Side-by-side distribution
CISO
$287,775
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 34.7%
- Live roles
- 101
Platform Engineer
$195,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 44.2%
- Live roles
- 4,052
Highest-paying jobs
CISO
Chief Information Security Officer
Head of Security & Compliance
Head of Security & Compliance
Chief Information Security Officer
Chief Information Security Officer (CISO)
Chief Information Security Officer (CISO)
Chief Information Security Officer
Field Chief Information Security Officer (Field CISO)
Head of Product Security
Highest-paying jobs
Platform Engineer
Senior Staff+ Software Engineer, Kubernetes Platform
Staff+ Infrastructure Engineer, Cluster Infrastructure
Software Engineer, Research Infrastructure
Senior Security Platform Engineer I
Principal .NET Software Engineer- Cloud Payments Platform
Principal .NET Software Engineer - Cloud Payments Platform
Staff+ Software Engineer, Safeguards Infrastructure
Infrastructure and Platform Development Engineer
Machine Learning Infrastructure Engineer, Safeguards Research
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
|
Masabi
|
$482,308 | 3 |
|
Harvey
|
$317,500 | 2 |
|
Hippo Insurance
|
$313,750 | 2 |
|
DriveWealth
|
$308,750 | 2 |
NexHealth
|
$180,000 | 2 |
| DR DFO Referrals | $530,000 | 1 |
|
Rain
|
$524,500 | 1 |
|
Compass
|
$375,000 | 1 |
Speechify
OpenAI
Nuro
Palantir
Databricks
Coinbase
Reddit
CISO salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| Austin | $313,750 | 3 |
| New York | $295,000 | 9 |
| San Francisco | $227,500 | 9 |
| London | $222,500 | 3 |
| Seattle | $201,250 | 4 |
Platform Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $226,000 | 411 |
| Seattle | $212,500 | 108 |
| New York | $210,000 | 317 |
| Austin | $198,900 | 39 |
| Los Angeles | $187,500 | 32 |
| Boston | $187,500 | 64 |
| Toronto | $181,644 | 62 |
| Chicago | $178,500 | 23 |
| Denver | $175,000 | 31 |
| Atlanta | $170,000 | 11 |
CISO vs Platform Engineer: which pays more?
The median for CISO is $287,775 per year (typically $224,375–$319,375), versus $195,000 for Platform Engineer ($166,525–$230,000). That puts CISO about 48% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so CISO and Platform 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.