Side-by-side distribution
Full-Stack
$160,950
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 26.5%
- Live roles
- 4,490
Software Engineer
$172,500
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 33.5%
- Live roles
- 32,911
Highest-paying jobs
Senior Staff Full Stack Engineer ($500k - $1.5m salary)
Senior/Staff Full Stack Engineer, Applied AI
Fullstack Software Engineer, Agent Platform
Founding Engineer - Full Stack
Full Stack Engineer, Fleet Scheduling
Full-Stack Engineer, ChatGPT Education & Learning
Staff+ Fullstack Software Engineer, Safeguards Engineering
Staff+ Software Engineer, Full-stack
Staff+ Software Engineer, Enterprise (Full Stack)
Lead / Staff Full-Stack Software Engineer - Console Experience
Highest-paying jobs
Senior Software Engineer, Machine Learning (Audio)
Senior Software Engineer
Software Engineer - AI
Senior Software Engineer - Database team
Staff Software Engineer, Kubernetes Platform
Staff Software Engineer, Node Infra
Staff Software Engineer, Claude Code
Software Engineer, Research Productivity
Staff Software Engineer, Code RL
Staff+ Software Engineer, Developer Productivity
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Booz Allen Hamilton
|
$142,400 | 44 |
|
OpenAI
|
$355,500 | 26 |
CACI
|
$143,125 | 26 |
Accenture Federal Services
|
$135,200 | 23 |
GDIT
|
$168,000 | 19 |
Affirm
|
$183,000 | 15 |
Leidos
|
$151,475 | 15 |
SpaceX
|
$142,500 | 15 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Anduril Industries
|
$222,000 | 354 |
Northrop Grumman
|
$129,500 | 273 |
|
Leidos
|
$151,475 | 176 |
|
Booz Allen Hamilton
|
$142,400 | 169 |
|
SpaceX
|
$142,500 | 167 |
|
OpenAI
|
$355,500 | 150 |
Speechify
|
$170,000 | 144 |
Blue Origin
|
$197,582 | 138 |
Full-Stack salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $207,500 | 154 |
| Seattle | $200,041 | 36 |
| New York | $195,000 | 169 |
| Boston | $171,450 | 39 |
| Los Angeles | $165,000 | 27 |
| London | $156,168 | 14 |
| Austin | $155,000 | 24 |
| Chicago | $152,500 | 20 |
| Denver | $150,000 | 15 |
| Atlanta | $145,450 | 14 |
Software Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $226,000 | 1,569 |
| New York | $212,500 | 1,393 |
| Sydney | $212,347 | 4 |
| Seattle | $203,500 | 686 |
| Los Angeles | $190,000 | 239 |
| Austin | $187,000 | 197 |
| Boston | $185,775 | 286 |
| Denver | $180,158 | 212 |
| London | $177,094 | 128 |
| Atlanta | $167,500 | 125 |
Full-Stack vs Software Engineer: which pays more?
The median for Full-Stack is $160,950 per year (typically $125,758–$200,000), versus $172,500 for Software Engineer ($134,264–$215,000). That puts Software Engineer about 7% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Full-Stack 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.