oes/tables.htm on July 24, 2026. OEWS estimates describe metropolitan/nonmetropolitan areas and states — not city limits — and are not designed for year-over-year comparisons. See BLS methodology, our plain-English methodology, and sources. CitySalaryData is independent and not affiliated with BLS.