Side-by-side distribution
Counsel
$214,750
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 51.8%
- Live roles
- 1,286
Security Engineer
$190,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 47.5%
- Live roles
- 1,984
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)
Antitrust and Competition Associate / Special Counsel
Real Estate Associate / Special Counsel (Lender-Side Focus)
REIT Special Counsel / Senior Associate
Estate & Tax Planning Legal Counsel
Estate & Tax Planning Legal Counsel
Highest-paying jobs
Cyber Security Engineer (5462)
Security Engineer
Senior AI Security Engineer II
Senior Security Platform Engineer I
Lead Security Engineer
Principal Software Engineer, Infrastructure Security
Principal Security Engineer, Infrastructure Security
Offensive Security Engineer, Agent Products
Staff+ Application Security Engineer
Staff+ Application Security Engineer - M&A
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 |
|---|---|---|
Aurora Innovation
|
$222,000 | 28 |
Anduril Industries
|
$202,000 | 20 |
Accenture Federal Services
|
$151,800 | 18 |
SpaceX
|
$142,500 | 16 |
Mozilla
|
$86,043 | 16 |
Palantir
|
$170,000 | 14 |
|
OpenAI
|
$339,000 | 13 |
|
Anthropic
|
$362,500 | 12 |
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 | 48 |
| Chicago | $214,050 | 19 |
| Austin | $195,000 | 16 |
| Dublin | $189,072 | 4 |
Counsel vs Security Engineer: which pays more?
The median for Counsel is $214,750 per year (typically $178,500–$250,000), versus $190,000 for Security Engineer ($153,138–$233,100). 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 Security 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.