Graduate base salary
$235,000 to $300,000
Quantitative research analysts, US
First-year total pay
ReportedAbout $386,000
Average that entry-level researchers report
Intern pay
$4,500 to $5,800 a week
Quantitative research analyst interns, US
Typical base, US
$187,000 to $250,000
Middle half of filed pay, all quant roles and levels
Non-compete
Up to 2 years
For higher-paid staff, linked to total pay
New York quant researcher, first year
EstimateAbout $325,000 to $450,000
Base plus bonus at every firm, for comparison
Citadel is a multi-strategy hedge fund. Ken Griffin started it in 1990 with $4.6 million, trading convertible bonds, and it took the name Citadel in 1994. It is a separate firm from Citadel Securities, the market maker, and the two hire and pay separately.
Getting in is hard: Citadel says fewer than 0.5% of applicants to its graduate roles are accepted. Those who are start on one of the higher advertised bases in the industry, and a discretionary incentive payment decides how far total pay goes beyond it.
How much does Citadel pay graduates?
A graduate quantitative research analyst at Citadel starts on a base of $235,000 to $300,000. The role is based in New York, Miami or Greenwich, and the ad adds a discretionary incentive payment without naming an amount. Where a new hire lands in the range is not published.
The range is wide at the bottom and capped at the top. Experienced software engineers, with six or more years, are advertised at $150,000 to $300,000, so the most senior base in that ad is no higher than the graduate one. At Citadel, the difference between a first year and a tenth is made in the incentive payment.
What does Citadel typically pay across its quant roles?
Across its US quant roles and every level, the middle half of the base Citadel files is $187,000 to $250,000. Developers sit a little above researchers, as the table shows.
Typical base pay at Citadel in the US, July 2025 to June 2026
| Role | Typical base | Median |
|---|---|---|
| Quant researcher | $182,000 to $238,000 | $194,000 |
| Quant developer | $193,000 to $263,000 | $238,000 |
The middle half of the base Citadel files for each role, across every level it hires at. The bonus is paid on top.
That figure sits below the graduate ad for a reason. Citadel files a range for most positions, and each range counts at its middle, while the lower end is often the legal minimum for the role rather than a salary anyone is paid. The upper end of each range, in the table below, is closer to what the ads state.
Filed US base salaries, July 2025 to June 2026
| Job title as filed | Lower end (median) | Upper end (median) |
|---|---|---|
| Software Engineer | $200,000 | $295,000 |
| Quantitative Researcher | $68,869 | $300,000 |
| Quantitative Developer | $150,000 | $272,500 |
| Quantitative Research Engineer | $200,000 | $275,000 |
Citadel files a range for most positions. The lower end is often the legal minimum for the role, not a typical salary, so read the two ends together.
What does the first year pay in total?
Our estimate for a first-year quant researcher, across every firm in New York, is $325,000 to $450,000 in base and bonus together. Citadel does not publish its incentive payments, so its own first-year figure comes from what its researchers report, and it lands inside that range.
Reported by employeesReported
Ten entry-level quantitative researchers have reported their pay at Citadel. Their total pay averages about $386,000: a base of about $252,000 and a bonus of about $132,000. The reports run from $225,000 to $600,000 in total pay and date from 2024 to 2026.
How does pay grow after the first year?
Almost entirely through the incentive payment. In what Citadel’s researchers and engineers report, the base barely moves between the first year and the seventh, while total pay climbs with each band of experience.
What Citadel employees in the US report, by years of experienceReported
| Experience | Base | Total pay |
|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | $250,000 | $350,000 to $386,000 |
| 1 to 3 years | $260,000 | $405,000 to $450,000 |
| 4 to 6 years | $255,000 | $466,000 to $550,000 |
| 7 years or more | $250,000 | $550,000 to $600,000 |
Base and bonus that traders, researchers and developers report on public pay sites. Total pay is the middle half of what they report, or both figures where two people report. A single year’s bonus can fall well outside it.
For the market as a whole, our estimate for a New York quant researcher with 4 to 6 years of experience is $435,000 to $930,000, across every firm. The top of that range is a strong year at the best-paying firms, and a single year’s payout can land well outside it.
How much do Citadel interns earn?
Quantitative research analyst interns earn a base of $4,500 to $5,800 a week. The ad says interns may also receive a sign-on bonus, a housing stipend or covered accommodation, and company-sponsored travel, without giving amounts.
The top of that range matches HRT, which pays $5,800 a week to its New York algorithm development interns. SIG pays more for Master’s and PhD students: $8,600 a week in New York.
How long are Citadel’s non-competes?
Up to two years for higher-paid staff, and at least 12 months for analysts, according to press reports in August 2026. The length is linked to total pay. In January 2025 Citadel had already extended the non-competes of some portfolio managers to 21 months.
The clause matters for pay, not only for your next move. While a leaver sits out, firms pay the base salary but not the bonus, so a long non-compete can cost most of a year’s total pay. In 2025 Citadel also backed a Florida bill to extend non-competes to four years. Read this clause in any offer before you sign.
How does Citadel compare with other firms?
The top of Citadel’s graduate range matches the flat $300,000 that Jane Street, HRT and SIG advertise, but its range starts lower, at $235,000. Citadel Securities, the market maker, advertises the same $235,000 to $300,000 for its graduate engineers. DRW advertises $250,000 to $300,000, and IMC $250,000.
Citadel states $235,000 to $300,000, the highest graduate base in any US ad, level with Jane Street, Hudson River Trading and SIG. This is base pay only: the bonus comes on top, and within a few years it grows to match or pass the base.
- Hudson River Trading$300,000
- Jane Street$300,000
- Jump Tradingintern rate$300,000
- SIG$300,000
- DRW$250,000 to $300,000
- Citadel$235,000 to $300,000
- Citadel Securities$235,000 to $300,000
- IMC$250,000
- Optiver$200,000
- Two Sigma$165,000 to $190,000
- Flow Traders$175,000
The base salary each firm states in its US graduate job ads, September 2026. The bonus comes on top.
How do you get a Citadel offer?
Citadel hires quant researchers to build and test the signals its investment teams trade on. Its interviews test probability and statistics, how you reason about data and models, and how well you know your own work: expect to defend a past project or a thesis in depth, one follow-up question at a time.
The quant researcher interview guide explains how these rounds run at hedge funds and trading firms, and what each stage filters for. Work through it before the first call, because the pay above only follows the offer.