Side-by-side distribution
CFO
$222,500
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 19%
- Live roles
- 343
Software Engineer
$191,125
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 44.1%
- Live roles
- 15,329
Highest-paying jobs
1.1. Chief Financial Officer
VP of Finance
Chief Financial Officer
Chief Financial Officer
Chief Financial Officer
CFO, Prism Media LLC
VP, Finance
Chief Financial Officer
VP, Finance
Chief Financial Officer
Highest-paying jobs
Senior Software Engineer, Growth
Intermediate Backend Software Engineer
Staff Software Engineer (Backend)
Lead Software Engineer (Backend)
Senior Software Engineer, Machine Learning (Audio)
Software Engineer - Solana
Software Engineer - Stellar
Software Engineer - EVM
Software Engineer - Compliance
Senior Staff+ Software Engineer, Node Infra
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
CFO Insights
|
$187,539 | 8 |
The Symicor Group
|
$170,000 | 5 |
The Brydon Group
|
$268,750 | 2 |
Hold Brothers
|
$232,500 | 2 |
Black White Zebra
|
$125,000 | 2 |
The Pod Group
|
$112,500 | 2 |
|
Phoenix Tailings
|
$737,500 | 1 |
|
Duolingo
|
$440,000 | 1 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Anduril Industries
|
$222,000 | 298 |
OpenAI
|
$309,000 | 112 |
Speechify
|
$170,000 | 103 |
Databricks
|
$214,700 | 98 |
Roblox
|
$269,270 | 84 |
Applied Intuition
|
$180,000 | 83 |
Palantir
|
$167,500 | 74 |
SpaceX
|
$137,500 | 66 |
CFO salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $301,250 | 8 |
| New York | $275,000 | 17 |
| Los Angeles | $215,000 | 3 |
| London | $187,539 | 9 |
| Chicago | $115,000 | 3 |
Software Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $225,000 | 1,403 |
| Sydney | $224,060 | 8 |
| New York | $213,000 | 1,158 |
| Seattle | $212,500 | 420 |
| Austin | $195,750 | 136 |
| Boston | $186,050 | 229 |
| Los Angeles | $182,500 | 164 |
| Bangalore | $181,219 | 4 |
| Chicago | $180,000 | 137 |
| Atlanta | $175,000 | 57 |
CFO vs Software Engineer: which pays more?
The median for CFO is $222,500 per year (typically $178,850–$283,000), versus $191,125 for Software Engineer ($152,900–$225,000). That puts CFO about 16% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so CFO and Software 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.