Side-by-side distribution
Firmware Engineer
$191,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 54.3%
- Live roles
- 197
Frontend Engineer
$181,642
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 34.3%
- Live roles
- 1,051
Highest-paying jobs
Staff Firmware Engineer
ASIC Firmware Engineer, Modeling
Networking Operating System Firmware Engineer
Firmware Engineer, Robotics
Firmware Engineer, RTOS, Consumer Devices
Staff Embedded Firmware Engineer
Firmware/ Embedded Systems Engineer
Firmware Engineer, Robotics and Surgery Engineering
Staff Embedded Software Engineer - Camera Firmware
Founding Firmware Engineer
Highest-paying jobs
Senior Staff Frontend Engineer ($500k - $1.5m salary)
Principal Front End Developer
Senior Frontend Engineer
Senior Frontend Engineer
Staff Frontend Engineer ($300k - $500k salary)
Staff / Principal Frontend Software Engineer
Principal Software Engineer, Frontend - Design Systems
Web Developer
Senior Software Engineer, UI
Frontend Engineer, Financial Web Platform
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Anduril Industries
|
$222,000 | 14 |
|
OpenAI
|
$345,500 | 4 |
ALSO
|
$187,500 | 4 |
CoreWeave
|
$197,500 | 3 |
Mach Industries
|
$172,500 | 3 |
ALTEN Technology USA
|
$120,000 | 3 |
42dot
|
$228,000 | 2 |
Everpure
|
$216,250 | 2 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Mindrift
|
$124,800 | 12 |
Roblox
|
$269,270 | 11 |
Air Apps
|
$61,110 | 10 |
|
Verkada
|
$220,000 | 7 |
|
Anduril Industries
|
$193,000 | 6 |
|
PlayStation Global
|
$187,600 | 6 |
Harvey
|
$241,700 | 5 |
Sigma Computing
|
$230,000 | 4 |
Firmware Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $210,458 | 14 |
| New York | $197,500 | 7 |
Frontend Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| New York | $201,150 | 70 |
| San Francisco | $200,000 | 63 |
| Boston | $191,250 | 6 |
| Seattle | $184,250 | 14 |
| Los Angeles | $159,766 | 6 |
| Toronto | $134,418 | 15 |
| Singapore | $124,800 | 5 |
| Berlin | $101,594 | 4 |
| Dublin | $99,370 | 3 |
| London | $78,965 | 5 |
Firmware Engineer vs Frontend Engineer: which pays more?
The median for Firmware Engineer is $191,000 per year (typically $160,000–$215,000), versus $181,642 for Frontend Engineer ($134,531–$220,000). That puts Firmware Engineer about 5% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Firmware Engineer and Frontend 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.