Networking protocols salary: $215K median
The median advertised Networking protocols salary is $215K a year, and the middle half of postings offer $168K to $248K: counted from 256 open roles that publish a yearly US-dollar range: about $103 an hour or $17,938 a month. A tenth of the postings offer $300K or more. Advertised ranges, not verified pay.
Check an offer against these figuresAll Networking protocols jobs
$215Kmedian advertised salary
$168K – $248Kmiddle half of roles
$216Kaverage advertised salary
256roles counted
Networking protocols salary by level
Lead roles advertise a median of $264K, 21% more than senior roles ($220K). The level comes from the job title; titles without a level word are counted separately.
| Level | Median salary | Middle half | Roles |
|---|---|---|---|
| Senior | $220K | $187K–$240K | 102 |
| Lead and above | $264K | $232K–$310K | 49 |
| No level in the title | $171K | $143K–$225K | 102 |
Networking protocols salary by location
| Name | Median salary | Roles counted |
|---|---|---|
| 🇺🇸San Francisco Bay Area | $240K | 114 |
| 🇺🇸California | $222K | 168 |
| 🇺🇸New York, NY | $220K | 20 |
| 🇺🇸United States | $212K | 231 |
| 🇺🇸Seattle, WA | $187K | 46 |
| 🇺🇸Los Angeles, CA | $162K | 26 |
Skills that pay more for Networking protocols roles
| Skill | Median with it | Above the median | Postings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Infrastructure as code | $250K | +$35K | 31 |
| LLM | $248K | +$32K | 32 |
| High-performance computing | $248K | +$32K | 41 |
| Machine Learning | $245K | +$30K | 40 |
| Terraform | $240K | +$25K | 38 |
Top-paying companies
| Name | Median salary | Roles counted |
|---|---|---|
| Anthropic | $402K | 6 |
| Lambda | $330K | 11 |
| OpenAI | $302K | 6 |
| Roblox | $288K | 8 |
| Crusoe | $252K | 10 |
| Baseten | $246K | 6 |
| Pure Storage | $246K | 5 |
| Together AI | $245K | 3 |
| Zoox | $242K | 7 |
| Cloudflare | $240K | 18 |
| CoreWeave | $208K | 4 |
| Anduril Industries | $208K | 20 |
| Nuro | $200K | 11 |
| Fastly | $199K | 4 |
| True Anomaly | $188K | 7 |
| MongoDB | $187K | 3 |
| xAI | $182K | 3 |
| Motional | $174K | 3 |
| K2 Space | $160K | 7 |
| SpaceX | $145K | 39 |
| Applied | $145K | 5 |
| Hermeus | $142K | 3 |
Highest-paying open Networking protocols roles
All Networking protocols jobs- Vice President, Platform OperationsNetskope · 🇺🇸United States$298K - $500KLead and aboveCDNNetwork engineeringData centers
- Software Engineer, SandboxingAnthropic · 🇺🇸San Francisco, CA | New York City, NY | Seattle, WA$320K - $485KRustC++GCP
- Staff+ Software Engineer, Claude App InfrastructureAnthropic · 🇺🇸San Francisco, CA | New York City, NY | Seattle, WA$320K - $485KLead and aboveRustGoPython
- Staff Software Engineer - Infrastructure StorageLambda · 🇺🇸San Francisco Office (Fremont St)$314K - $465KHybridLead and aboveRustC++Machine Learning
- Staff Software Engineer - ComputeLambda · Bellevue Office$314K - $465KHybridLead and aboveRustGoPython
- Networking Operating System Firmware EngineerOpenAI · 🇺🇸San Francisco$225K - $423KHybridRustGoPython
- Software Engineer, Compute InfrastructureOpenAI · 🇺🇸San Francisco$230K - $405KHybridKubernetesNetwork engineeringIncident response
- Systems Software EngineerSunday · 🇺🇸Redwood City, CA$200K - $400KRustC++Linux
- Principal Network Security EngineerRoblox · 🇺🇸San Mateo, CA, United States$326K - $385KLead and aboveGoC++Load balancing
- Staff/Senior Software Engineer, Onboard InfrastructureNuro · 🇺🇸Mountain View, California (HQ)$194K - $352KLead and abovePythonC++Robotics
- Senior/Staff Software Engineer, ML Training OptimizationZoox · 🇺🇸Foster City, CA$254K - $350KLead and abovePythonC++PyTorch
- Principal Software Engineer - StreamingRoblox · 🇺🇸San Mateo, CA, United States$295K - $345KLead and aboveC++LinuxControl systems
- Principal Systems Software ArchitectCrusoe · 🇺🇸San Francisco, CA - US$260K - $340KLead and aboveGCPAzureLLM
- Senior Customer Engineer, Enterprise - San FranciscoCloudflare · Hybrid$214K - $336KHybridSeniorGoPythonJavaScript
- Senior Customer Engineer, Strategic - San FranciscoCloudflare · Hybrid$214K - $336KHybridSeniorGoPythonJavaScript
- Principal Product Manager, AI Infrastructure (Networking)Crusoe · 🇺🇸Sunnyvale, CA - US$285K - $335KLead and aboveAINetwork engineeringHigh-performance computing
- Sr. Software Engineer, Linux KernelxAI · 🇺🇸Seattle, WA$180K - $330KSeniorC++LinuxC
- Software Engineer - Model Performance SystemsBaseten · 🇺🇸San Francisco$165K - $330KHybridPythonC++Machine Learning
- Software Engineer - GPU Networking & Distributed SystemsBaseten · 🇺🇸San Francisco$165K - $330KHybridRustPythonC++
- Product Management Director, SubsystemsPure Storage · 🇺🇸Santa Clara, California$269K - $329KLead and aboveNetwork engineeringStorage systemsHardware interfaces
Questions about Networking protocols pay
- What is the average Networking protocols salary?
- $216K a year on average and $215K at the median, across 256 open Networking protocols 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 $168K to $248K a year. A quarter offer less and a quarter offer more.
- Which companies advertise the highest Networking protocols pay?
- Anthropic ($402K), Lambda ($330K), OpenAI ($302K), by the median of their open postings that state pay (three postings or more).
- Is a networking protocols a high-paying job?
- The median Networking protocols posting advertises $215K a year, more than the median of all 55,899 job postings with pay on Jobs Every Hour ($174K). That is 24% above the middle of the market.
- How much can you earn as a networking protocols?
- A tenth of the postings offer $300K a year or more; the highest open Networking protocols role advertises up to $500K. Pay rises with level: see the table by level.
- What is the Networking protocols salary per hour and per month?
- The median of $215K a year is about $103 an hour (2,080 working hours) and $17,938 a month before tax. The middle half of postings: $81 to $119 an hour.
- Which skills pay more for Networking protocols roles?
- Postings that ask for Infrastructure as code (+$35K, 31 postings), LLM (+$32K, 32 postings), High-performance computing (+$32K, 41 postings) advertise more than the $215K median of all Networking protocols postings with pay.
- 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.
Writing about this? A sentence you can quote
The median advertised salary for Networking protocols roles at companies is $215K a year, and the middle half of postings offer $168K to $248K. Counted from 256 open job postings that state pay, November 2026. Source: Jobs Every Hour, https://jobseveryhour.com/salaries/networking-protocols/
Free to use with the link.