Side-by-side distribution
AWS
$168,466
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 34.7%
- Live roles
- 1,067
Network Engineer
$152,500
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 35.3%
- Live roles
- 712
Highest-paying jobs
Staff Software Engineer, Cloud Infrastructure
Software Engineer, Cloud Infrastructure
Staff + Sr. Software Engineer, Cloud Inference Launch Engineering
Staff + Sr. Software Engineer, Cloud Inference
Software Engineer, Cloud Agents
Member of Technical Staff (Software Engineer, Cloud Infrastructure)
Security Engineer, Cloud Infrastructure
Senior Software Engineer, Cloud Infrastructure
Staff Software Engineer, Replit Cloud
Principal Software Engineer - Performance Engineering (Cloud Infrastructure)
Highest-paying jobs
Sr. Network Engineer
RTL Design Engineer – Interconnect & Network Datapath
Network Engineer - ML Infrastructure (High-Speed Interconnects)
Software Engineer - Network (C++)
Network Engineer
Senior Network Engineer
Network Engineer
Network Engineer
Network Engineer
Principal Network Engineer
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Accenture Federal Services
|
$151,800 | 33 |
Captivation Software
|
$200,000 | 25 |
Crusoe
|
$166,500 | 12 |
TP-Link Systems Inc.
|
$170,000 | 8 |
Anduril Industries
|
$193,000 | 7 |
Illumio
|
$183,000 | 7 |
Esri
|
$113,360 | 7 |
Oscar Health
|
$208,708 | 5 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Saalex
|
$115,000 | 15 |
SpaceX
|
$170,000 | 10 |
Fluidstack
|
$198,250 | 8 |
Rocket Lab Corporation
|
$192,500 | 7 |
|
Accenture Federal Services
|
$139,350 | 7 |
|
OpenAI
|
$292,000 | 5 |
AGE Solutions
|
$100,000 | 5 |
|
xAI
|
$244,500 | 4 |
AWS salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| Atlanta | $231,750 | 4 |
| San Francisco | $210,000 | 47 |
| Toronto | $196,500 | 6 |
| Boston | $195,000 | 11 |
| Austin | $187,500 | 8 |
| Seattle | $178,950 | 10 |
| Denver | $178,000 | 8 |
| New York | $177,500 | 41 |
| Chicago | $175,500 | 6 |
| Los Angeles | $174,000 | 15 |
Network Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $201,500 | 32 |
| Chicago | $190,000 | 5 |
| Seattle | $189,900 | 18 |
| Austin | $185,000 | 13 |
| Toronto | $180,000 | 3 |
| New York | $176,750 | 40 |
| Denver | $175,000 | 4 |
| Los Angeles | $150,000 | 9 |
| Dublin | $115,478 | 3 |
| London | $105,170 | 4 |
AWS vs Network Engineer: which pays more?
The median for AWS is $168,466 per year (typically $137,563–$200,000), versus $152,500 for Network Engineer ($125,000–$190,000). That puts AWS about 10% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so AWS and Network Engineer are compared on equal terms regardless of the currency each role was originally posted in. Only roles that publish a salary range feed the medians; numbers refresh every few hours as new roles post and older ones close, so this comparison reflects the market right now rather than a fixed survey. Use it as a directional benchmark when weighing one path against the other.