Side-by-side distribution
COBOL
$125,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 15.6%
- Live roles
- 45
Java
$133,600
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 18.9%
- Live roles
- 1,573
Highest-paying jobs
Senior Mainframe Developer – IMS Database & zOS
Mainframe Developer
Software Developer Lead - COBOL, z/OS Mainframe
Senior Mainframe Developer
Mainframe Developer - Cards & Rewards
Senior Mainframe Developer
Mainframe Developer
Highest-paying jobs
Senior Software Engineer, Java
Senior Software Engineer, Java
Java Developer (SME)
ETL Java Developer (SME)
Principal Engineer, Zelle Client Solutions (Java, AWS)
Principal Software Engineer - Ecommerce - Java/AWS
Senior Software Engineer, Treasury and Reference Data (Java/Ruby/Python)
Distinguished Engineer - Java / AWS - Zelle
Software Engineer 3 - Linux/Java/Jax-RS/REST/JSON/XML/Maven/Eclipse/Gitlab
Senior DevOps Engineer - AWS/Java/Linux/Ansible/Git/Python
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| US USAA | $166,055 | 1 |
|
Bank of America
|
$141,400 | 1 |
|
Regions
|
$140,690 | 1 |
|
Ensono
|
$125,000 | 1 |
|
PNC
|
$122,188 | 1 |
| TF Thermo Fisher Scientific | $99,750 | 1 |
| TB TD Bank | $70,853 | 1 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
|
Captivation Software
|
$200,000 | 23 |
Elastic
|
$119,499 | 19 |
|
Leidos
|
$151,475 | 13 |
|
PNC
|
$122,188 | 13 |
|
Early Warning Services
|
$198,500 | 11 |
Referral Board
|
$119,439 | 11 |
| TB TD Bank | $81,797 | 9 |
GDIT
|
$185,346 | 8 |
COBOL vs Java: which pays more?
The median for COBOL is $125,000 per year (typically $110,969–$141,045), versus $133,600 for Java ($106,850–$176,800). That puts Java about 7% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so COBOL and Java 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.