Foundry Pay Cannot Be Ranked in One List: Intel $217K, TSMC NT$3.05M, and Samsung KRW 130M Are Different Numbers

The Conclusion First

• A single foundry pay ranking would be wrong. None of Intel, TSMC, or Samsung discloses a foundry-only pay figure.
• Intel (US, Levels.fyi): Whole-company Hardware Engineer median $217K, Software median $195K, Staff Hardware (Grade 8) $228K. This is not Intel Foundry only.
• TSMC (Taiwan, Levels.fyi): Hardware Engineer median NT$3.05M. At Senior, stock is NT$0 and bonus is about 38% of total compensation.
• TSMC has two filing averages with two definitions. NT$3.57M for 2024 (sustainability report) and NT$4.09M for 2025 (TWSE) differ in year and definition — do not trend them as one series.
• Samsung: The only published figure is Samsung Electronics company-wide average salary of KRW 130M in 2024. No Foundry-only pay has ever been disclosed.
• A valid Taiwan comparison exists separately. In the same dataset (non-supervisory full-time, 2024), MediaTek averages NT$4.310M and TSMC averages NT$3.391M.

Figure: Foundry pay in three different universes — do not rank together. Sources are labeled per panel.

Reading rule: US Levels medians are engineer, level-specific, equity-inclusive, and self-reported. Filing averages cover every employee from operator to VP, in the home country, mostly in cash and bonus. Never rank the two together.

Block A — Intel (US, Levels.fyi, Whole Company)

Label: U-US / whole company / NOT Foundry-only

• Hardware Engineer overall median: $217K (3,206 submissions)
• Software Engineer overall median: $195K (3,150 submissions)
• Staff Hardware (Grade 8): $228K (base $177K, stock $36.4K, bonus $15K)
• On Levels.fyi, "Hardware Engineer" means silicon design. Manufacturing and process engineers are not in this track.

The point is the size of the stock column. Intel's senior-band stock is $24K–$36K, small next to fabless Senior stock (NVIDIA $73K–$109K, Broadcom $65K–$166K). The foundry-vs-fabless gap is an equity gap, not a base-salary gap.

Block B — TSMC (Taiwan, Levels.fyi + Filings)

Label: T-TW (Levels) / F-FILING (filings) — different numbers

Levels.fyi, Taiwan:

• Hardware Engineer overall median: NT$3.05M (156 submissions)
• Senior Software (Grade 32): NT$2.84M (base NT$1.79M, stock NT$0, bonus NT$1.06M)
• Senior Hardware (Grade 32): NT$2.72M (base NT$1.80M, stock NT$0, bonus NT$915K)
• Bonus is about 37–40% of Senior total compensation. Taiwan foundry pay moves on bonus, not equity.

Filings (all-employee averages, not engineer medians):

• NT$3.57M in 2024 — average salary plus benefits in the TSMC Sustainability Report, across a global workforce of 84,512.
• NT$4.09M in 2025 — TWSE all-employee average (salary, insurance, pension, and welfare; excluding directors), reported as +22.9% year on year.
• Different year, different definition. Writing "TSMC average pay rose" by joining these two points is an error.

Block C — Samsung (Korea, Filings Only)

Label: F-FILING / Samsung Electronics overall / no Foundry-only figure

• Samsung Electronics average salary: KRW 130M in 2024, up from KRW 120M in 2023 (2024 Business Report, as reported).
• That average covers all 129,480 employees of Samsung Electronics — DS semiconductors plus DX phones, TVs, and appliances.
• No Samsung Foundry-only, DS-only, or engineer-only average has been disclosed. Calling the figure above "Samsung Foundry pay" is a false statement.
• There is no Korea engineer median on Levels.fyi either. The US design-center Hardware figure (Senior $201K) exists, but it is not pay in Pyeongtaek or Hwaseong fabs.

Block D — Taiwan, Apples to Apples

Label: F-FILING / same dataset / 2024 / non-supervisory full-time average

• MediaTek (fabless): average NT$4.310M (11,566 non-supervisory full-time employees)
• TSMC (foundry): average NT$3.391M

Same year, same definition, same dataset — this comparison holds. The reading still needs care. MediaTek's average comes from a design-heavy workforce; TSMC's includes tens of thousands of fab operators. The gap shows workforce composition first, and per-engineer pay second.

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FAQ

Q1. What is the average pay at Samsung Foundry? No Foundry-only figure is disclosed. The only published figure is Samsung Electronics company-wide average salary of KRW 130M in 2024, covering all divisions including DX.

Q2. Is TSMC average pay NT$3.57M or NT$4.09M? Both are sourced but use different definitions and years: NT$3.57M is the 2024 sustainability-report average salary plus benefits, and NT$4.09M is the TWSE all-employee average for 2025. They must not be trended as one series.

Q3. How much of TSMC engineer pay is stock? On Levels.fyi Taiwan, stock is NT$0 at Senior grades 31–32. Bonus makes up about 37–40% of Senior total compensation.

Q4. Why is MediaTek's average above TSMC's in Taiwan filings? In the same TWSE non-supervisory dataset for 2024, MediaTek averages NT$4.310M and TSMC NT$3.391M. The main explanation is workforce composition: MediaTek is design-heavy, while TSMC includes tens of thousands of fab operators.

Limitations: The figures in this article come from three different universes (US Levels engineer medians, Taiwan Levels engineer medians, and home-country filing averages for all employees) and cannot be ranked together. No foundry-only pay disclosure exists for Intel, Samsung, or TSMC. No sourced TSMC Arizona pay figure was found in this research. As of: 2026-10-21.

When you compare foundry pay, what should come first — the amount, or the definition behind it?

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