What is the average Cryptography salary?

$220K a year on average and $218K at the median, across 204 open Cryptography postings at companies that state pay (November 2026). The median is the better guide: a few very high offers pull the average up.

What is the typical range?

The middle half of the postings offer $175K to $254K a year. A quarter offer less and a quarter offer more.

Which companies advertise the highest Cryptography pay?

Anthropic ($362K), OpenAI ($352K), Tools For Humanity ($294K), by the median of their open postings that state pay (three postings or more).

Is a cryptography a high-paying job?

The median Cryptography posting advertises $218K a year, more than the median of all 55,899 job postings with pay on Jobs Every Hour ($174K). That is 25% above the middle of the market.

How much can you earn as a cryptography?

A tenth of the postings offer $300K a year or more; the highest open Cryptography role advertises up to $500K. Pay rises with level: see the table by level.

What is the Cryptography salary per hour and per month?

The median of $218K a year is about $105 an hour (2,080 working hours) and $18,125 a month before tax. The middle half of postings: $84 to $122 an hour.

Which skills pay more for Cryptography roles?

Postings that ask for Infrastructure as code (+$18K, 31 postings), Kubernetes (+$14K, 54 postings), Threat modeling (+$14K, 45 postings) advertise more than the $218K median of all Cryptography postings with pay.

What does an entry-level cryptography make?

6 junior and intern Cryptography postings state pay, with a median of $146K a year ($70 an hour).

Where do these figures come from?

From the pay ranges employers print in their own job postings, read from their careers pages every hour. The midpoint of each range is counted. These are advertised ranges for open roles, mostly in the United States and in US dollars, not what people are actually paid.

Cryptography Salary: $220K Average, $218K Median (Nov 2026)

Cryptography salary by level

Lead roles advertise a median of $253K, 16% more than senior roles ($218K). The level comes from the job title; titles without a level word are counted separately.

Level	Median salary	Middle half	Roles
Senior	$218K	$192K–$222K	57
Lead and above	$253K	$222K–$286K	68
No level in the title	$175K	$145K–$215K	73

Cryptography salary by location

Name	Median salary	Roles counted
🇺🇸San Francisco Bay Area	$233K	65
🇺🇸New York, NY	$230K	24
🇺🇸Seattle, WA	$222K	29
🇺🇸United States	$218K	193
🇺🇸California	$218K	110
🇺🇸Washington, DC	$218K	15
🇺🇸Los Angeles, CA	$170K	27

Skills that pay more for Cryptography roles

Skill	Median with it	Above the median	Postings
Infrastructure as code	$236K	+$18K	31
Kubernetes	$232K	+$14K	54
Threat modeling	$232K	+$14K	45
GCP	$228K	+$11K	22
IAM	$226K	+$8K	27

Top-paying companies

Name	Median salary	Roles counted
Anthropic	$362K	9
OpenAI	$352K	4
Tools For Humanity	$294K	6
Goteleport	$262K	6
Ripple	$260K	5
Databricks	$258K	13
Cloudflare	$237K	4
Rubrik	$236K	3
Samsara	$226K	3
Okta	$220K	4
True Anomaly	$218K	3
CoreWeave	$212K	5
Anduril Industries	$212K	15
K2 Space	$200K	3
Samsung Research America	$194K	3
Prove	$192K	9
Applied	$178K	4
SpaceX	$148K	39

