Side-by-side distribution
Backend Engineer
$183,150
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 32.5%
- Live roles
- 2,847
Unity
$139,300
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 12.2%
- Live roles
- 41
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
Staff+ Software Engineer, Backend
Senior Staff Software Engineer, API
Highest-paying jobs
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 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
|
Databricks
|
$264,600 | 1 |
Booz Allen Hamilton
|
$162,000 | 1 |
Zynga
|
$139,300 | 1 |
The Aerospace Corporation
|
$108,200 | 1 |
CACI
|
$96,500 | 1 |
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 |
Backend Engineer vs Unity: which pays more?
The median for Backend Engineer is $183,150 per year (typically $142,400–$220,000), versus $139,300 for Unity ($108,200–$162,000). That puts Backend Engineer about 31% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Backend Engineer and Unity 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.