BLS OEWS, May 2025

Network engineer salary in Seattle, WA

What network engineers are paid in Seattle, WA, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with how your own pay compares. Figures from the BLS OEWS release dated May 2025.

Median annual pay

$172,650

Middle half earn

$133,500 to $208,820

People in this job here

3,710

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Computer Network Architects, Seattle, WA, annual pay, May 2025

10th percentile
$93,880
25th percentile
$133,500
Median
$172,650
75th percentile
$208,820
90th percentile
$243,590

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025, SOC 15-1241. Percentiles across everyone employed in the occupation, not experience levels.

At a glance

How Seattle, WA compares

  • The median here is 29% above the national median of $134,050.
  • Seattle, WA ranks 2nd for median pay among the 49 largest US metros with published figures for this occupation.
  • About 3,710 people work in this occupation here, roughly 1 in every 562 jobs in the metro.
  • Pay varies widely within the job: the 90th percentile earns 2.6 times the 10th.

Worked from BLS OEWS, May 2025. Not adjusted for the cost of living.

Seattle, WA against the national figures
PercentileSeattle, WANational
10th percentile$93,880$79,900
25th percentile$133,500$104,620
Median$172,650$134,050
75th percentile$208,820$168,200
90th percentile$243,590$202,680

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025, SOC 15-1241. National page for network engineers

Skills

What employers look for in a network engineer

The skills our network engineer resume example leads with, written for US employers.

  • BGP
  • OSPF
  • VLANs and trunking
  • Cisco IOS
  • Juniper Junos
  • Firewall policy
  • Palo Alto
  • SD-WAN
  • MPLS
  • VPN and IPsec

See the full network engineer resume example, with bullets and keywords.

Negotiating

Using these numbers

Below $133,500 puts you in the bottom quarter for network engineers in Seattle, WA. That is worth raising, with evidence of what you deliver.

The median, $172,650, is the middle of the market, not a ceiling. An offer at or near it is a fair starting point to negotiate from.

Asking for $208,820 or more puts you in the top quarter, so it needs a reason an employer will accept: a wider scope, a competing offer, or a skill that is hard to hire for.

Percentiles are not experience levels. They describe everyone doing the job, so a senior hire can sit at the median of a market full of senior people.

About the numbers

What these figures are

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics surveys employers for its Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, and these figures are from the release dated May 2025. They cover wage and salary workers in Computer Network Architects, a category that is often broader than a single job title. Self-employed people are not included.

They are base pay: bonuses, equity and overtime are not included, and they are not adjusted for the cost of living. The metro is Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA as BLS defines it.

Questions

Questions about network engineer pay in Seattle, WA

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