Side-by-side distribution
BDR
$70,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 37.7%
- Live roles
- 1,314
Sales Engineer
$161,950
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 34.5%
- Live roles
- 1,695
Highest-paying jobs
BDR Enablement Lead
Staff Business Development Representative
BDR Manager
BDR Manager
Senior Business Development Representative, New York New Jersey Region
Global Business Development Representative
Experienced Business Development Representative
Technical BDR
Senior Manager, BDR Operations & Engagement
Business Development Representative – Real Estate Technology Services
Highest-paying jobs
Principal Sales Systems Engineer
Field Sales Engineer
Full Stack Software Engineer, Sales Platform
SLED Sales Engineer Central Texas
Principal Network Sales Engineer
Principal Network Sales Engineer – Service Provider
Sr. Sales Systems Engineer
Pre-Sales Systems Engineer - SLED (South Dakota)
HPE Networking Pre-Sales Systems Engineer
Senior Pre-Sales Engineer - HPE Networking
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Block
|
$63,700 | 9 |
Teya
|
$92,542 | 8 |
TruGreen
|
$54,411 | 8 |
| RX RXO | $45,000 | 8 |
Teleperformance Spain
|
$31,664 | 8 |
ICBD
|
$142,500 | 7 |
Notion
|
$78,771 | 7 |
Ingram Micro
|
$64,350 | 6 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
CaptiveAire
|
$85,000 | 36 |
Zscaler
|
$188,063 | 28 |
Cohesity
|
$209,475 | 20 |
Samsara
|
$127,190 | 18 |
Datadog
|
$173,500 | 16 |
Everpure
|
$176,750 | 14 |
|
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
|
$244,500 | 13 |
Sierra
|
$230,000 | 12 |
BDR salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $99,006 | 37 |
| Berlin | $91,680 | 3 |
| London | $85,015 | 22 |
| New York | $80,000 | 91 |
| Los Angeles | $80,000 | 6 |
| Atlanta | $79,750 | 8 |
| Boston | $70,000 | 17 |
| Austin | $60,000 | 20 |
| Denver | $59,540 | 17 |
| Toronto | $56,886 | 28 |
Sales Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| Atlanta | $230,000 | 20 |
| San Francisco | $217,034 | 60 |
| Singapore | $210,888 | 3 |
| Los Angeles | $187,950 | 9 |
| Seattle | $184,150 | 16 |
| New York | $180,000 | 81 |
| Boston | $178,375 | 24 |
| Chicago | $175,175 | 16 |
| Austin | $166,386 | 20 |
| Toronto | $155,193 | 6 |
BDR vs Sales Engineer: which pays more?
The median for BDR is $70,000 per year (typically $55,006–$89,531), versus $161,950 for Sales Engineer ($119,140–$205,667). That puts Sales Engineer about 131% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so BDR and Sales 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.