Side-by-side distribution
Java
$132,750
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 15%
- Live roles
- 788
Rust
$190,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 25.2%
- Live roles
- 123
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
Highest-paying jobs
Software Engineer - Platform Infrastructure (Rust, C++)
Staff Rust SDK Engineer
Founding Rust Engineer
Software Engineer 3 - Linux/Bash/Python/Rust/NoSQL/Docker/Kubernetes/Helm
Software Engineer (Backend Rust)
Senior Software Engineer (Backend Rust)
Software Engineer, Rust, Agent Runtime
Principal Rust Developer
Principal Rust Developer
New Grad Software Engineer (Backend Rust)
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 |
|---|---|---|
Anduril Industries
|
$193,000 | 3 |
|
N1
|
$190,000 | 3 |
|
Zscaler
|
$221,000 | 2 |
Certik
|
$141,000 | 2 |
Blockhouse
|
$85,500 | 2 |
|
xAI
|
$310,000 | 1 |
|
Twin Labs
|
$261,899 | 1 |
|
LiveKit
|
$250,000 | 1 |
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 |
Rust salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| New York | $190,000 | 6 |
| San Francisco | $190,000 | 5 |
| Toronto | $127,500 | 3 |
Java vs Rust: which pays more?
The median for Java is $132,750 per year (typically $99,443–$200,000), versus $190,000 for Rust ($155,000–$204,500). That puts Rust about 43% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Java and Rust 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.