Side-by-side distribution
Backend Engineer
$183,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 34.9%
- Live roles
- 2,605
Tech Lead
$164,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 27.8%
- Live roles
- 8,790
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
Software Engineer, API Agents
Software Engineer, API Safety
Backend Software Engineer, Cooperative AI (Evals)
Software Engineer, API Multicloud
Highest-paying jobs
Lead, Quant Engineer
Team Lead Platform Engineering
Engineering Team Lead
Tech Lead, Systems & Platform Applied AI
Technical Lead Manager - Training Runtime, Data(set) Movement
RISC-V AI / HPC & Agentic Software Engineering Lead
Sr. Staff Engineer, RTL Physical Implementation Lead
Lead / Staff Full-Stack Software Engineer - Console Experience
Tech Lead Manager, Education
Tech Lead, Deployment & Operations — Custom Infrastructure
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Affirm
|
$158,000 | 55 |
Air Apps
|
$65,555 | 33 |
|
OpenAI
|
$355,500 | 18 |
Grafana Labs
|
$149,186 | 16 |
Databricks
|
$195,500 | 14 |
Verkada
|
$225,000 | 11 |
| KA Kalepa | $219,000 | 11 |
Robinhood
|
$180,500 | 9 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Northrop Grumman
|
$191,100 | 110 |
Leidos
|
$140,525 | 80 |
| GV GE Vernova | $119,000 | 79 |
| BO Boeing | $156,880 | 76 |
Booz Allen Hamilton
|
$162,000 | 49 |
STR
|
$199,500 | 44 |
Anduril Industries
|
$171,500 | 44 |
CACI
|
$160,950 | 25 |
Backend Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $215,000 | 156 |
| New York | $205,000 | 177 |
| Seattle | $200,000 | 51 |
| Los Angeles | $190,943 | 19 |
| Boston | $169,765 | 21 |
| Denver | $167,950 | 11 |
| Austin | $160,000 | 15 |
| Atlanta | $153,925 | 4 |
| Chicago | $152,350 | 13 |
| Toronto | $139,720 | 41 |
Tech Lead salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $225,000 | 146 |
| New York | $195,000 | 201 |
| Seattle | $194,100 | 55 |
| Singapore | $187,558 | 4 |
| Los Angeles | $182,750 | 44 |
| Austin | $182,300 | 61 |
| Boston | $180,000 | 79 |
| Denver | $175,000 | 48 |
| Atlanta | $163,500 | 55 |
| Chicago | $160,000 | 109 |
Backend Engineer vs Tech Lead: which pays more?
The median for Backend Engineer is $183,000 per year (typically $140,000–$220,000), versus $164,000 for Tech Lead ($132,500–$197,688). That puts Backend Engineer about 12% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Backend Engineer and Tech Lead 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.