Jane Street Salary Guide 2025
What traders, quants, and software engineers actually earn at Jane Street
Quick Summary
New grads at Jane Street can expect total compensation of $300k-$700k, with traders typically at the higher end. Senior professionals commonly earn $800k-$2mm+, with exceptional years bringing even higher outcomes.
Latest Numbers from Jane Street
Jane Street is set to pay its average employee $1.4M/year. In the first half of 2025:
- • $10.1B revenue
- • $6.9B net income
- • $1.9B total compensation
- • ~2,900 employees
This $1.4M average includes everyone from new grads to senior partners, explaining the wide ranges below. Source: Bloomberg
If you spend five minutes on the internet, you'll see Jane Street salaries quoted with all kinds of breathless numbers. Some are close; others miss the mark because they either ignore the bonus structure or extrapolate one-off banger years. Below is a sober, sourced walkthrough of how compensation at Jane Street generally works in 2025.
How Jane Street Compensation Is Structured
Compensation has two primary components:
Stable salary, role and level dependent
Performance-based, the real swing factor
Unlike some multi-manager hedge funds that tie payout directly to a portfolio's P&L cut, Jane Street's bonus is more firm- and desk-level performance-driven, with strong emphasis on individual impact, trading results, and risk discipline.
New Grad and Early-Career Ranges (2025)
These figures triangulate public reports, reputable offer repositories, and recent recruiting cycles. Exact numbers vary by team and market conditions, but the ranges below are representative.
| Role | Base Salary | Total Compensation | Key Drivers |
|---|---|---|---|
Trader (New Grad) | $200k – $250k | $400k – $700k | Bonus driven by desk results and individual impact |
Quant Researcher (New Grad) | $200k – $250k | $350k – $600k | Model impact, alpha contribution, trading collaboration |
Software Engineer (New Grad) | $200k – $250k | $300k – $500k | More stable bonus; infra roles can earn higher |
Mid-Level and Senior Ranges
As responsibility increases, so does volatility of outcomes. In strong years, senior traders and researchers can see seven-figure bonuses. Sustained impact and leadership responsibility tend to correlate with higher percentiles.
Experienced Trader
$800k – $2mm+
Higher outcomes in exceptional years
Senior Quant Researcher
$600k – $1.5mm+
Depends on alpha durability and firm results
Senior Software Engineer
$500k – $1mm+
High-impact teams see occasional outliers
Sources and Context
Public pay databases can materially understate total compensation because they lag market cycles and rarely capture the full distribution of bonus outcomes. For grounding, see:
- Jane Street recruiting pages —Official Source
- Industry compensation reports —Institutional Investor
What Actually Moves Your Number
Three drivers matter most over time:
- Scope of responsibility (capital, strategy coverage, ownership)
- Repeatable impact (alpha contribution, tooling that compounds)
- Firm and desk environment (volatility creates winners and droughts)
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