Side-by-side distribution
Backend Engineer
$183,350
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 30.4%
- Live roles
- 3,039
Web3
$191,594
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 13.3%
- Live roles
- 30
Highest-paying jobs
Senior/Staff Backend Engineer, Applied AI
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Senior Backend Engineer, Exchange Core
Senior Backend Engineer, Product Infrastructure
Senior Backend Engineer, Perpetuals
Senior Backend Engineer, Exchange Infrastructure
Senior Backend Engineer, Trust & Safety
Software Engineer, Backend
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Affirm
|
$170,500 | 34 |
Air Apps
|
$67,479 | 33 |
Grafana Labs
|
$146,406 | 22 |
OpenAI
|
$355,500 | 14 |
GitLab
|
$196,000 | 13 |
Databricks
|
$195,500 | 13 |
Verkada
|
$215,000 | 11 |
| KA Kalepa | $205,000 | 9 |
Backend Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $215,000 | 166 |
| New York | $206,975 | 176 |
| Seattle | $200,000 | 57 |
| Los Angeles | $198,500 | 16 |
| Boston | $184,300 | 19 |
| Austin | $161,250 | 13 |
| Chicago | $160,125 | 12 |
| Singapore | $156,000 | 5 |
| Atlanta | $153,925 | 4 |
| Denver | $150,000 | 11 |
Backend Engineer vs Web3: which pays more?
The median for Backend Engineer is $183,350 per year (typically $142,558–$217,725), versus $191,594 for Web3 ($154,249–$231,822). That puts Web3 about 4% 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.