Best Computer Hardware Engineer programs in California, ranked by enrollment
Research, design, develop, or test computer or computer-related equipment for commercial, industrial, military, or scientific use.
40 schools in California run programs that feed this job, graduating 6,877 people a year. The job pays a median of $185,180 in California across about 19,820 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in California that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
4 programs in California that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in California (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own California page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 14.1001In California → | 4,119 | 59.9% | 35 | $77,636 | $25,000 |
| 2 | Computer Engineering, Generalmain feeder CIP 14.0901In California → | 2,585 | 37.6% | 30 | $78,333 | $24,098 |
| 3 | CIP 14.4701In California → | 126 | 1.8% | 3 | — | — |
| 4 | Computer Hardware Engineeringmain feeder CIP 14.0902In California → | 47 | 0.7% | 2 | $78,333 | $24,098 |
Top 25 schools in California
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 23 of the 40 schools in this state.
All 40 schools in California
Every school in California with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of California - Berkeley | Berkeley | Public | 709 | 1 |
| University of Southern California | Los Angeles | Private not-for-profit | 572 | 3 |
| University of California - San Diego | La Jolla | Public | 571 | 3 |
| University of California - Los Angeles | Los Angeles | Public | 449 | 2 |
| University of California - Irvine | Irvine | Public | 415 | 2 |
| Santa Clara University | Santa Clara | Private not-for-profit | 383 | 3 |
| San Jose State University | San Jose | Public | 346 | 2 |
| California State Polytechnic University - Pomona | Pomona | Public | 298 | 2 |
| Stanford University | Stanford | Private not-for-profit | 277 | 1 |
| University of California - Davis | Davis | Public | 275 | 2 |
| California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo | San Luis Obispo | Public | 260 | 2 |
| University of California - Santa Barbara | Santa Barbara | Public | 237 | 2 |
| University of California - Santa Cruz | Santa Cruz | Public | 230 | 2 |
| University of California - Riverside | Riverside | Public | 222 | 2 |
| University of California - Merced | Merced | Public | 201 | 1 |
What computer hardware engineers earn in California
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $161,740. California pays above the national figure.
Concentrated here: California employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.
Metro areas in California
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Computer Hardware Engineers page.
How to become a Computer Hardware Engineer
Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0- Typical entry education
- Bachelor's degree
Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.
Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in California
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 4 majors mapped to Computer Hardware Engineers4 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 14.0901Computer Engineering, General
- 14.0902Computer Hardware Engineering
- 14.1001Electrical and Electronics Engineering
- 14.4701Electrical and Computer Engineering
Common questions
Answers for people weighing computer hardware engineers programs in California.
What degree do you need to become a Computer Hardware Engineer?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Electrical and Electronics Engineering, which awarded 4,119 degrees in California in 2024-25, 59.9% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Computer Hardware Engineer?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 4 programs to this occupation. The largest are Electrical, Computer Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering. Together they graduate about 6,877 people a year in California.
How much do computer hardware engineers earn in California?+
The median is $185,180 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 14.5% above the U.S. median of $161,740. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for computer hardware engineers growing?+
BLS projects a +7.3% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, faster than average, with roughly 4,700 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in California?+
40 institutions in California reported graduates from at least one of the 4 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do computer hardware engineers work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Engineer, Design Engineer, Hardware Engineer, Systems Integration Engineer among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 17-2061.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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