Side-by-side distribution
Full-Stack
$162,500
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 27%
- Live roles
- 4,739
Staff Engineer
$210,200
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 50.8%
- Live roles
- 7,406
Highest-paying jobs
Senior Staff Full Stack Engineer ($500k - $1.5m salary)
Senior/Staff Full Stack Engineer, Applied AI
Senior AI Fullstack Engineer
Founding Engineer - Full Stack
Fullstack Software Engineer, Agent Platform
Staff Full Stack Engineer ($400k - $500k salary)
Full-Stack Engineer, ChatGPT Education & Learning
Full Stack Engineer, Fleet Scheduling
Staff+ Software Engineer, Full-stack
Full Stack Software Engineer, Cybersecurity Products
Highest-paying jobs
Senior Staff Full Stack Engineer ($500k - $1.5m salary)
Senior Staff React Native Engineer ($500k - 1.5m salary)
Senior/Staff Backend Engineer, Applied AI
Senior/Staff Full Stack Engineer, Applied AI
Staff Research Engineer, Discovery Team
Staff+ Research Engineer, RL Data Platform
Staff Software Engineer, Kubernetes Platform
Staff Software Engineer, Node Infra
Staff Infrastructure Engineer, Cluster Infrastructure
Staff Software Engineer, Code RL
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Booz Allen Hamilton
|
$142,400 | 48 |
CACI
|
$146,300 | 33 |
|
OpenAI
|
$330,000 | 20 |
Accenture Federal Services
|
$131,425 | 18 |
Leidos
|
$151,475 | 17 |
GDIT
|
$163,500 | 16 |
| GU Guidehouse | $122,500 | 16 |
SpaceX
|
$142,500 | 13 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Northrop Grumman
|
$210,200 | 260 |
Anduril Industries
|
$222,000 | 106 |
|
Anthropic
|
$425,000 | 80 |
Databricks
|
$226,000 | 76 |
General Motors
|
$239,650 | 53 |
Crusoe
|
$232,500 | 49 |
GEICO
|
$172,500 | 49 |
| AD Analog Devices | $160,697 | 41 |
Full-Stack salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $215,000 | 173 |
| Seattle | $202,500 | 47 |
| New York | $194,975 | 182 |
| Boston | $186,250 | 26 |
| Los Angeles | $175,000 | 22 |
| London | $149,458 | 14 |
| Denver | $146,294 | 16 |
| Austin | $145,000 | 21 |
| Chicago | $142,950 | 29 |
| Atlanta | $141,545 | 14 |
Staff Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| London | $263,000 | 52 |
| Seattle | $253,250 | 227 |
| New York | $248,050 | 527 |
| San Francisco | $245,650 | 690 |
| Los Angeles | $223,000 | 81 |
| Boston | $219,366 | 90 |
| Austin | $210,135 | 108 |
| Denver | $210,000 | 65 |
| Singapore | $195,465 | 3 |
| Toronto | $193,250 | 166 |
Full-Stack vs Staff Engineer: which pays more?
The median for Full-Stack is $162,500 per year (typically $125,000–$200,000), versus $210,200 for Staff Engineer ($176,260–$244,475). That puts Staff Engineer about 29% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Full-Stack and Staff 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.