Embedded Engineer salaries and job demand
Last updated
Embedded Engineer roles typically advertise around £69,999 a year. Here's the current salary range, hiring demand, and the skills employers ask for most.
What do Embedded Engineer roles pay in 2026?
As of October 2026, the typical advertised salary is £69,999 (≈ $89k) a year, with most postings between £55,000 and £90,000.
| 25th percentile | £55,000 |
|---|---|
| Median (50th percentile) | £69,999 |
| 75th percentile | £90,000 |
Advertised base salary, from 117 job postings with pay data, as of October 2026.
Disclosed base wage (H-1B/LCA)
Employers disclose a median base wage of US$147,846 on H-1B/LCA visa filings for this role, between US$108,934 and US$183,841.
| 25th percentile | US$108,934 |
|---|---|
| Median (50th percentile) | US$147,846 |
| 75th percentile | US$183,841 |
Disclosed base wage, from 1,041 H-1B/LCA filings, U.S. DOL OFLC, as of Q4 2025.
| Period | 25th percentile | Median | 75th percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q3 2024 | US$122,933 | US$152,652 | US$185,700 |
| Q4 2024 | US$126,941 | US$160,000 | US$200,000 |
| Q1 2025 | US$122,815 | US$150,000 | US$183,550 |
| Q2 2025 | US$103,803 | US$138,000 | US$169,615 |
| Q3 2025 | US$110,656 | US$153,656 | US$190,322 |
| Q4 2025 | US$125,599 | US$160,000 | US$199,000 |
How strong is hiring demand for Embedded Engineer roles in 2026?
Tarmac tracked 283 postings in September 2026, the most recent month we tracked from start to finish.
We're not publishing a month-by-month series yet: the number of postings Tarmac collects each month is still growing, so a month-on-month change would measure our coverage rather than the job market.
Skills employers ask for
- cpp1016
- python940
- linux715
- embedded systems346
- git281
- real-time operating systems (rtos)252
- system-design219
- device drivers216
- rust204
- rtos201
- ci-cd-pipelines161
- javascript159
Postings for this role that named each skill, out of the postings we could parse. Bars run to 1016, the most-asked skill here.
Which skills to study first
These skills matter most for this role, scored together on how often employers ask for them, what they pay, and how often people pass them when they practise.
| Skill | Market demand | Median pay | Pass rate | Leverage | Practice |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JavaScript | 17% of postings13,614 postings | US$160,000+20% | 47%36 attempts | 45 | Practice |
| Python | 55% of postings44,668 postings | US$167,500+26% | Not enough data yet | — | Practice |
| System Design | 26% of postings21,200 postings | US$180,347+36% | Not enough data yet | — | Practice |
| CI-CD Pipelines | 20% of postings16,267 postings | £76,840+2% | Not enough data yet | — | Practice |
| Linux | 9% of postings7,251 postings | £70,000−7% | Not enough data yet | — | — |
| Git | 7% of postings5,579 postings | £70,000−7% | Not enough data yet | — | Practice |
| C++ | 4% of postings3,626 postings | £70,000−7% | Not enough data yet | — | Practice |
| Rust | 1% of postings1,039 postings | £80,000+7% | Not enough data yet | — | Practice |
Pass rate is the share of correct answers among people who practised that skill on Tarmac, a self-selected group rather than every developer, so read it as relative difficulty, not a universal stat. It comes from how people actually scored, not what anyone claimed, and a dash in that column means not enough people have practised the skill here yet. Leverage scores demand, pay, and difficulty together (out of 100); a higher score means a skill is both worth learning and worth your study time.
Pay by level and city in United States
These figures cover United States postings only, as of October 2026. The median above pools every level and every city; these split it, so you can read the rung you are actually applying for.
| Level | 25th | Median | 75th | Postings with pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mid-level | US$130,000 | US$162,500 | US$169,050 | 23 |
| Senior | US$133,013 | US$140,000 | US$171,163 | 40 |
| Staff+ | US$68,845 | US$150,000 | US$208,150 | 7 |
| City | 25th | Median | 75th | Postings with pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Remote | US$125,513 | US$135,000 | US$162,500 | 18 |
| Los Angeles, CA | US$123,500 | US$162,500 | US$184,400 | 16 |
| Seattle, WA | US$153,750 | US$169,050 | US$169,050 | 11 |
| Denver, CO | US$12,623 | US$138,750 | US$140,000 | 10 |
| New York, NY | US$110,955 | US$123,601 | US$143,709 | 9 |
| Washington, DC | US$137,279 | US$155,000 | US$174,876 | 8 |
Advertised base salary. A level or city with too few postings quoting pay is left out rather than shown on a thin sample.
What it takes
The entry bar and required skills employers ask for. Most job ads reach us as a short summary rather than the full posting, and the percentages below count only the ones we have in full — so they skew toward employers who publish a fuller description. Every bar runs 0 to 60% of those postings: solid is required, outlined is preferred, dashed is the posting's own words.
Australia
Required
Preferred
In the postings’ own words
Required
Preferred
In the postings’ own words
United States
Required
Preferred
In the postings’ own words
Required
Preferred
In the postings’ own words
- Years asked up 2 years over the last 7 weeks.
Required
Preferred
In the postings’ own words
Required
Preferred
In the postings’ own words
United Kingdom
Preferred
In the postings’ own words
Required
Preferred
In the postings’ own words
Required
Not enough postings state a years-of-experience figure for Staff / lead yet.
Practice interview questions
Jobs data powered by Adzuna.
Disclosed wage data from the U.S. Department of Labor, OFLC.
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