Side-by-side distribution
Backend Engineer
$183,150
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 32.5%
- Live roles
- 2,847
iOS
$177,688
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 33.8%
- Live roles
- 474
Highest-paying jobs
Senior/Staff Backend Engineer, Applied AI
Senior Backend Engineer, Perpetuals
Senior Backend Engineer, Exchange Infrastructure
Senior Backend Engineer, Markets
Senior Backend Engineer, Payments
Software Engineer, Backend
Senior Backend Engineer, Trust & Safety
Backend Engineer, Markets
Senior Staff Software Engineer, API
Staff+ Software Engineer, Backend
Highest-paying jobs
Senior iOS Engineer
Mobile iOS Engineer
Sr. Staff Software Engineer, iOS Search and Shopping Journeys
Member of Technical Staff (iOS Engineer, Computer Growth)
Staff Software Engineer, iOS
iOS Engineer, Applied Foundations
Senior / Staff Software Engineer, iOS
Mobile iOS Engineer
Staff Software Engineer - SDK iOS
Mobile Engineer, iOS
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Affirm
|
$183,000 | 33 |
Air Apps
|
$67,479 | 33 |
Grafana Labs
|
$137,917 | 26 |
|
OpenAI
|
$355,500 | 14 |
Databricks
|
$195,500 | 13 |
Verkada
|
$220,000 | 12 |
GitLab
|
$187,200 | 10 |
Satispay
|
$57,178 | 10 |
Duolingo
PNC
Reddit
Snap Inc.
CoStar Group
Airwallex
Backend Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $215,000 | 174 |
| Seattle | $210,000 | 55 |
| New York | $205,000 | 173 |
| Los Angeles | $198,500 | 17 |
| Boston | $191,500 | 14 |
| Austin | $171,450 | 15 |
| Chicago | $160,125 | 8 |
| Singapore | $156,000 | 5 |
| Denver | $150,000 | 10 |
| Atlanta | $138,919 | 4 |
iOS salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | $264,925 | 4 |
| San Francisco | $225,000 | 23 |
| Austin | $209,513 | 4 |
| New York | $198,875 | 36 |
| Seattle | $197,750 | 9 |
| Toronto | $180,500 | 13 |
| Singapore | $162,236 | 4 |
| Boston | $154,250 | 5 |
| London | $121,474 | 8 |
| Denver | $105,000 | 3 |
Backend Engineer vs iOS: which pays more?
The median for Backend Engineer is $183,150 per year (typically $142,400–$220,000), versus $177,688 for iOS ($141,163–$214,125). That puts Backend Engineer about 3% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Backend Engineer and iOS 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.