Drafting Engineer Salary
$27.5K - $32K
2% of jobs
$32K - $36.5K
4% of jobs
$36.5K - $41K
11% of jobs
$43.9K is the 25th percentile. Wages below this are outliers.
$41K - $45.5K
13% of jobs
$45.5K - $50K
18% of jobs
The median wage is $50.9K / yr.
$50K - $54.5K
14% of jobs
$57.7K is the 75th percentile. Wages above this are outliers.
$54.5K - $59K
19% of jobs
$59K - $63.5K
7% of jobs
$63.5K - $68K
5% of jobs
$68K - $72.5K
4% of jobs
$72.5K - $77K
3% of jobs
$27.5K
$51.5K
$77K
$52,344
/year
$25.17
/hour
Drafting Engineer Salary Comparison by Location
Nationwide
United States
$52,344
Columbus
Ohio
$50,559
Do you get a good deal as a Drafting Engineer?
Take The Breakroom Quiz to find out if your job offers fair pay and conditions. The 3-minute quiz lets you compare your pay, hours, benefits, and more.
Take The Breakroom Quiz
How much does a Drafting Engineer make?
As of Jul 27, 2026, the average annual pay for a Drafting Engineer in the United States is $52,344 a year.
Just in case you need a simple salary calculator, that works out to be approximately $25.17 an hour. This is the equivalent of $1,006/week or $4,362/month.
While ZipRecruiter is seeing annual salaries as high as $77,000 and as low as $27,500, the majority of Drafting Engineer salaries currently range between $44,500 (25th percentile) to $58,000 (75th percentile) with top earners (90th percentile) making $69,500 annually across the United States. The average pay range for a Drafting Engineer varies greatly (by as much as 13500), which suggests there may be many opportunities for advancement and increased pay based on skill level, location and years of experience.
A Drafting Engineer in your area makes on average $50,559 per year, or $1,785 (3.410%) less than the national average annual salary of $52,344. Ohio ranks number 42 out of 50 states nationwide for Drafting Engineer salaries.
To estimate the most accurate annual salary range for Drafting Engineer jobs, ZipRecruiter continuously scans its database of millions of active jobs published locally throughout America.
Find your next high paying job as a Drafting Engineer on ZipRecruiter today.
What are Top 10 Highest Paying Cities for Drafting Engineer Jobs
We've identified 10 cities where the typical salary for a Drafting Engineer job is above the national average. Topping the list is Pennington County, SD, , with Beverly, MA, and Milford, CT, close behind in the second and third positions. Milford, CT, beats the national average by $20,148 (38.5%), and Pennington County, SD, furthers that trend with another $24,483 (46.8%) above the $52,344 average.
With these 10 cities having average salaries higher than the national average, the opportunities for economic advancement by changing locations as a Drafting Engineer appears to be exceedingly fruitful.
However, another factor to consider is the average salary for these top 10 cities varies modestly at 19% between Pennington County, SD, and Newburgh, IN, , suggesting it may be difficult to see much positive wage advancement. The possibility of a lower cost of living may help determine the balance between location and salary for a Drafting Engineer role.
City | Annual Salary | Hourly Wage |
|---|---|---|
Pennington County, SD | $76,827 | $36.94 |
Beverly, MA | $75,409 | $36.25 |
Milford, CT | $72,492 | $34.85 |
Spearfish, SD | $68,994 | $33.17 |
North Little Rock, AR | $65,966 | $31.71 |
Nome, AK | $64,933 | $31.22 |
Burleigh County, ND | $64,669 | $31.09 |
Douglas County, NE | $64,115 | $30.82 |
Kentville, NS | $63,367 | $30.46 |
Newburgh, IN | $63,283 | $30.42 |
What are Top 5 Best Paying Related Drafting Engineer Jobs in the U.S.
We found a few related jobs that pay more than jobs in the Drafting Engineer category.
For example Product Design Engineer Apple jobs pay as much as $79,230 (151.4%) more than the average Drafting Engineer salary of $52,344. If you're qualified, finding work as a Product Design Engineer Apple may help you make more money than that of the average Drafting Engineer position.
Job Title | Annual Salary | Hourly Wage |
|---|---|---|
Product Design Engineer Apple | $131,574 | $63.26 |
Value Engineer | $128,450 | $61.75 |
Civil Structural Engineer | $102,279 | $49.17 |
Design Engineer Ii | $88,150 | $42.38 |
Mechanical Engineer Internship | $45,516 | $21.88 |
About Our Data
ZipRecruiter salary estimates, histograms, trends and comparisons are derived from both employer job postings and third party data sources.
