Side-by-side distribution
Cybersecurity
$134,500
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 34.2%
- Live roles
- 380
Security Engineer
$190,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 48.5%
- Live roles
- 2,017
Highest-paying jobs
Staff+ Software Engineer, Cybersecurity Products
Full Stack Software Engineer, Cybersecurity Products
Research Engineer, Cybersecurity RL (Reinforcement Learning)
Senior Cyber-Security Operations Analyst, Product AppSec
Senior Cybersecurity Engineer II - Secret Clearance
Senior Security GRC Analyst
Senior Software Engineer, Cybersecurity
Security GRC Analyst
Cybersecurity Research Engineer
Cybersecurity Engineer
Highest-paying jobs
Senior Security Platform Engineer I
Staff AI Security Engineer
Principal Software Engineer, Infrastructure Security
Principal Security Engineer, Infrastructure Security
Offensive Security Engineer, Agent Products
Offensive Security Agent Engineer
Staff+ Application Security Engineer
Staff+ Software Engineer, Cybersecurity Products
Staff+ Software Security Engineer
Staff+ Application Security Engineer - M&A
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Saalex
|
$124,750 | 8 |
MetroStar
|
$184,000 | 6 |
| DW Dark Wolf Solutions | $147,500 | 6 |
|
Accenture Federal Services
|
$116,500 | 6 |
Anduril Industries
|
$150,000 | 5 |
CHAOS Industries
|
$150,000 | 4 |
AGE Solutions
|
$85,000 | 4 |
|
Rocket Lab Corporation
|
$192,500 | 3 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
SpaceX
|
$146,250 | 32 |
EverAI
|
$104,103 | 21 |
|
OpenAI
|
$355,500 | 19 |
|
Anduril Industries
|
$204,500 | 19 |
Elastic
|
$119,534 | 16 |
|
Anthropic
|
$362,500 | 15 |
DigitalOcean
|
$189,900 | 13 |
Palantir
|
$167,500 | 13 |
Cybersecurity salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $186,591 | 8 |
| New York | $165,000 | 11 |
| Los Angeles | $150,000 | 3 |
| Seattle | $147,500 | 6 |
| Boston | $141,750 | 8 |
Cybersecurity vs Security Engineer: which pays more?
The median for Cybersecurity is $134,500 per year (typically $109,875–$165,375), versus $190,000 for Security Engineer ($146,538–$229,508). That puts Security Engineer about 41% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Cybersecurity 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.