Side-by-side distribution
Penetration Tester
$160,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 40.5%
- Live roles
- 158
Security Engineer
$170,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 44.3%
- Live roles
- 3,825
Highest-paying jobs
Member of Technical Staff (Offensive Security Engineer)
Security Engineer, Offensive Security
Security Engineer, Level 5, Offensive Security
Senior Offensive Security Engineer
Senior Offensive Security Engineer
Staff Security Engineer (Penetration Tester)
Senior Information Security Engineer, Offensive Security
Sr. Staff Security Engineer – AI, VMR, Offensive Security
Offensive Security Engineer
Staff Offensive Security Engineer
Highest-paying jobs
Research Engineer, Cybersecurity RL (Reinforcement Learning)
Staff Security Engineer
Principal Software Engineer, Infrastructure Security
Staff Security Reliability Engineer
Principal Security Engineer, Infrastructure Security
Staff + Software Security Engineer, Secure Frameworks
Staff+ Application Security Engineer - M&A
Staff + Software Security Engineer, Labs
Staff+ Software Engineer, Cybersecurity Products
Staff+ Software Security Engineer
GDIT
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Booz Allen Hamilton
|
$142,400 | 62 |
SpaceX
|
$147,500 | 47 |
CACI
|
$153,625 | 42 |
Anduril Industries
|
$193,000 | 30 |
Leidos
|
$151,475 | 30 |
| SE Sezzle | $87,000 | 27 |
Mozilla
|
$85,799 | 19 |
Samsara
|
$198,088 | 18 |
Penetration Tester salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $257,500 | 4 |
| New York | $225,000 | 7 |
| Denver | $198,088 | 8 |
| Seattle | $194,044 | 6 |
Security Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $230,250 | 242 |
| New York | $204,000 | 229 |
| Seattle | $203,000 | 111 |
| Boston | $185,250 | 56 |
| London | $180,000 | 23 |
| Los Angeles | $180,000 | 42 |
| Atlanta | $180,000 | 29 |
| Austin | $179,000 | 48 |
| Denver | $177,000 | 54 |
| Singapore | $158,850 | 4 |
Penetration Tester vs Security Engineer: which pays more?
The median for Penetration Tester is $160,000 per year (typically $139,950–$202,522), versus $170,000 for Security Engineer ($135,000–$210,000). That puts Security Engineer about 6% 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.