Hardware Security Researcher
Median salary, education path, job outlook, and related careers — based on U.S. labor data.
Median salary
$138,000/yr
Typical range
$112,000 – $168,000
Education
Master's degree
Time to entry
About 6 years (bachelor's + ~2-year master's)
What a Hardware Security Researcher does
Probes physical chips, firmware, and embedded systems for side-channel attacks, fault injection vulnerabilities, and hardware trojans that software-only testers never reach.
Education & path
The typical entry point is a master's degree. About 6 years (bachelor's + ~2-year master's).
Estimated cost of that path: ~$70,000. Estimated payback: ~3 years. Estimates only — actual cost varies widely by school and financial aid; payback assumes ~20% of income applied.
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- Knowledge Engineer — $102,000/yr
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