Side-by-side distribution
Medical Affairs
$215,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 71%
- Live roles
- 107
Software Engineer
$191,498
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 44%
- Live roles
- 15,363
Highest-paying jobs
Medical Science Liaison
Senior Director, Regional Field Medical Science Liaison (MSL) West
Director, Medical Science Liaison, (NY, Southern Connecticut)
Director, Medical Science Liaison (Northern California, Hawaii)
Director, Medical Science Liaison (MI, WI, MN)
Director, Medical Science Liaison (Northern Florida, GA, SC, AL, MS)
Director, Medical Science Liaison Texas (Houston, Austin, San Antonio)
Director, Medical Science Liaison (Southern Florida, Puerto Rico)
Director, Medical Science Liaison, Oncology (Dallas, AR, LA, OK, MS)
Director, Medical Science Liaison (OH, W. Virginia, W. PA, Upstate NY)
Highest-paying jobs
Senior Software Engineer, Growth
Intermediate Backend Software Engineer
Lead Software Engineer (Backend)
Staff Software Engineer (Backend)
Senior Software Engineer, Machine Learning (Audio)
Software Engineer - Solana
Software Engineer - EVM
Software Engineer - Stellar
Software Engineer - Compliance
Senior Staff+ Software Engineer, Kubernetes Platform
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
|
Revolution Medicines
|
$247,500 | 18 |
Oruka Therapeutics
|
$211,000 | 5 |
| AT Axsome Therapeutics | $175,000 | 5 |
Regenxbio
|
$200,000 | 4 |
| PP Praxis Precision Medicines, Inc. | $183,750 | 4 |
|
BridgeBio Pharma
|
$230,000 | 3 |
Vor Bio
|
$224,000 | 3 |
Cogent Biosciences
|
$222,500 | 3 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Anduril Industries
|
$222,000 | 298 |
OpenAI
|
$309,000 | 112 |
Speechify
|
$170,000 | 103 |
Databricks
|
$214,700 | 98 |
Applied Intuition
|
$176,750 | 84 |
Roblox
|
$269,270 | 82 |
Palantir
|
$167,500 | 74 |
SpaceX
|
$137,500 | 66 |
Medical Affairs salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| New York | $175,000 | 4 |
Software Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $225,000 | 1,403 |
| Sydney | $224,060 | 8 |
| New York | $214,050 | 1,154 |
| Seattle | $212,500 | 416 |
| Austin | $195,750 | 138 |
| Boston | $186,050 | 226 |
| Los Angeles | $182,500 | 163 |
| Bangalore | $181,219 | 4 |
| Chicago | $178,500 | 137 |
| London | $173,654 | 114 |
Medical Affairs vs Software Engineer: which pays more?
The median for Medical Affairs is $215,000 per year (typically $195,000–$247,500), versus $191,498 for Software Engineer ($152,500–$225,000). That puts Medical Affairs about 12% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Medical Affairs and Software Engineer 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.