Side-by-side distribution
Sales Engineer
$162,500
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 46.1%
- Live roles
- 922
SDR
$69,628
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 34.6%
- Live roles
- 1,746
Highest-paying jobs
Principal Sales Systems Engineer
Field Sales Engineer
Senior Sales Systems Engineer, Kasten, West
Director, Enterprise Sales Engineer (West)
Senior Solutions Engineer - Pre Sales (SF)
Sales Engineer (Bay Area)
Senior Solutions Engineer - Pre Sales (NYC)
Principal Sales Engineer – Warehouse Robotics Systems
Forward Deployed AI Engineer (Post-Sales)
Solutions Engineer (AI/ML, Pre-Sales)
Highest-paying jobs
Sales Development Representative
Sales Development Representative - Tax & Accounting SaaS
Sales Development Representative - B2B Insurance
Sales Development Representative (Insurance Tech)
Sales Development Representative - Medical Equipment
Lead RF Systems Engineer (Tactical Comms / SDR / DSP)
SDR Manager
Senior Electrical Engineer- SDR Hardware
Senior FPGA & Firmware Engineer - SDR
Sales Development Representative Manager
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
CaptiveAire
|
$85,000 | 33 |
Zscaler
|
$188,063 | 32 |
Samsara
|
$124,574 | 22 |
Datadog
|
$137,500 | 15 |
| RL Rithum LinkedIn Board | $130,000 | 15 |
| AX Axon | $146,250 | 12 |
Everpure
|
$176,750 | 11 |
Sierra
|
$215,000 | 10 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Remote
|
$70,950 | 21 |
Getwingapp
|
$13,200 | 13 |
talentpluto
|
$82,500 | 8 |
Sitemate
|
$70,134 | 7 |
Verkada
|
$62,500 | 7 |
ZoomInfo Technologies LLC
|
$60,008 | 7 |
Piston Technologies
|
$60,000 | 7 |
Airwallex
|
$92,652 | 6 |
Sales Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| Atlanta | $215,000 | 12 |
| London | $203,842 | 5 |
| Los Angeles | $195,460 | 8 |
| San Francisco | $195,000 | 59 |
| New York | $180,000 | 67 |
| Boston | $176,650 | 16 |
| Seattle | $176,350 | 12 |
| Toronto | $146,552 | 5 |
| Chicago | $142,500 | 6 |
| Austin | $138,175 | 5 |
SDR salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| Seattle | $101,300 | 4 |
| San Francisco | $90,000 | 73 |
| New York | $80,650 | 91 |
| Austin | $78,750 | 36 |
| Los Angeles | $78,000 | 5 |
| Dublin | $75,849 | 3 |
| Sydney | $72,000 | 6 |
| London | $67,793 | 30 |
| Boston | $65,000 | 24 |
| Chicago | $58,250 | 24 |
Sales Engineer vs SDR: which pays more?
The median for Sales Engineer is $162,500 per year (typically $130,000–$205,793), versus $69,628 for SDR ($55,038–$87,500). That puts Sales Engineer about 133% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Sales Engineer and SDR 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.