Side-by-side distribution
Chicago
$135,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 67.8%
- Live roles
- 4,572
San Francisco
$200,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 76.1%
- Live roles
- 13,929
Highest-paying jobs
Sales Leader, Quality Engineering Services
Regional Health Market Leader - Great Lakes Region
Account Manager
Outside Sales Representative
Co-Founder & CEO - AI Retail Planning Autopilot
Account Executive, Enterprise
Senior Account Executive, Emerging Enterprise
Account Executive, Enterprise
Account Executive, Enterprise
Senior Account Executive, Emerging Enterprise
Highest-paying jobs
VP of Growth
Performance Marketing Manager
Grants Manager
Co-Founder & CEO - AI Retail Planning Autopilot
Account Executive
Director Of Influencer Marketing
Create Your Own Role
Field Applications Engineer
Director / VP Sales
Strategic Account Executive - San Francisco (Remote)
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
DoorDash USA
|
$130,200 | 107 |
Okta
|
$213,875 | 74 |
|
Braze
|
$143,000 | 74 |
| DR DRW | $187,500 | 57 |
IMC
|
$212,500 | 48 |
Insomniacookies
|
$35,412 | 42 |
Optiver
|
$200,000 | 39 |
Charles River Associates
|
$141,250 | 39 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
OpenAI
|
$307,500 | 482 |
Anthropic
|
$352,500 | 319 |
Fluidstack
|
$218,000 | 289 |
|
DoorDash USA
|
$161,300 | 232 |
Brex
|
$195,264 | 227 |
Databricks
|
$216,740 | 174 |
Airwallex
|
$205,000 | 147 |
Crusoe
|
$210,000 | 139 |
Highest-paying roles in Chicago
| Role | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| Software Engineer | $170,000 | 381 |
| Data Scientist | $163,000 | 32 |
| DevOps | $160,000 | 97 |
| UX Designer | $158,750 | 20 |
| Customer Success | $143,990 | 796 |
| Financial Analyst | $141,250 | 200 |
| Product Manager | $140,467 | 612 |
| Recruiter | $136,615 | 402 |
| Sales | $135,000 | 1,115 |
| Data Analyst | $125,000 | 264 |
Highest-paying roles in San Francisco
| Role | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| Software Engineer | $216,000 | 3,000 |
| Data Scientist | $209,000 | 359 |
| DevOps | $205,000 | 286 |
| Sales | $196,000 | 3,629 |
| Product Manager | $195,800 | 2,525 |
| UX Designer | $194,500 | 97 |
| Customer Success | $192,500 | 2,645 |
| Recruiter | $188,000 | 1,557 |
| Marketing Manager | $175,000 | 1,105 |
| Project Manager | $171,250 | 806 |
Chicago vs San Francisco: which pays more?
The median for Chicago is $135,000 per year (typically $90,000–$180,273), versus $200,000 for San Francisco ($155,000–$250,000). That puts San Francisco about 48% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Chicago and San Francisco 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.