Side-by-side distribution
Backend Engineer
$185,375
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 33%
- Live roles
- 2,443
Software Engineer
$191,125
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 44.1%
- Live roles
- 15,329
Highest-paying jobs
Senior Staff Backend Engineer ($500k - $1.5m salary)
Intermediate Backend Software Engineer
Staff Software Engineer (Backend)
Lead Software Engineer (Backend)
Senior/Staff Backend Engineer, Applied AI
Backend Engineer, AI
Backend Engineer
Senior Backend Engineer
Senior Backend Engineer (Java)
Senior Backend Engineer (Java)
Highest-paying jobs
Senior Software Engineer, Growth
Intermediate Backend Software Engineer
Staff Software Engineer (Backend)
Lead Software Engineer (Backend)
Senior Software Engineer, Machine Learning (Audio)
Software Engineer - Solana
Software Engineer - Stellar
Software Engineer - EVM
Software Engineer - Compliance
Senior Staff+ Software Engineer, Node Infra
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Air Apps
|
$68,094 | 33 |
Affirm
|
$183,000 | 20 |
Databricks
|
$205,100 | 16 |
Grafana Labs
|
$192,485 | 15 |
OpenAI
|
$309,000 | 9 |
Teleport
|
$261,440 | 9 |
Whoop
|
$150,000 | 9 |
Satispay
|
$55,934 | 9 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Anduril Industries
|
$222,000 | 300 |
|
OpenAI
|
$309,000 | 112 |
Speechify
|
$170,000 | 103 |
|
Databricks
|
$214,700 | 98 |
Roblox
|
$269,270 | 84 |
Applied Intuition
|
$180,000 | 83 |
Palantir
|
$167,500 | 74 |
SpaceX
|
$137,500 | 66 |
Backend Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $220,000 | 166 |
| New York | $207,500 | 165 |
| Seattle | $205,500 | 38 |
| Denver | $195,875 | 4 |
| Austin | $194,500 | 7 |
| Los Angeles | $184,075 | 12 |
| Chicago | $175,000 | 5 |
| Boston | $175,000 | 21 |
| Singapore | $151,034 | 3 |
| Toronto | $149,375 | 38 |
Software Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $225,000 | 1,400 |
| Sydney | $224,060 | 8 |
| New York | $213,000 | 1,153 |
| Seattle | $212,500 | 423 |
| Austin | $198,900 | 133 |
| Bangalore | $194,838 | 3 |
| Boston | $186,050 | 230 |
| Los Angeles | $182,500 | 164 |
| Chicago | $178,500 | 141 |
| Atlanta | $175,250 | 56 |
Backend Engineer vs Software Engineer: which pays more?
The median for Backend Engineer is $185,375 per year (typically $145,499–$225,000), versus $191,125 for Software Engineer ($152,900–$225,000). That puts Software 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 Software 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.