Side-by-side distribution
CISO
$287,775
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 34.7%
- Live roles
- 101
Software Engineer
$191,498
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 44%
- Live roles
- 15,363
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
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 - EVM
Software Engineer - Stellar
Software Engineer - Compliance
Senior Staff+ Software Engineer, Kubernetes Platform
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 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Anduril Industries
|
$222,000 | 296 |
OpenAI
|
$309,000 | 111 |
Speechify
|
$170,000 | 103 |
Databricks
|
$214,700 | 98 |
Roblox
|
$269,270 | 82 |
Applied Intuition
|
$179,250 | 82 |
Palantir
|
$167,500 | 77 |
SpaceX
|
$137,500 | 65 |
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 |
Software Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $225,000 | 1,398 |
| Sydney | $224,060 | 8 |
| New York | $215,000 | 1,166 |
| Seattle | $211,500 | 417 |
| Austin | $198,900 | 135 |
| Boston | $186,050 | 229 |
| Los Angeles | $182,825 | 166 |
| Bangalore | $181,219 | 4 |
| Chicago | $180,000 | 137 |
| London | $175,072 | 113 |
CISO vs Software Engineer: which pays more?
The median for CISO is $287,775 per year (typically $224,375–$319,375), versus $191,498 for Software Engineer ($152,500–$225,000). That puts CISO about 50% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so CISO 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.