Side-by-side distribution
Network Engineer
$159,200
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 35.1%
- Live roles
- 686
SRE
$177,500
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 39.5%
- Live roles
- 1,174
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
Software Engineer (Site Reliability)
Site Reliability Engineer
Senior Site Reliability Engineer
Site Reliability Engineer
Senior Site Reliability Engineer
Staff Software Engineer, AI Reliability Engineering
Site Reliability Engineer
Software Engineer, Reliability
Site Reliability Engineer, Frontier Systems Infrastructure
Staff Software Engineer, AI Reliability
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 |
|---|---|---|
|
SpaceX
|
$137,500 | 21 |
|
Anduril Industries
|
$193,000 | 20 |
MongoDB
|
$187,500 | 12 |
Okta
|
$230,500 | 11 |
Air Apps
|
$71,586 | 10 |
| SE Sezzle | $87,000 | 8 |
mthree Recruiting Portal
|
$54,750 | 8 |
Vast
|
$213,876 | 7 |
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 |
SRE salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $225,250 | 60 |
| New York | $188,000 | 57 |
| Seattle | $188,000 | 16 |
| Austin | $188,000 | 11 |
| Atlanta | $187,000 | 11 |
| Boston | $180,763 | 18 |
| Chicago | $180,000 | 21 |
| Denver | $180,000 | 7 |
| Los Angeles | $177,500 | 6 |
| Toronto | $177,000 | 19 |
Network Engineer vs SRE: which pays more?
The median for Network Engineer is $159,200 per year (typically $126,798–$198,786), versus $177,500 for SRE ($130,000–$209,500). That puts SRE about 11% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Network Engineer and SRE 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.