Highest-paying open Cryptography roles

All Cryptography jobs

Anthropic Research ResidentAnthropic · 🇺🇸San Francisco, CA | New York City, NY$350K - $500KMachine LearningLLMKubernetes2w
Staff+ Software Security EngineerAnthropic · 🇺🇸San Francisco, CA | New York City, NY | Seattle, WA$405K - $485KLead and aboveRustGoPython9mo
Staff Security ArchitectLambda · Bellevue Office$314K - $465KHybridLead and aboveGoPythonTerraform5w
Software Engineer, HSM Infrastructure Security, Consumer DevicesOpenAI · 🇺🇸San Francisco$347K - $445KRustC++AWS2mo
Software Engineer, HSM Infrastructure Security, Consumer DevicesOpenAI · 🇺🇸Seattle$347K - $445KRustC++AWS5w
Principal Machine Learning Engineer (AI/Platform)- League of LegendsRiot Games · 🇺🇸Los Angeles, USA$292K - $438KLead and aboveMachine LearningKubernetesAI2mo
Software Engineer, Payments InfrastructureSierra · 🇺🇸San Francisco, CA$230K - $390KGoLLMCloud security3w
Principal Security Software Engineer, Application SecurityRoblox · 🇺🇸San Mateo, CA, United States$326K - $385KLead and aboveGoPythonC#7mo
Staff/Senior Staff Software Engineer - Product SecurityZoox · 🇺🇸Foster City, CA$292K - $375KLead and aboveAWSInfrastructure as codeApplication security2mo
Head of Product DesignTools For Humanity · 🇺🇸San Francisco$306K - $360KLead and aboveAgileHTMLCryptography2mo
Principal Security Software Engineer (Starlink)SpaceX · 🇺🇸Palo Alto, CA$235K - $355KLead and aboveGoPythonC++2mo
Security Engineer, Application SecurityFigure · 🇺🇸San Jose, CA$150K - $350KRustGoPython12mo
Security Engineer, Product and Device SecurityFigure · 🇺🇸San Jose, CA$150K - $350KC++CCryptography19mo
Principal Security Software Engineer (Starlink)SpaceX · 🇺🇸Redmond, WA$225K - $345KLead and aboveGoPythonC++5mo
Senior Backend EngineerGoteleport · 🇺🇸United States (Remote)$181K - $342KRemoteSeniorRustGoLinux9mo
Senior Backend Engineer - Application AccessGoteleport · 🇺🇸United States (Remote)$189K - $342KRemoteSeniorGoLinuxOAuth4mo
Staff Infrastructure Security EngineerHarvey · 🇺🇸San Francisco$231K - $340KHybridLead and aboveGCPAzureKubernetes3w
Staff Infrastructure Security EngineerHarvey · 🇺🇸New York$231K - $340KHybridLead and aboveGCPAzureKubernetes3w
Principal Engineer - PrivacyDatabricks · 🇺🇸Mountain View, California$278K - $339KLead and aboveKubernetesCryptography12mo
Senior Engineering Manager, Fortary PlatformAva Labs · Remote (Global)$225K - $338KRemote, anywhereSeniorCI/CDKubernetesInfrastructure as code4mo

Questions about Cryptography pay

What is the average Cryptography salary?: $220K a year on average and $218K at the median, across 204 open Cryptography postings at companies that state pay (November 2026). The median is the better guide: a few very high offers pull the average up.
What is the typical range?: The middle half of the postings offer $175K to $254K a year. A quarter offer less and a quarter offer more.
Which companies advertise the highest Cryptography pay?: Anthropic ($362K), OpenAI ($352K), Tools For Humanity ($294K), by the median of their open postings that state pay (three postings or more).
Is a cryptography a high-paying job?: The median Cryptography posting advertises $218K a year, more than the median of all 55,899 job postings with pay on Jobs Every Hour ($174K). That is 25% above the middle of the market.
How much can you earn as a cryptography?: A tenth of the postings offer $300K a year or more; the highest open Cryptography role advertises up to $500K. Pay rises with level: see the table by level.
What is the Cryptography salary per hour and per month?: The median of $218K a year is about $105 an hour (2,080 working hours) and $18,125 a month before tax. The middle half of postings: $84 to $122 an hour.
Which skills pay more for Cryptography roles?: Postings that ask for Infrastructure as code (+$18K, 31 postings), Kubernetes (+$14K, 54 postings), Threat modeling (+$14K, 45 postings) advertise more than the $218K median of all Cryptography postings with pay.
What does an entry-level cryptography make?: 6 junior and intern Cryptography postings state pay, with a median of $146K a year ($70 an hour).
Where do these figures come from?: From the pay ranges employers print in their own job postings, read from their careers pages every hour. The midpoint of each range is counted. These are advertised ranges for open roles, mostly in the United States and in US dollars, not what people are actually paid.

Cryptography salary: $218K median