Side-by-side distribution
C / C++
$184,500
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 28.4%
- Live roles
- 640
Python
$163,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 15.7%
- Live roles
- 1,062
Highest-paying jobs
Software Engineer - Kernels/CUDA (C++)
Software Engineer - Platform Infrastructure (Rust, C++)
Software Engineer - Network (C++)
Software Engineer - Training/Inference (C++)
Software Engineer - Linux Kernel (C++, C)
Software Engineer - C++
Staff Software Engineer (C++) - Radar Sensors
Software Engineer, Specs C++, Level 5
Software Engineer, C++, Level 5
Senior AI Systems Engineer — C++ / Applied AI
Highest-paying jobs
Python Senior Software Engineer, AI Training
Software Engineer (C++ or Python) – 2027 Grads
GenAI Python Systems Engineer –Senior Manager
Senior Software Engineer (Networking, Python, C/C++)
Senior Software Engineer, Treasury and Reference Data (Java/Ruby/Python)
Senior DevOps Engineer (Hybrid) - AWS/Java/Linux/Ansible/Git/Python
Platform Engineer (Hybrid) - Python/Java/AWS/Linux
Software Engineer 2 (Hybrid) - AWS/Hadoop/Accumulo/Terraform/Python/Java
Software Engineer 2 - Linux/Bash/Python/Rust/HPC/CI/CD/Git/Agile
Senior DevOps Engineer - AWS/Java/Linux/Ansible/Git/Python
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Anduril Industries
|
$201,250 | 24 |
KLA
|
$184,000 | 9 |
Applied Intuition
|
$160,000 | 7 |
Stellar Development Foundation
|
$230,000 | 6 |
Esri
|
$148,538 | 6 |
Northrop Grumman
|
$118,850 | 6 |
|
xAI
|
$310,000 | 5 |
Roblox
|
$269,270 | 5 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
|
Captivation Software
|
$200,000 | 33 |
Northbeam
|
$185,000 | 12 |
Travelers
|
$144,750 | 8 |
Bank of America
|
$141,400 | 7 |
| PA PayPal | $199,600 | 5 |
Leidos
|
$151,475 | 5 |
|
Anduril Industries
|
$222,000 | 4 |
Weekday AI
|
$187,200 | 3 |
C / C++ salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| Seattle | $270,200 | 8 |
| San Francisco | $230,000 | 8 |
| New York | $225,000 | 27 |
| Los Angeles | $210,000 | 5 |
| Chicago | $200,000 | 20 |
| Boston | $200,000 | 7 |
Python salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| Austin | $202,000 | 5 |
| San Francisco | $200,000 | 3 |
| Boston | $200,000 | 3 |
| Atlanta | $184,700 | 3 |
| Chicago | $165,000 | 11 |
| New York | $162,500 | 14 |
| Los Angeles | $150,000 | 3 |
| Toronto | $94,897 | 7 |
C / C++ vs Python: which pays more?
The median for C / C++ is $184,500 per year (typically $145,000–$215,000), versus $163,000 for Python ($129,375–$200,000). That puts C / C++ about 13% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so C / C++ and Python 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.