Side-by-side distribution
Java
$132,625
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 14.9%
- Live roles
- 785
PHP
$96,132
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 4.3%
- Live roles
- 187
Highest-paying jobs
Lead Java Developer
Senior Backend Engineer (Java)
Senior Java Engineer
Senior Backend Engineer (Java)
Senior Software Engineer, Java
Senior Software Engineer, Java
Software Engineer 3- Python/Kotlin/Java/Terraform/ElasticSearch/OpenSearch/AWS
Software Engineer 2 - AWS/Hadoop/Accumulo/Terraform/Python/Java
Software Engineer 2 - Java/MapReduce/Cloud/GhostMachine/QTA
Software Engineer 1/2 - Java/MapReduce/GhostMachine/Spring/NiFi
Highest-paying jobs
Senior Full Stack Developer (PHP + React.js)
Senior Software Engineer (PHP)
Senior Python Engineer - PHP
Senior Product Engineer (Python & PHP)
PHP Developer
Senior Software Engineer (PHP)
Contractor: PHP Website Developer
Senior Software Engineer (PHP)
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
|
Captivation Software
|
$200,000 | 24 |
Elastic
|
$118,060 | 18 |
Referral Board
|
$118,411 | 10 |
Accenture Federal Services
|
$138,100 | 4 |
Bloomreach
|
$56,441 | 4 |
|
Moniepoint
|
$520,000 | 3 |
SentinelOne
|
$180,550 | 3 |
| CA Capco | $95,057 | 3 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
|
Arbor Education
|
$107,472 | 2 |
| NM NMI | $98,996 | 2 |
|
STACK IT Recruitment
|
$120,000 | 1 |
|
TELUS Digital
|
$85,000 | 1 |
|
Newsela
|
$60,000 | 1 |
|
Nfq
|
$8,695 | 1 |
Java salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| New York | $187,500 | 5 |
| Chicago | $175,000 | 6 |
| San Francisco | $122,500 | 3 |
| Toronto | $101,279 | 4 |
Java vs PHP: which pays more?
The median for Java is $132,625 per year (typically $98,913–$200,000), versus $96,132 for PHP ($71,619–$110,760). That puts Java about 38% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Java and PHP 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.