Side-by-side distribution
Counsel
$214,750
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 51.7%
- Live roles
- 1,284
Software Engineer
$191,498
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 44%
- Live roles
- 15,363
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
REIT Special Counsel / Senior Associate
Real Estate Associate / Special Counsel (Lender-Side Focus)
Estate & Tax Planning Legal Counsel
Estate & Tax Planning Legal Counsel
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Anduril Industries
|
$222,000 | 296 |
OpenAI
|
$309,000 | 112 |
Speechify
|
$170,000 | 103 |
Databricks
|
$214,700 | 98 |
Applied Intuition
|
$176,750 | 84 |
Roblox
|
$269,270 | 82 |
Palantir
|
$167,500 | 74 |
SpaceX
|
$137,500 | 65 |
Counsel salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $226,550 | 123 |
| 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 |
Software Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $225,000 | 1,399 |
| Sydney | $224,060 | 8 |
| New York | $215,000 | 1,163 |
| Seattle | $212,000 | 418 |
| Austin | $199,450 | 134 |
| Boston | $186,050 | 230 |
| Los Angeles | $183,150 | 165 |
| Bangalore | $181,219 | 4 |
| Chicago | $180,000 | 137 |
| London | $175,072 | 113 |
Counsel vs Software Engineer: which pays more?
The median for Counsel is $214,750 per year (typically $180,000–$250,000), versus $191,498 for Software Engineer ($152,500–$225,000). That puts Counsel about 12% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Counsel 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.