$700 a Year Higher in Computer Fields : Engineers’ Pay in County Outpaces Average in U.S.

Salaries for hardware and software engineers with five years of experience at electronics firms are slightly higher in Orange County than nationally, according to a new survey by the American Electronics Assn.

Hardware engineers in the county will receive an average of $37,700 for 1987 while software engineers will receive $37,200, according to the survey, which did not include salaries for supervisory personnel. Both figures compare favorably to U.S. averages of $37,000 for hardware engineers and $36,500 for software engineers.

The survey of about 73,000 engineers employed at 1,100 companies throughout the United States showed that the highest-paid hardware engineers work in Northern California, mainly in the Silicon Valley, where annual salaries average $39,108.

The New England states ranked tops for software engineers, with an annual average pay of $38,412.

Florida scored at the bottom of the list in both categories, with hardware engineers there earning an average of $34,512 a year and software engineers averaging $33,948.

Hardware engineers design electrical circuits and develop mechanical or electronic products. Software engineers develop manufacturer-produced software for database and operating systems.

“California electrical engineers tend to do fairly well. But there is also a higher cost of living and a higher income tax here that takes away some of the money,” said Jeff Parietti, a spokesman for the association.