Side-by-side distribution
Network Engineer
$159,200
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 35.1%
- Live roles
- 686
Platform Engineer
$195,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 43.4%
- Live roles
- 4,058
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
Highest-paying jobs
Platform Engineer
Senior Staff+ Software Engineer, Kubernetes Platform
Staff+ Infrastructure Engineer, Cluster Infrastructure
Software Engineer, Research Infrastructure
Security Platform Engineer
Senior Security Platform Engineer I
Principal .NET Software Engineer - Cloud Payments Platform
Principal .NET Software Engineer- Cloud Payments Platform
SOC Emulation Engineer - Hardware Emulation Infrastructure
Infrastructure Engineer
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 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Speechify
|
$170,000 | 79 |
|
OpenAI
|
$307,500 | 32 |
Nuro
|
$200,450 | 24 |
|
Anduril Industries
|
$222,000 | 23 |
Palantir
|
$167,500 | 21 |
Coinbase
|
$219,873 | 20 |
Databricks
|
$222,325 | 19 |
Reddit
|
$244,500 | 18 |
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 |
Platform Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $230,000 | 405 |
| Seattle | $212,500 | 107 |
| New York | $210,000 | 319 |
| Austin | $202,000 | 33 |
| Los Angeles | $195,000 | 31 |
| Chicago | $195,000 | 19 |
| Boston | $195,000 | 67 |
| Denver | $185,000 | 31 |
| Atlanta | $183,975 | 7 |
| Toronto | $176,413 | 58 |
Network Engineer vs Platform Engineer: which pays more?
The median for Network Engineer is $159,200 per year (typically $126,798–$198,786), versus $195,000 for Platform Engineer ($167,500–$231,500). That puts Platform Engineer about 22% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Network Engineer and Platform 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.