Side-by-side distribution
Backend Engineer
$183,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 34.6%
- Live roles
- 2,614
QA Engineer
$131,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 37.4%
- Live roles
- 5,094
Highest-paying jobs
Senior/Staff Backend Engineer, Applied AI
Expert Backend Engineer
Software Engineer, Backend
Senior Backend Engineer, Perpetuals
Senior Staff Software Engineer, API
Staff/Principal Backend Software Engineer
Staff/Principal Backend Software Engineer
Software Engineer, API Agents
Software Engineer, API Multicloud
Software Engineer, API Safety
Highest-paying jobs
Senior QA Engineer
ATE Test Development Engineer
Test Engineer, System-Level Test (SLT)
Staff Software Development Engineer in Test (Infrastructure)
Staff Software Development Engineer in Test (Graph Database)
Staff Software Development Engineer in Test (Connectors)
Mechanical Engineer, PCBA Test Infrastructure, Robotics
Senior Principal, Solution Test & Automation Engineer
Principal Software Test Engineer - Solution Engineering – Customer Solution Validation
Senior/Staff Design for Test Engineer
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Affirm
|
$158,000 | 55 |
Air Apps
|
$65,555 | 33 |
|
OpenAI
|
$355,500 | 18 |
Databricks
|
$195,500 | 14 |
Grafana Labs
|
$150,442 | 14 |
Verkada
|
$225,000 | 11 |
| KA Kalepa | $219,000 | 11 |
Robinhood
|
$180,500 | 9 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Northrop Grumman
|
$123,000 | 158 |
Anduril Industries
|
$150,000 | 147 |
Leidos
|
$122,275 | 89 |
Blue Origin
|
$145,228 | 80 |
CACI
|
$116,650 | 43 |
|
Air Apps
|
$59,402 | 43 |
Relativity Space
|
$155,000 | 33 |
SpaceX
|
$117,500 | 33 |
Backend Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $215,250 | 148 |
| New York | $205,000 | 176 |
| Seattle | $200,000 | 53 |
| Los Angeles | $196,000 | 17 |
| Boston | $177,033 | 22 |
| Denver | $167,950 | 11 |
| Austin | $160,000 | 15 |
| Atlanta | $153,925 | 4 |
| Chicago | $152,350 | 13 |
| Singapore | $143,861 | 6 |
QA Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | $167,500 | 53 |
| San Francisco | $162,500 | 60 |
| Austin | $156,000 | 18 |
| Denver | $146,614 | 30 |
| Atlanta | $146,500 | 21 |
| Seattle | $145,228 | 87 |
| New York | $145,000 | 21 |
| Boston | $136,100 | 16 |
| Chicago | $129,000 | 17 |
| Toronto | $98,510 | 31 |
Backend Engineer vs QA Engineer: which pays more?
The median for Backend Engineer is $183,000 per year (typically $140,116–$220,000), versus $131,000 for QA Engineer ($105,397–$161,953). That puts Backend Engineer about 40% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Backend Engineer and QA 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.