Side by side

Security Engineer vs Software Engineer

Security Engineer pays more: a median of $148,000 against $125,500. There is 4.3× more demand for Software Engineer. Listings for Software Engineer move faster — median age 68 days against 80.

Comparison

Side by side

MeasureSecurity EngineerSoftware EngineerGap
Open postings21,56392,298-70,735
Posted this week1,2393,101
Median salary$148,000$125,500+$22.5k
25th percentile$117k$99k
75th percentile$184k$156k
Salary disclosed8.7%6.2%
Remote share8.3%13.0%-4.7pp
Median age of posting80d68d
Open over 60 days49.6%43.1%
Visa sponsorship14.2%23.5%
Pay

Pay distribution

Security Engineer

$67k$256k

Software Engineer

$56k$217k
Freshness

How old the listings are

Security Engineer

just posted80d median90d+

Software Engineer

just posted68d median90d+
Demand

What each side asks for

Security Engineer — technologies

TypeScript
72.0%
Go
65.8%
HubSpot
59.6%
Docker
53.4%
Figma
47.2%
dbt
41.0%
React
34.8%

Software Engineer — technologies

HubSpot
72.0%
AWS
65.8%
Java
59.6%
Swift
53.4%
GCP
47.2%
JavaScript
41.0%
Azure
34.8%

Security Engineer — employers

Kestrel Health
9.4%
Fairmount Legal
8.7%
Aperture Labs
8.0%
Ironbark Manufacturing
7.2%
Beacon Robotics
6.5%
Solstice Biotech
5.8%
Rivergate Media
5.1%

Software Engineer — employers

Kestrel Health
9.4%
Northwind Systems
8.7%
Fairmount Legal
8.0%
Cobalt Financial
7.2%
Meridian Software
6.5%
Umbra Security
5.8%
Tidewater Insurance
5.1%

Track this slice

A weekly note when openings, pay or freshness move for Security Engineer vs Software Engineer.

More comparisons

Other Engineering 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%.