Side-by-side distribution
Java
$133,932
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 19.5%
- Live roles
- 1,591
SQL
$112,500
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 29.6%
- Live roles
- 108
Highest-paying jobs
Senior Software Engineer, Java
Lead Java Software Engineer - Developer
Senior Software Engineer, Java
ETL Java Developer (SME)
Java Developer (SME)
Principal Software Engineer - Ecommerce - Java/AWS
Principal Engineer, Zelle Client Solutions (Java, AWS)
Senior Software Engineer, Treasury and Reference Data (Java/Ruby/Python)
Distinguished Engineer - Java / AWS - Zelle
Front-End Developer (Mid/Senior) - Java/Quarkus/HTML/CSS/JavaScript/Oracle/AWS
Highest-paying jobs
Database Administrator PL/SQL Developer
Senior Mainframe Developer – IMS Database & zOS
Distinguished Systems Developer - SQL Engine
SQL Server Database Senior Developer, Vice President
PL/SQL Developer
PostGres/SQL Database Developer
Sr. Oracle 19c SQL Developer/DBA - Windows 2019/2022 Platform/Analytics
Principal Software Developer - Query Engine, Database Internals - Elasticsearch
Senior Lead Software Developer Database | Acushnet Company
Senior Database Developer
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
|
Captivation Software
|
$200,000 | 23 |
|
Elastic
|
$119,499 | 19 |
PNC
|
$124,144 | 16 |
|
Leidos
|
$151,475 | 13 |
|
Early Warning Services
|
$191,750 | 12 |
Referral Board
|
$119,439 | 11 |
Northrop Grumman
|
$114,700 | 10 |
GDIT
|
$185,000 | 9 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Amentum
|
$110,000 | 3 |
|
GDIT
|
$95,300 | 3 |
|
Elastic
|
$131,221 | 2 |
|
Dev Technology
|
$121,250 | 2 |
|
MUFG
|
$176,000 | 1 |
|
InterSystems
|
$174,500 | 1 |
|
Intel
|
$172,445 | 1 |
| US USAA | $166,055 | 1 |
SQL salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| New York | $105,550 | 3 |
Java vs SQL: which pays more?
The median for Java is $133,932 per year (typically $105,492–$175,000), versus $112,500 for SQL ($91,525–$141,558). That puts Java about 19% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Java and SQL 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.