Popular destinations
Skill trends, comparisons, salary context, resume help and long-form guides — jump straight to what brings people back.
Backend Engineer salary
Compensation for backend engineers — APIs, microservices, databases, Go, Java and distributed systems.
The median Backend Engineer salary is $128,378, with most listings between $83,512 and $171,972, based on 706 active listings with employer-disclosed pay.
Source: Datamata Studios — methodology and update cadence.
At a glance
- Figures use the midpoint of employer-published salary_min and salary_max — not self-reported surveys or aggregator estimates.
- Based on 777 active backend engineer listings in the current index.
Compensation range — Backend Engineer
From 706 listings with disclosed salary fields
25th percentile
$83,512
Lower end of market
Median
$128,378
Midpoint of postings
75th percentile
$171,972
Upper-market range
| Percentile | USD |
|---|---|
| 25th | 83512 |
| Median | 128378 |
| 75th | 171972 |
Seniority mix
How backend engineer listings break down by seniority level.
Skill salary premiums
Median pay when a skill appears in a backend engineer listing (minimum three matches). Bar shows relative salary vs top skill.
- Grafana$168,139
- Linear$167,689
- Machine Learning$167,326
- AI Agents$162,500
- Kafka$148,007
- Stakeholder Mgmt$135,923
Go deeper
Explore more Backend Engineer market data
Data Analyst salary
Ranges, seniority mix and skill premiums for this role
Data Engineer salary
Ranges, seniority mix and skill premiums for this role
Data Scientist salary
Ranges, seniority mix and skill premiums for this role
Analytics Engineer salary
Ranges, seniority mix and skill premiums for this role
Become a Backend Engineer
The skills, learning path and entry route for backend engineer roles
Compare Backend Engineer to other roles
Pay, skills and hiring volume side by side against similar roles
Skill demand trends
Which backend engineer skills are rising and falling this week
Salary hub
Compensation benchmarks across all data and tech categories
Jobs market report
Full market report with salary ranges, demand data and key findings
Backend Engineer salary FAQ
What is the average Backend Engineer salary in 2026?
The median Backend Engineer salary is $128,378, with most listings falling between $83,512 (25th percentile) and $171,972 (75th percentile). This is based on 706 active job listings with employer-disclosed pay ranges.
Which skills increase Backend Engineer pay the most?
Grafana is associated with the highest median pay for backend engineer listings at $168,139, followed by Linear ($167,689). Premiums reflect the median salary of listings that mention each skill, with a minimum of three matched listings.
How does seniority affect Backend Engineer salary?
Across current backend engineer listings, senior-level roles are the most common at 70% of postings. Senior and lead positions typically sit toward the 75th percentile ($171,972), while entry-level roles cluster nearer the 25th percentile ($83,512).
How is this Backend Engineer salary data calculated?
Figures use the midpoint of each employer's published salary_min and salary_max from active job listings — not self-reported surveys or third-party aggregator estimates. The data refreshes daily as new listings are indexed.
Related tools
Free utilities and Pro tools that use the same listings.