Side-by-side distribution
Java
$132,750
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 15%
- Live roles
- 788
Ruby on Rails
$119,233
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 23.5%
- Live roles
- 17
Highest-paying jobs
Lead Java Developer
Senior Java Engineer
Senior Backend Engineer (Java)
Senior Backend Engineer (Java)
Senior Software Engineer, Java
Senior Software Engineer, Java
Software Engineer 2 - AWS/Hadoop/Accumulo/Terraform/Python/Java
Software Engineer 3- Python/Kotlin/Java/Terraform/ElasticSearch/OpenSearch/AWS
Software Engineer 2 (Hybrid) - Java/MapReduce/Accumulo/Hadoop
Software Engineer 2 - Java/MapReduce/Cloud/GhostMachine/QTA
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 |
Java salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| Chicago | $200,000 | 7 |
| New York | $187,500 | 5 |
| San Francisco | $122,500 | 3 |
| Toronto | $101,279 | 4 |
Java vs Ruby on Rails: which pays more?
The median for Java is $132,750 per year (typically $99,443–$200,000), versus $119,233 for Ruby on Rails ($90,350–$146,250). That puts Java about 11% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Java and Ruby on Rails 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.