Side-by-side distribution
Firmware Engineer
$192,750
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 55.3%
- Live roles
- 199
Frontend Engineer
$182,500
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 34%
- Live roles
- 965
Highest-paying jobs
Firmware Engineer, Robotics
Networking Operating System Firmware Engineer
ASIC Firmware Engineer, Modeling
Firmware Engineer, RTOS, Consumer Devices
Senior Staff Firmware Engineer
Firmware/ Embedded Systems Engineer
Firmware Engineer, Robotics and Surgery Engineering
Staff Embedded Software Engineer - Camera Firmware
Founding Firmware Engineer
Staff Firmware Engineer
Highest-paying jobs
Site Reliability Engineer - Frontend
Staff Frontend Engineer ($400k - $500k salary)
Staff / Principal Frontend Software Engineer
Principal Software Engineer, Frontend - Design Systems
Software Engineer, Frontend
Senior Software Engineer, UI
Frontend AI Principal Engineer - Cortex Code
Staff Software Engineer, Frontend
Frontend Engineer
Principal Frontend Software Engineer, Connections
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
|
Anduril Industries
|
$222,000 | 21 |
Lunar Energy
|
$195,000 | 5 |
|
OpenAI
|
$360,750 | 4 |
Neros Technologies
|
$174,750 | 4 |
SK hynix memory solutions America Inc.
|
$137,500 | 4 |
ALSO
|
$220,000 | 3 |
CoreWeave
|
$212,000 | 3 |
OnLogic
|
$110,000 | 3 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Air Apps
|
$60,559 | 11 |
|
Roblox
|
$268,610 | 8 |
Harvey
|
$241,700 | 8 |
Sift Stack, Inc.
|
$192,500 | 8 |
|
Snowflake
|
$243,750 | 5 |
Reddit
|
$228,950 | 5 |
|
Verkada
|
$225,000 | 5 |
Sigma Computing
|
$230,000 | 4 |
Firmware Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| New York | $212,000 | 5 |
| San Francisco | $207,500 | 17 |
| Seattle | $183,300 | 3 |
Frontend Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| Austin | $208,000 | 3 |
| San Francisco | $205,500 | 73 |
| New York | $201,150 | 65 |
| Boston | $200,000 | 9 |
| Seattle | $189,000 | 10 |
| London | $171,448 | 6 |
| Chicago | $165,000 | 3 |
| Toronto | $153,750 | 13 |
| Los Angeles | $134,531 | 6 |
| Berlin | $102,373 | 4 |
Firmware Engineer vs Frontend Engineer: which pays more?
The median for Firmware Engineer is $192,750 per year (typically $162,375–$220,500), versus $182,500 for Frontend Engineer ($139,525–$220,000). That puts Firmware Engineer about 6% 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.