Side by side
Backend Engineer vs Site Reliability Engineer
Site Reliability Engineer pays more: a median of $158,500 against $138,000. There is 4.6× more demand for Site Reliability Engineer. Listings for Backend Engineer move faster — median age 78 days against 90.
Comparison
Side by side
| Measure | Backend Engineer | Site Reliability Engineer | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open postings | 8,361 | 38,673 | -30,312 |
| Posted this week | 646 | 1,680 | |
| Median salary | $138,000 | $158,500 | $-20.5k |
| 25th percentile | $109k | $125k | |
| 75th percentile | $171k | $197k | |
| Salary disclosed | 6.4% | 7.6% | |
| Remote share | 3.5% | 3.0% | +0.5pp |
| Median age of posting | 78d | 90d | |
| Open over 60 days | 31.2% | 36.0% | |
| Visa sponsorship | 20.9% | 14.0% |
Pay
Pay distribution
Backend Engineer
$62k$239k
Site Reliability Engineer
$71k$274k
Freshness
How old the listings are
Backend Engineer
just posted78d median90d+
Site Reliability Engineer
just posted90d median90d+
Demand
What each side asks for
Backend Engineer — technologies
Site Reliability Engineer — technologies
Backend Engineer — employers
Site Reliability Engineer — employers
More comparisons
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Both sides are counted the same way on the same day, so the gap is comparable even where the
absolute numbers move. Salary figures use only postings that publish a range — the disclosure
rate is in the table because a median over 20% of a cohort is a weaker number than one over 70%.