Side-by-side distribution
Counsel
$214,750
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 51.7%
- Live roles
- 1,284
Engineering Manager
$190,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 42.6%
- Live roles
- 4,368
Highest-paying jobs
Legal Counsel (corporate / commercial, 3-5 PQE), hybrid/remote
Director, Corporate Counsel
Legal Counsel
General Counsel
Real Estate Senior Associate / Special Counsel ("Dirt" Focus)
Real Estate Associate / Special Counsel (Lender-Side Focus)
Antitrust and Competition Associate / Special Counsel
REIT Special Counsel / Senior Associate
Estate & Tax Planning Legal Counsel
Estate & Tax Planning Legal Counsel
Highest-paying jobs
Senior Engineering Program Manager II - New Ventures
Business Development Manager
Business Development Manager
Business Development Manager (Japanese and English bilingual)
Engineering Manager, Research Data Platform
Engineering Manager, GPU (ML Accelerator)
Engineering Manager, Research Productivity
Senior Engineering Manager
Senior Engineering Manager, Progressive Onboarding and Funnel Optimisation
Engineering Manager, Product Engineering
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| TM Tyson & Mendes LLP | $175,000 | 39 |
Fivetran
|
$214,096 | 25 |
Axiom Talent Platform
|
$214,750 | 21 |
Alliance Defending Freedom
|
$159,583 | 12 |
Barnes & Thornburg LLP
|
$275,000 | 10 |
Crusoe
|
$235,000 | 9 |
Clearway Energy
|
$215,000 | 9 |
Harvey
|
$237,500 | 8 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Databricks
|
$228,138 | 37 |
Anduril Industries
|
$193,000 | 37 |
Brex
|
$254,250 | 29 |
Atwell, LLC
|
$117,500 | 24 |
OpenAI
|
$339,000 | 22 |
|
Anthropic
|
$445,000 | 21 |
|
Harvey
|
$350,000 | 20 |
DoorDash USA
|
$239,400 | 19 |
Counsel salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $228,275 | 124 |
| Seattle | $225,000 | 25 |
| New York | $222,000 | 164 |
| Boston | $219,875 | 12 |
| Los Angeles | $214,750 | 28 |
| Atlanta | $214,750 | 11 |
| Denver | $214,096 | 49 |
| Chicago | $214,050 | 19 |
| Austin | $195,000 | 15 |
| Dublin | $189,072 | 4 |
Counsel vs Engineering Manager: which pays more?
The median for Counsel is $214,750 per year (typically $180,000–$250,000), versus $190,000 for Engineering Manager ($141,791–$238,500). That puts Counsel about 13% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Counsel and Engineering Manager 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.