Side-by-side distribution
AWS
$170,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 32.7%
- Live roles
- 1,160
Network Engineer
$159,200
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 35.1%
- Live roles
- 686
Highest-paying jobs
Principal .NET Software Engineer- Cloud Payments Platform
Principal .NET Software Engineer - Cloud Payments Platform
Cloud Engineer
Software Engineer, Cloud Infrastructure
Staff + Sr. Software Engineer, Cloud Inference
Member of Technical Staff (Software Engineer, Cloud Infrastructure)
Security Engineer, Cloud Infrastructure
Staff Software Engineer, Replit Cloud
Software Engineer, Cloud Agents
Senior Cloud Engineer (Chicago)
Highest-paying jobs
Network Engineer
Network Engineer, Supercomputing
Optical Network Engineer
Software Engineer - Network (C++)
Network Engineer - ML Infrastructure (High-Speed Interconnects)
Network Engineer, Capacity and Efficiency
Staff Fiber Network Engineer
Senior Network Engineer
Data Center Network Engineer
Principal Network Engineer
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Captivation Software
|
$200,000 | 25 |
Accenture Federal Services
|
$153,850 | 24 |
TP-Link Systems Inc.
|
$152,500 | 9 |
LIGHTFEATHER IO LLC
|
$130,000 | 9 |
Crusoe
|
$175,250 | 8 |
Anduril Industries
|
$193,000 | 7 |
Illumio
|
$198,250 | 6 |
Esri
|
$113,360 | 6 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Saalex
|
$115,000 | 11 |
SpaceX
|
$137,500 | 10 |
|
Crusoe
|
$226,250 | 8 |
Sigma Defense
|
$127,500 | 8 |
Fluidstack
|
$240,196 | 6 |
|
Anduril Industries
|
$179,500 | 6 |
Rocket Lab Corporation
|
$165,000 | 6 |
Metropolis
|
$220,000 | 5 |
AWS salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| Chicago | $230,500 | 5 |
| San Francisco | $225,000 | 36 |
| New York | $205,969 | 30 |
| Seattle | $193,000 | 15 |
| Austin | $192,400 | 8 |
| Atlanta | $178,825 | 4 |
| Denver | $175,000 | 5 |
| Boston | $174,000 | 8 |
| Toronto | $171,093 | 3 |
| Los Angeles | $167,500 | 16 |
Network Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $227,750 | 34 |
| Austin | $200,000 | 3 |
| Denver | $192,500 | 3 |
| Seattle | $189,900 | 10 |
| London | $183,946 | 6 |
| New York | $175,000 | 29 |
| Chicago | $175,000 | 7 |
| Los Angeles | $150,000 | 11 |
| Boston | $148,750 | 6 |
| Toronto | $140,000 | 3 |
AWS vs Network Engineer: which pays more?
The median for AWS is $170,000 per year (typically $136,500–$200,000), versus $159,200 for Network Engineer ($126,798–$198,786). That puts AWS about 7% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so AWS and Network 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.