Side-by-side distribution
Frontend Engineer
$180,785
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 34.4%
- Live roles
- 1,045
Software Engineer
$191,498
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 44%
- Live roles
- 15,363
Highest-paying jobs
Senior Staff Frontend Engineer ($500k - $1.5m salary)
Lead Frontend Developer
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
Highest-paying jobs
Senior Software Engineer, Growth
Intermediate Backend Software Engineer
Staff Software Engineer (Backend)
Lead Software Engineer (Backend)
Senior Software Engineer, Machine Learning (Audio)
Software Engineer - Solana
Software Engineer - EVM
Software Engineer - Stellar
Software Engineer - Compliance
Senior Staff+ Software Engineer, Kubernetes Platform
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 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
|
Anduril Industries
|
$222,000 | 296 |
OpenAI
|
$309,000 | 111 |
Speechify
|
$170,000 | 103 |
Databricks
|
$214,700 | 98 |
|
Roblox
|
$269,270 | 82 |
Applied Intuition
|
$179,250 | 82 |
Palantir
|
$167,500 | 77 |
SpaceX
|
$137,500 | 65 |
Frontend Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| New York | $203,075 | 68 |
| San Francisco | $202,500 | 60 |
| Boston | $191,250 | 6 |
| Seattle | $188,250 | 12 |
| Chicago | $169,105 | 3 |
| Los Angeles | $159,766 | 6 |
| Toronto | $132,459 | 14 |
| Singapore | $124,800 | 5 |
| Berlin | $101,594 | 4 |
| Dublin | $99,370 | 3 |
Software Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $225,000 | 1,398 |
| Sydney | $224,060 | 8 |
| New York | $215,000 | 1,166 |
| Seattle | $211,500 | 417 |
| Austin | $198,900 | 135 |
| Boston | $186,050 | 229 |
| Los Angeles | $182,825 | 166 |
| Bangalore | $181,219 | 4 |
| Chicago | $180,000 | 137 |
| London | $175,072 | 113 |
Frontend Engineer vs Software Engineer: which pays more?
The median for Frontend Engineer is $180,785 per year (typically $134,531–$220,020), versus $191,498 for Software Engineer ($152,500–$225,000). That puts Software Engineer about 6% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Frontend Engineer and Software 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.