Side-by-side distribution
Investment Banking
$206,250
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 34.8%
- Live roles
- 23
Staff Engineer
$220,300
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 54.1%
- Live roles
- 4,830
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
Staff, Hardware Electrical Engineer
Senior Staff Full Stack Engineer ($500k - $1.5m salary)
Senior Staff React Native Engineer ($500k - 1.5m salary)
Senior Staff Frontend Engineer ($500k - $1.5m salary)
Senior Staff Backend Engineer ($500k - $1.5m salary)
Staff Software Engineer (Backend)
Senior/Staff Full Stack Engineer, Applied AI
Senior/Staff Backend Engineer, Applied AI
Research Engineer (Senior Staff+), Safeguards Labs
Staff Research Engineer, Discovery Team
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 | 109 |
Databricks
|
$226,000 | 77 |
|
Anthropic
|
$425,000 | 60 |
Grafana Labs
|
$147,822 | 48 |
Crusoe
|
$231,000 | 46 |
Archer
|
$192,500 | 37 |
Aurora Innovation
|
$231,500 | 34 |
Okta
|
$206,000 | 34 |
Investment Banking salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| New York | $206,250 | 6 |
Staff Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| Seattle | $250,000 | 153 |
| San Francisco | $245,000 | 613 |
| New York | $240,000 | 464 |
| Dublin | $238,416 | 4 |
| Austin | $230,750 | 54 |
| Chicago | $230,000 | 46 |
| Los Angeles | $220,000 | 62 |
| Boston | $212,500 | 97 |
| Denver | $210,500 | 45 |
| London | $208,297 | 48 |
Investment Banking vs Staff Engineer: which pays more?
The median for Investment Banking is $206,250 per year (typically $176,250–$228,750), versus $220,300 for Staff Engineer ($190,000–$250,000). That puts Staff Engineer about 7% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Investment Banking 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.