Pay by Field: Which Tech Roles Earn Most - November 2026

The pay hierarchy across tech fields

If you are job hunting in tech and want to know where the money is, the numbers tell a clear story. Across 30 days of JobsRadar data covering 1,252,156 active listings, median salaries vary significantly by field - and knowing where you sit matters for negotiating your next role.

The highest-paying field is AI Training & Data Work, with a median salary of $208,000. This emerging category, while still small at 50 tracked roles, represents the cutting edge of what employers will pay for specialized expertise. It sits $42,775 ahead of Software & Web Engineering, the largest field in our dataset at 6,743 roles.

The top earners: where specialization pays

Software & Web Engineering roles median at $165,225, making it both the largest employer and a solid earner. Close behind, Data, AI & Analytics roles median at $159,162 across 2,146 listings. If you are skilled in these areas, you have strong leverage - the volume of openings combined with competitive pay means employers are competing for talent.

Security specialists earn a median of $157,500 across 734 roles. While smaller than data and engineering fields, the consistency of security hiring and the specialization required to fill these roles keeps pay competitive.

Solid middle ground: programming and infrastructure

Programming Languages & Frameworks roles median at $150,817, while DevOps, Cloud & Infrastructure roles sit at $150,500. These fields represent the practical backbone of most tech organizations. The near-identical medians suggest that employers value both skill sets roughly equally, even though infrastructure roles have higher volume - 1,732 listings compared to 322 for programming languages.

What this means for your job search

Several takeaways emerge from this snapshot:

• If you have AI Training or Data expertise, you are in a seller's market. The median at $208,000 reflects genuine scarcity and high demand.

• If you work in Software Engineering or Data Analytics, volume is on your side. More roles means more negotiating power and more choice.

• Infrastructure and DevOps roles offer stability. While pay is slightly lower than specialized fields, 1,732 openings means consistent demand and less risk of field saturation.

• Do not assume larger fields pay less. Software Engineering has 6,743 roles and still commands $165,225 median - proof that scale and pay are not mutually exclusive.

A note on what the data shows

These figures are medians, which means half the roles pay more and half pay less. Geography, experience level, company size, and specific technology stack all shift actual offers up or down. Also, some fields are measured by small sample sizes - AI Training & Data Work has only 50 roles tracked, so the $208,000 median is real but represents a narrower market than the 6,743 Software Engineering roles.

Use these numbers as a benchmark, not a ceiling or floor. Your field matters, but so does your location, level, and the specific employer.

Next steps

If you want to dive deeper into salary data by role, company, location, or technology, browse the full salary insights at the link below. You can also search live job openings filtered by field to see what is actually available in your area right now.

View detailed salary data by field and region