Side-by-side distribution
General Counsel
$263,750
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 61.1%
- Live roles
- 185
Software Engineer
$191,125
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 44.1%
- Live roles
- 15,329
Highest-paying jobs
Chief Legal Officer (CLO) ($1M-$5M salary)
General Counsel
Chief Legal Officer
Chief Legal Officer
General Counsel
Deputy General Counsel
Chief Legal Officer (Pacific Northwest or Hybrid) (964-SLS)
Assistant General Counsel, M&A
Associate General Counsel, Product & Commercial
Deputy General Counsel
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 - Compliance
Software Engineer - EVM
Software Engineer - Solana
Software Engineer - Stellar
Senior Staff+ Software Engineer, Node Infra
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
FutureSight
|
$5,988 | 10 |
| TT The Trade Desk | $214,050 | 4 |
Hadrian Automation
|
$312,500 | 3 |
| SA Scale AI | $297,900 | 3 |
Fireblocks
|
$257,000 | 3 |
Robinhood
|
$236,000 | 3 |
|
STR
|
$355,000 | 2 |
| AX Axon | $311,345 | 2 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Anduril Industries
|
$222,000 | 298 |
OpenAI
|
$309,000 | 113 |
Speechify
|
$170,000 | 103 |
Databricks
|
$214,700 | 98 |
Roblox
|
$269,270 | 83 |
Applied Intuition
|
$180,000 | 83 |
Palantir
|
$167,500 | 74 |
SpaceX
|
$137,500 | 66 |
General Counsel salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| New York | $253,500 | 35 |
| San Francisco | $253,500 | 23 |
| Los Angeles | $233,650 | 9 |
| Boston | $231,345 | 4 |
| Chicago | $214,050 | 7 |
| Austin | $180,000 | 3 |
Software Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $225,000 | 1,400 |
| Sydney | $224,060 | 8 |
| New York | $213,300 | 1,160 |
| Seattle | $212,500 | 419 |
| Austin | $197,000 | 137 |
| Boston | $186,050 | 227 |
| Los Angeles | $182,500 | 164 |
| Bangalore | $181,219 | 4 |
| Chicago | $179,250 | 138 |
| Atlanta | $173,875 | 58 |
General Counsel vs Software Engineer: which pays more?
The median for General Counsel is $263,750 per year (typically $214,050–$297,600), versus $191,125 for Software Engineer ($152,900–$225,000). That puts General Counsel about 38% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so General Counsel 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.