Side-by-side distribution
Penetration Tester
$183,600
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 30.9%
- Live roles
- 94
Security Engineer
$190,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 48.1%
- Live roles
- 2,004
Highest-paying jobs
Offensive Security Agent Engineer
Offensive Security Engineer, Agent Products
Member of Technical Staff (Offensive Security Engineer)
Offensive Hardware Security Engineer, Platform Security
Principal Offensive Security Engineer
Staff Offensive Security Engineer
Senior Information Security Engineer, Offensive Security
Staff Offensive Security Engineer
Senior Information Security Engineer, Offensive Security
Senior Information Security Engineer, Offensive Security
Highest-paying jobs
Senior Security Platform Engineer I
Staff AI Security Engineer
Principal Software Engineer, Infrastructure Security
Principal Security Engineer, Infrastructure Security
Offensive Security Engineer, Agent Products
Offensive Security Agent Engineer
Staff+ Application Security Engineer
Staff+ Software Engineer, Cybersecurity Products
Staff+ Software Security Engineer
Staff+ Application Security Engineer - M&A
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Fortreum
|
$145,000 | 4 |
| GR GRVTY | $212,500 | 3 |
|
OpenAI
|
$418,500 | 2 |
|
Samsara
|
$213,310 | 2 |
|
Robinhood
|
$193,114 | 2 |
Accenture Federal Services
|
$174,200 | 2 |
TP-Link Systems Inc.
|
$106,000 | 2 |
|
Anthropic
|
$362,500 | 1 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
SpaceX
|
$146,250 | 32 |
EverAI
|
$104,103 | 21 |
|
OpenAI
|
$355,500 | 19 |
Anduril Industries
|
$204,500 | 19 |
Elastic
|
$119,534 | 16 |
|
Anthropic
|
$362,500 | 15 |
DigitalOcean
|
$189,900 | 13 |
Palantir
|
$167,500 | 13 |
Penetration Tester salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $337,500 | 6 |
| New York | $312,500 | 7 |
| Seattle | $268,750 | 6 |
Penetration Tester vs Security Engineer: which pays more?
The median for Penetration Tester is $183,600 per year (typically $148,921–$219,255), versus $190,000 for Security Engineer ($146,950–$230,000). That puts Security Engineer about 3% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Penetration Tester and Security 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.