Side-by-side distribution
Cybersecurity
$124,500
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 42.4%
- Live roles
- 1,312
Security Engineer
$170,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 44.3%
- Live roles
- 3,826
Highest-paying jobs
Research Engineer, Cybersecurity RL (Reinforcement Learning)
Staff+ Software Engineer, Cybersecurity Products
Full Stack Software Engineer, Cybersecurity Products
Staff Security GRC Analyst
Security Risk Analyst, Risk Engineering
Pre-Sales Engineer, Cybersecurity
Principal Cybersecurity Engineer (Starshield)
Principal Cybersecurity Engineer (Starshield)
Cybersecurity Mid Market Sales Engineer
Principal Security GRC Analyst
Highest-paying jobs
Research Engineer, Cybersecurity RL (Reinforcement Learning)
Staff Security Engineer
Principal Software Engineer, Infrastructure Security
Staff Security Reliability Engineer
Principal Security Engineer, Infrastructure Security
Staff+ Software Security Engineer
Staff+ Software Engineer, Cybersecurity Products
Staff + Software Security Engineer, Labs
Staff + Software Security Engineer, Secure Frameworks
Staff+ Application Security Engineer - M&A
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Booz Allen Hamilton
|
$142,400 | 50 |
Northrop Grumman
|
$117,700 | 42 |
CACI
|
$143,125 | 20 |
Leidos
|
$122,275 | 19 |
GDIT
|
$137,328 | 16 |
|
SpaceX
|
$162,500 | 11 |
Workday
|
$154,500 | 11 |
Rocket Lab Corporation
|
$45,760 | 11 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
|
Booz Allen Hamilton
|
$142,400 | 62 |
|
SpaceX
|
$147,500 | 47 |
|
CACI
|
$153,625 | 42 |
Anduril Industries
|
$193,000 | 30 |
|
Leidos
|
$151,475 | 30 |
| SE Sezzle | $87,000 | 27 |
Mozilla
|
$85,799 | 19 |
Samsara
|
$198,088 | 18 |
Cybersecurity salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $271,450 | 10 |
| Los Angeles | $175,000 | 10 |
| Seattle | $158,523 | 14 |
| Denver | $156,600 | 6 |
| Boston | $146,000 | 11 |
| New York | $140,000 | 21 |
| Austin | $133,694 | 9 |
| Atlanta | $131,250 | 9 |
| Chicago | $116,961 | 13 |
| Dublin | $93,980 | 3 |
Security Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $230,250 | 242 |
| New York | $204,000 | 229 |
| Seattle | $203,000 | 111 |
| Boston | $185,250 | 56 |
| London | $180,000 | 23 |
| Los Angeles | $180,000 | 42 |
| Atlanta | $180,000 | 29 |
| Austin | $179,000 | 48 |
| Denver | $177,000 | 54 |
| Singapore | $158,850 | 4 |
Cybersecurity vs Security Engineer: which pays more?
The median for Cybersecurity is $124,500 per year (typically $97,614–$152,500), versus $170,000 for Security Engineer ($135,000–$210,000). That puts Security Engineer about 37% 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.