Side-by-side distribution
Backend Engineer
$185,838
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 33.4%
- Live roles
- 2,487
Mobile Engineer
$162,656
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 33.7%
- Live roles
- 626
Highest-paying jobs
Intermediate Backend Software Engineer
Senior Staff Backend Engineer ($500k - $1.5m salary)
Lead Backend Developer – Typescript (Node.js)
Staff Software Engineer (Backend)
Lead Software Engineer (Backend)
Senior/Staff Backend Engineer, Applied AI
Backend Engineer, AI
Backend Engineer
Senior Backend Engineer
Senior Backend Engineer (Java)
Highest-paying jobs
Senior Software Engineer, Frontend (Web, React Native Mobile)
Mobile iOS Engineer
Mobile Android Engineer
Senior Software Engineer (Mobile)
Mobile Engineer
Founding Mobile Engineer (React Native)
Android Engineer, ChatGPT Mobile Infrastructure
iOS Engineer, ChatGPT Mobile Infrastructure
Mobile Android Engineer
Mobile iOS Engineer
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Air Apps
|
$68,094 | 33 |
Remote
|
$86,575 | 30 |
Grafana Labs
|
$180,940 | 19 |
Databricks
|
$195,500 | 15 |
Affirm
|
$183,000 | 13 |
Whoop
|
$150,000 | 11 |
Brex
|
$171,000 | 10 |
|
OpenAI
|
$307,500 | 9 |
Mindrift
Konrad
ABM UK
Life360
Backend Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $216,000 | 174 |
| New York | $207,500 | 175 |
| Seattle | $196,750 | 40 |
| Los Angeles | $184,075 | 14 |
| Austin | $179,000 | 10 |
| Boston | $175,000 | 25 |
| Chicago | $173,000 | 7 |
| Atlanta | $173,000 | 3 |
| Denver | $167,300 | 7 |
| Singapore | $151,940 | 3 |
Backend Engineer vs Mobile Engineer: which pays more?
The median for Backend Engineer is $185,838 per year (typically $145,000–$225,000), versus $162,656 for Mobile Engineer ($84,600–$201,369). That puts Backend Engineer about 14% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Backend Engineer and Mobile 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.