Side-by-side distribution
Firmware Engineer
$190,500
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 51.3%
- Live roles
- 197
Software Engineer
$191,500
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 43.5%
- Live roles
- 15,390
Highest-paying jobs
Staff Firmware Engineer
Firmware Engineer, Robotics
ASIC Firmware Engineer, Modeling
Networking Operating System Firmware Engineer
Firmware Engineer, RTOS, Consumer Devices
Staff Embedded Firmware Engineer
Firmware Engineer, Robotics and Surgery Engineering
Founding Firmware Engineer
Staff Embedded Software Engineer - Camera Firmware
Firmware/ Embedded Systems Engineer
Highest-paying jobs
Senior Software Engineer, Growth
Intermediate Backend Software Engineer
Lead Software Engineer (Backend)
Staff Software Engineer (Backend)
Lead Software Engineer, Generative AI
Senior Software Engineer, Generative AI
Senior Software Engineer, Machine Learning (Audio)
Software Engineer - EVM
Software Engineer - Compliance
Software Engineer - Stellar
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Anduril Industries
|
$222,000 | 12 |
|
OpenAI
|
$345,500 | 4 |
CoreWeave
|
$197,500 | 3 |
ALSO
|
$190,000 | 3 |
Mach Industries
|
$172,500 | 3 |
42dot
|
$228,000 | 2 |
Everpure
|
$216,250 | 2 |
ChargePoint
|
$202,500 | 2 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
|
Anduril Industries
|
$222,000 | 293 |
|
OpenAI
|
$308,750 | 106 |
Speechify
|
$170,000 | 102 |
Databricks
|
$214,700 | 92 |
Roblox
|
$268,610 | 84 |
Applied Intuition
|
$176,750 | 78 |
Palantir
|
$167,500 | 74 |
SpaceX
|
$137,500 | 64 |
Firmware Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $210,458 | 14 |
| New York | $197,500 | 7 |
Software Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| Sydney | $231,271 | 7 |
| San Francisco | $225,000 | 1,377 |
| New York | $212,000 | 1,154 |
| Seattle | $210,000 | 406 |
| Austin | $186,250 | 126 |
| Boston | $186,050 | 248 |
| Los Angeles | $182,000 | 169 |
| Chicago | $180,000 | 117 |
| Denver | $177,500 | 106 |
| London | $173,654 | 108 |
Firmware Engineer vs Software Engineer: which pays more?
The median for Firmware Engineer is $190,500 per year (typically $155,000–$218,250), versus $191,500 for Software Engineer ($155,000–$225,000). That puts Software Engineer about 1% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Firmware Engineer and Software 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.