Side-by-side distribution
Backend Engineer
$185,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 34%
- Live roles
- 2,421
Chief of Staff
$200,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 39.4%
- Live roles
- 289
Highest-paying jobs
Senior Staff Backend Engineer ($500k - $1.5m salary)
Intermediate Backend Software Engineer
Lead Software Engineer (Backend)
Staff Software Engineer (Backend)
Senior/Staff Backend Engineer, Applied AI
Backend Engineer, AI
Backend Engineer
Senior Backend Engineer
Senior Backend Engineer (Java)
Senior Backend Engineer (Java)
Highest-paying jobs
Chief of Staff
Chief of Staff
Sr. Staff Program Manager & Chief of Staff, Operations
Chief of Staff
Chief of Staff to the CEO
Chief of Staff (Executive Office) and VP of Strategy & Operations
Chief of Staff to the COO & GM of Marketplace
Chief of Staff Director, Product
Chief of Staff, Product
Chief of Staff, CEO
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Air Apps
|
$68,094 | 33 |
|
Affirm
|
$190,491 | 21 |
Grafana Labs
|
$147,367 | 19 |
Databricks
|
$205,100 | 16 |
OpenAI
|
$309,000 | 9 |
Teleport
|
$261,440 | 9 |
Verkada
|
$215,000 | 9 |
Whoop
|
$150,000 | 9 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Coursera
|
$212,040 | 3 |
Coursera Sourcing
|
$212,040 | 3 |
|
Flex
|
$301,500 | 2 |
|
Checkr
|
$282,250 | 2 |
Sonatus
|
$244,000 | 2 |
Nuro
|
$231,520 | 2 |
EliseAI
|
$212,500 | 2 |
CHAOS Industries
|
$198,750 | 2 |
Backend Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $220,000 | 168 |
| New York | $205,000 | 159 |
| Seattle | $203,500 | 37 |
| Denver | $195,875 | 4 |
| Los Angeles | $185,000 | 13 |
| Austin | $185,000 | 5 |
| Chicago | $175,000 | 5 |
| Boston | $175,000 | 19 |
| Singapore | $151,034 | 3 |
| Toronto | $146,489 | 36 |
Chief of Staff salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| Austin | $300,000 | 3 |
| San Francisco | $205,000 | 18 |
| New York | $197,500 | 34 |
| Los Angeles | $192,500 | 4 |
| Toronto | $128,342 | 3 |
Backend Engineer vs Chief of Staff: which pays more?
The median for Backend Engineer is $185,000 per year (typically $145,000–$225,000), versus $200,000 for Chief of Staff ($161,250–$240,000). That puts Chief of Staff about 8% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Backend Engineer and Chief of Staff 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.