Side-by-side distribution
Counsel
$214,750
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 51.7%
- Live roles
- 1,284
Platform Engineer
$195,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 44.2%
- Live roles
- 4,052
Highest-paying jobs
Associate Counsel, Corporate
Legal Counsel (corporate / commercial, 3-5 PQE), hybrid/remote
Director, Corporate Counsel
Legal Counsel
General Counsel
REIT Special Counsel / Senior Associate
Real Estate Associate / Special Counsel (Lender-Side Focus)
Antitrust and Competition Associate / Special Counsel
Real Estate Senior Associate / Special Counsel ("Dirt" Focus)
Estate & Tax Planning Legal Counsel
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
Staff+ Software Engineer, Safeguards Infrastructure
Machine Learning Infrastructure Engineer, Safeguards Research
Agent Platform Engineer
Software Engineer, Platform
Infrastructure and Platform Development Engineer
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| TM Tyson & Mendes LLP | $175,000 | 39 |
Fivetran
|
$214,096 | 25 |
Axiom Talent Platform
|
$214,750 | 22 |
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 |
Speechify
OpenAI
Nuro
Palantir
Databricks
Coinbase
Reddit
Counsel salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $226,125 | 122 |
| New York | $221,000 | 164 |
| Seattle | $220,000 | 24 |
| Boston | $219,875 | 12 |
| Los Angeles | $214,750 | 28 |
| Atlanta | $214,750 | 11 |
| Denver | $214,096 | 49 |
| Chicago | $214,050 | 19 |
| Dublin | $204,500 | 3 |
| Austin | $193,870 | 14 |
Platform Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $228,500 | 411 |
| Seattle | $212,500 | 108 |
| New York | $211,000 | 318 |
| Austin | $198,900 | 39 |
| Los Angeles | $187,500 | 32 |
| Boston | $187,500 | 64 |
| Toronto | $185,000 | 61 |
| Denver | $175,000 | 31 |
| Chicago | $174,250 | 24 |
| Atlanta | $170,000 | 11 |
Counsel vs Platform Engineer: which pays more?
The median for Counsel is $214,750 per year (typically $180,000–$250,000), versus $195,000 for Platform Engineer ($166,525–$230,000). That puts Counsel about 10% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Counsel 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.