Side-by-side distribution
Network Engineer
$137,500
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 42%
- Live roles
- 1,803
SRE
$157,398
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 34.7%
- Live roles
- 2,329
Highest-paying jobs
Network Engineer
Sr. Network Engineer
RTL Design Engineer – Interconnect & Network Datapath
Software Engineer - Network (C++)
Network Engineer - ML Infrastructure (High-Speed Interconnects)
Principal Network Sales Engineer
Senior Network Engineer
Network Engineer
Network Engineer
Network Engineer
Highest-paying jobs
Reliability Engineer - Level 3 or 4 - Space AHT
Site Reliability Engineer - Frontend
Site Reliability Engineer
Software Engineer (Site Reliability)
Staff Software Engineer, AI Reliability Engineering
Staff Security Reliability Engineer
Staff Software Engineer, AI Reliability
Staff+ Site Reliability Engineer, Safeguards ML Infra
Forward Deployed Site Reliability Engineer
Forward Deployed Site Reliability Engineer (TS/SCI Required)
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Leidos
|
$129,575 | 92 |
GDIT
|
$122,872 | 55 |
CACI
|
$137,075 | 54 |
Booz Allen Hamilton
|
$126,800 | 37 |
|
Northrop Grumman
|
$132,200 | 23 |
Astreya
|
$94,080 | 19 |
Saalex
|
$115,000 | 15 |
|
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
|
$197,250 | 13 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
SpaceX
|
$143,750 | 32 |
Anduril Industries
|
$193,000 | 20 |
Okta
|
$206,500 | 17 |
| SE Sezzle | $87,000 | 15 |
|
Northrop Grumman
|
$124,500 | 14 |
MongoDB
|
$188,000 | 11 |
Air Apps
|
$70,940 | 11 |
Workday
|
$149,450 | 10 |
Network Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $203,000 | 36 |
| Seattle | $194,000 | 26 |
| Austin | $180,500 | 16 |
| New York | $165,000 | 51 |
| Los Angeles | $160,000 | 13 |
| Boston | $158,250 | 10 |
| Chicago | $129,766 | 14 |
| Atlanta | $121,000 | 7 |
| Denver | $117,075 | 34 |
| Toronto | $116,987 | 7 |
SRE salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $206,450 | 93 |
| New York | $190,000 | 85 |
| Los Angeles | $188,500 | 23 |
| Austin | $186,697 | 20 |
| Seattle | $179,763 | 24 |
| Chicago | $177,500 | 45 |
| Boston | $174,525 | 22 |
| Denver | $158,500 | 17 |
| London | $154,346 | 9 |
| Dublin | $148,932 | 7 |
Network Engineer vs SRE: which pays more?
The median for Network Engineer is $137,500 per year (typically $115,000–$173,489), versus $157,398 for SRE ($122,188–$195,000). That puts SRE about 14% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Network Engineer and SRE 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.