Side-by-side distribution
Embedded Engineer
$185,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 52.3%
- Live roles
- 442
Full-Stack
$175,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 30.5%
- Live roles
- 2,818
Highest-paying jobs
Principal Embedded Security Engineer
Software Engineer, Embedded Agentic AI
Staff Embedded Firmware Engineer
Principal Embedded Software Engineer
Embedded Software Engineer / Tech lead, Onboard Test Automation
Embedded SW Engineer
Staff Embedded Linux Engineer
Embedded Systems Engineer-Federal
Lead Embedded Linux Engineer - Intercom
Senior Embedded Systems Engineer
Highest-paying jobs
Senior Staff Full Stack Engineer ($500k - $1.5m salary)
Senior/Staff Full Stack Engineer, Applied AI
Forward Deployed Engineer, Full-Stack
Staff Full Stack Engineer ($300k - $500k salary)
Fullstack Engineer, RL Environments
Senior Software Engineer (Full-Stack)
Staff Software Engineer, Fullstack
Staff+ Software Engineer, Full-stack
Software Engineer, Full Stack
Software Engineer, Full Stack, Tinker
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Anduril Industries
|
$199,500 | 23 |
Silvus Technologies
|
$170,000 | 10 |
SpaceX
|
$142,500 | 8 |
| AX Axon | $183,300 | 7 |
|
Verkada
|
$245,000 | 6 |
TP-Link Systems Inc.
|
$140,000 | 6 |
STR
|
$130,500 | 6 |
Applied Intuition
|
$200,000 | 5 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
OpenAI
|
$307,500 | 17 |
Accenture Federal Services
|
$161,175 | 14 |
| TP Third-Party Job Posts | $155,000 | 14 |
Databricks
|
$205,802 | 12 |
Silver.dev
|
$95,500 | 8 |
|
Anduril Industries
|
$222,000 | 6 |
Benchling
|
$189,028 | 6 |
Affirm
|
$170,500 | 6 |
Embedded Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| Toronto | $195,500 | 4 |
| San Francisco | $195,000 | 17 |
| Seattle | $193,000 | 13 |
| New York | $185,000 | 5 |
| Los Angeles | $181,250 | 16 |
| Boston | $173,750 | 11 |
| Austin | $165,725 | 8 |
| Denver | $161,250 | 4 |
Full-Stack salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $210,500 | 176 |
| Seattle | $210,000 | 31 |
| New York | $200,000 | 189 |
| Austin | $180,900 | 14 |
| Boston | $174,000 | 33 |
| Denver | $172,100 | 6 |
| Los Angeles | $157,750 | 16 |
| Chicago | $155,000 | 21 |
| Atlanta | $151,250 | 8 |
| Berlin | $145,499 | 3 |
Embedded Engineer vs Full-Stack: which pays more?
The median for Embedded Engineer is $185,000 per year (typically $155,000–$207,500), versus $175,000 for Full-Stack ($137,999–$210,000). That puts Embedded Engineer about 6% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Embedded Engineer and Full-Stack 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.