Side-by-side distribution
Backend Engineer
$183,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 34.7%
- Live roles
- 2,596
Engineering Manager
$170,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 37%
- Live roles
- 9,873
Highest-paying jobs
Senior/Staff Backend Engineer, Applied AI
Expert Backend Engineer
Software Engineer, Backend
Senior Staff Software Engineer, API
Staff/Principal Backend Software Engineer
Staff/Principal Backend Software Engineer
Software Engineer, API Agents
Software Engineer, API Safety
Backend Software Engineer, GTM Innovation
Software Engineer, API Multicloud
Highest-paying jobs
Engineering Manager, GPU (ML Accelerator)
Engineering Manager, Research Data Platform
Engineering Manager, Research Productivity
Business Development Manager
Business Development Manager
Engineering Manager, Hardware Platform Security
Engineering Manager, Inference Infrastructure
Senior Engineering Manager
Engineering Manager, MLE
Program Capture Business Development Manager
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Affirm
|
$158,000 | 55 |
Air Apps
|
$65,555 | 33 |
|
OpenAI
|
$355,500 | 18 |
Grafana Labs
|
$149,186 | 16 |
Databricks
|
$195,500 | 14 |
Verkada
|
$225,000 | 11 |
| KA Kalepa | $219,000 | 11 |
Robinhood
|
$180,500 | 9 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Northrop Grumman
|
$189,400 | 177 |
|
Databricks
|
$223,975 | 38 |
Cushman & Wakefield
|
$138,750 | 38 |
Anduril Industries
|
$171,500 | 34 |
Accenture
|
$205,350 | 31 |
|
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
|
$212,875 | 26 |
PwC
|
$182,500 | 25 |
|
OpenAI
|
$383,000 | 24 |
Backend Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $216,000 | 150 |
| New York | $205,000 | 177 |
| Seattle | $200,000 | 51 |
| Los Angeles | $190,943 | 19 |
| Boston | $169,765 | 21 |
| Denver | $167,950 | 11 |
| Austin | $160,000 | 15 |
| Atlanta | $153,925 | 4 |
| Chicago | $152,350 | 13 |
| Toronto | $139,468 | 41 |
Engineering Manager salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $239,200 | 416 |
| Seattle | $202,700 | 171 |
| New York | $202,000 | 492 |
| Los Angeles | $191,750 | 106 |
| London | $187,625 | 67 |
| Boston | $185,288 | 132 |
| Austin | $185,000 | 122 |
| Denver | $180,350 | 107 |
| Atlanta | $180,350 | 89 |
| Chicago | $168,025 | 188 |
Backend Engineer vs Engineering Manager: which pays more?
The median for Backend Engineer is $183,000 per year (typically $139,800–$220,000), versus $170,000 for Engineering Manager ($132,500–$211,513). That puts Backend Engineer 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 Engineering Manager 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.