Side-by-side distribution
Investment Banking
$206,250
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 34.8%
- Live roles
- 23
Software Engineer
$191,498
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 44%
- Live roles
- 15,363
Highest-paying jobs
Investment Banker II
Investment Banker I
Associate - Investment Banking - Los Angeles
Investment Banking, Vice President & Associate, Consumer & Retail
Investment Banking, Associate, M&A
Investment Banking, Associate, Private Capital Advisory
Investment Banking, Senior Analyst/Associate, DCM
Analyst - Investment Banking - Los Angeles
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 - Stellar
Software Engineer - Solana
Software Engineer - EVM
Software Engineer - Compliance
Senior Staff+ Software Engineer, Kubernetes Platform
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| BT BTIG | $185,000 | 4 |
|
OffDeal
|
$486,250 | 2 |
|
Ducera Partners - Experienced Hires
|
$175,000 | 2 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Anduril Industries
|
$222,000 | 298 |
OpenAI
|
$309,000 | 113 |
Speechify
|
$170,000 | 103 |
Databricks
|
$214,700 | 98 |
Applied Intuition
|
$180,250 | 84 |
Roblox
|
$269,270 | 83 |
Palantir
|
$167,500 | 74 |
SpaceX
|
$137,500 | 66 |
Investment Banking salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| New York | $206,250 | 6 |
Software Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $225,000 | 1,403 |
| Sydney | $224,060 | 8 |
| New York | $214,500 | 1,155 |
| Seattle | $212,500 | 417 |
| Austin | $194,500 | 139 |
| Boston | $186,050 | 226 |
| Los Angeles | $182,500 | 164 |
| Bangalore | $181,219 | 4 |
| Chicago | $178,000 | 138 |
| Atlanta | $172,750 | 59 |
Investment Banking vs Software Engineer: which pays more?
The median for Investment Banking is $206,250 per year (typically $176,250–$228,750), versus $191,498 for Software Engineer ($152,500–$225,000). That puts Investment Banking about 8% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Investment Banking 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.