Side-by-side distribution
Backend Engineer
$187,500
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 34.4%
- Live roles
- 2,364
Mobile Engineer
$180,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 19.2%
- Live roles
- 812
Highest-paying jobs
Senior/Staff Backend Engineer, Applied AI
Software Engineer, Backend
Senior Backend Engineer, Markets
Senior Backend Engineer, Perpetuals
Senior Backend Engineer, Trust & Safety
Senior Backend Engineer, Exchange Infrastructure
Backend Engineer, Markets
Senior Backend Engineer, Payments
Staff+ Software Engineer, Backend
Senior Staff Software Engineer, API
Highest-paying jobs
Lead Mobile Engineer, Performance
Mobile iOS Engineer
Mobile Android Engineer
Senior Software Engineer (Mobile)
Mobile Engineer
Founding Mobile Engineer (React Native)
Software Engineer - Mobile Web
Mobile iOS Engineer
Mobile Android Engineer
Design Engineer, Mobile
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Affirm
|
$158,000 | 33 |
Air Apps
|
$67,479 | 33 |
Grafana Labs
|
$137,917 | 26 |
OpenAI
|
$339,000 | 14 |
Databricks
|
$195,500 | 13 |
Verkada
|
$220,000 | 12 |
GitLab
|
$187,200 | 10 |
Satispay
|
$57,178 | 10 |
Konrad
SpaceX
Ableserve
Esri
Backend Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $215,000 | 161 |
| Seattle | $214,700 | 49 |
| New York | $205,129 | 166 |
| Los Angeles | $198,500 | 13 |
| Boston | $195,750 | 12 |
| Denver | $193,171 | 6 |
| Austin | $185,000 | 5 |
| Chicago | $165,000 | 3 |
| Singapore | $156,000 | 5 |
| Toronto | $144,279 | 29 |
Backend Engineer vs Mobile Engineer: which pays more?
The median for Backend Engineer is $187,500 per year (typically $146,042–$225,000), versus $180,000 for Mobile Engineer ($121,108–$217,500). That puts Backend Engineer about 4% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Backend Engineer and Mobile 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.