Side-by-side distribution
Backend Engineer
$182,700
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 34.8%
- Live roles
- 2,601
Firmware Engineer
$171,145
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 38.8%
- Live roles
- 560
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
Backend Software Engineer, Cooperative AI (Evals)
Software Engineer, API Multicloud
Software Engineer, API Safety
Software Engineer, API Agents
Highest-paying jobs
ASIC Firmware Engineer, Modeling
Networking Operating System Firmware Engineer
Firmware Engineer, RTOS, Consumer Devices
Senior Firmware Engineer, Security
Senior Firmware Engineer- Terawave
Principal Engineer, Firmware Security
MTS Firmware Engineer
Senior Embedded Engineer - Camera Firmware
Firmware Engineer
Senior Firmware Engineer, Robotics
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Affirm
|
$158,000 | 55 |
Air Apps
|
$65,555 | 33 |
|
OpenAI
|
$355,500 | 18 |
Grafana Labs
|
$150,442 | 18 |
Databricks
|
$195,500 | 14 |
|
Verkada
|
$225,000 | 11 |
| KA Kalepa | $219,000 | 11 |
Robinhood
|
$180,500 | 9 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Anduril Industries
|
$222,000 | 23 |
| MT Micron Technology | $186,500 | 8 |
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
|
$125,800 | 6 |
Lunar Energy
|
$195,000 | 5 |
HP
|
$188,950 | 5 |
Neros Technologies
|
$174,750 | 5 |
Leonardo
|
$84,366 | 5 |
Samsara
|
$226,200 | 4 |
Backend Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $216,000 | 152 |
| New York | $205,000 | 179 |
| Seattle | $200,000 | 51 |
| Los Angeles | $196,000 | 19 |
| Boston | $177,033 | 22 |
| Denver | $167,950 | 11 |
| Austin | $160,000 | 15 |
| Atlanta | $153,925 | 4 |
| Chicago | $152,350 | 13 |
| Singapore | $143,861 | 6 |
Firmware Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| Seattle | $230,461 | 5 |
| Los Angeles | $225,000 | 3 |
| Austin | $219,000 | 3 |
| San Francisco | $206,000 | 22 |
| New York | $197,500 | 5 |
| Atlanta | $193,250 | 4 |
| Toronto | $80,924 | 3 |
Backend Engineer vs Firmware Engineer: which pays more?
The median for Backend Engineer is $182,700 per year (typically $139,355–$220,000), versus $171,145 for Firmware Engineer ($130,000–$206,913). That puts Backend Engineer about 7% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Backend Engineer and Firmware 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.