Side-by-side distribution
Cybersecurity
$134,925
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 33.5%
- Live roles
- 373
Security Engineer
$190,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 47.5%
- Live roles
- 1,984
Highest-paying jobs
Software Engineer, Cybersecurity Products
Research Engineer, Cybersecurity RL (Reinforcement Learning)
Full Stack Software Engineer, Cybersecurity Products
Sr. CSfC Cybersecurity Engineer II (6376)
Sr. Cybersecurity Engineer II (6376)
Senior Cyber-Security Operations Analyst, Product AppSec
Senior Security GRC Analyst
Security Operations Analyst
Senior Software Engineer, Cybersecurity
Cyber Security Analyst II
Highest-paying jobs
Security Engineer
Senior AI Security Engineer II
Senior Security Platform Engineer I
Lead Security Engineer
Principal Security Engineer, Infrastructure Security
Offensive Security Engineer, Agent Products
Principal Software Engineer, Infrastructure Security
Staff+ Application Security Engineer - M&A
Staff+ Application Security Engineer
Security Labs Engineer
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Accenture Federal Services
|
$134,850 | 11 |
CHAOS Industries
|
$150,000 | 7 |
Saalex
|
$125,000 | 7 |
|
MetroStar
|
$216,500 | 4 |
Anduril Industries
|
$114,500 | 3 |
AGE Solutions
|
$90,000 | 3 |
|
Anthropic
|
$357,500 | 2 |
|
Veeam Software
|
$213,500 | 2 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Aurora Innovation
|
$222,000 | 28 |
|
Anduril Industries
|
$204,500 | 24 |
|
Accenture Federal Services
|
$151,800 | 18 |
SpaceX
|
$142,500 | 16 |
Mozilla
|
$85,751 | 16 |
Palantir
|
$170,000 | 14 |
|
OpenAI
|
$339,000 | 13 |
|
Anthropic
|
$362,500 | 12 |
Cybersecurity salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| Seattle | $158,400 | 5 |
| San Francisco | $150,000 | 11 |
| Los Angeles | $150,000 | 9 |
| New York | $146,250 | 12 |
| Boston | $141,750 | 4 |
Cybersecurity vs Security Engineer: which pays more?
The median for Cybersecurity is $134,925 per year (typically $112,500–$166,550), versus $190,000 for Security Engineer ($153,138–$233,100). 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.