Side-by-side distribution
Backend Engineer
$185,375
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 33%
- Live roles
- 2,443
Web3
$250,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 5%
- Live roles
- 60
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)
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 |
|---|---|---|
Robinhood
|
$201,752 | 2 |
DriveWealth
|
$295,000 | 1 |
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 |
Web3 salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| New York | $250,000 | 3 |
Backend Engineer vs Web3: which pays more?
The median for Backend Engineer is $185,375 per year (typically $145,499–$225,000), versus $250,000 for Web3 ($201,752–$272,500). That puts Web3 about 35% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Backend Engineer and Web3 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.