Side-by-side distribution
Investment Banking
$206,250
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 34.8%
- Live roles
- 23
Tech Lead
$185,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 34.5%
- Live roles
- 2,598
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 Business Development Lead - Retail Tech & Software Services
Lead Software Engineer (Backend)
Customer Engineering Lead
Evals Infrastructure Tech Lead / Manager
Software Engineering Team Lead
Technical Lead, Safety Research
Lead Security Engineer
RISC-V AI / HPC & Agentic Software Engineering Lead
Staff Engineer, Emulation Technical Lead
Technical Lead Manager, Data Engineering, Trust & Safety
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
|
$170,000 | 33 |
STR
|
$198,250 | 28 |
Motional
|
$237,500 | 21 |
Accenture Federal Services
|
$197,750 | 21 |
Fluidstack
|
$275,000 | 19 |
Scout Motors
|
$176,250 | 16 |
|
OpenAI
|
$338,750 | 14 |
Relativity Space
|
$165,000 | 13 |
Investment Banking salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| New York | $206,250 | 6 |
Tech Lead salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| Austin | $266,500 | 24 |
| San Francisco | $238,500 | 139 |
| Seattle | $234,225 | 34 |
| New York | $224,250 | 96 |
| Boston | $219,000 | 51 |
| Denver | $189,250 | 16 |
| Atlanta | $183,188 | 14 |
| Toronto | $177,000 | 25 |
| Los Angeles | $175,000 | 19 |
| Chicago | $166,000 | 30 |
Investment Banking vs Tech Lead: which pays more?
The median for Investment Banking is $206,250 per year (typically $176,250–$228,750), versus $185,000 for Tech Lead ($152,500–$224,000). That puts Investment Banking about 11% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Investment Banking and Tech Lead 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.