Graduate researcher base
$250,000 to $300,000
In DRW’s campus ad, Chicago and New York
Researcher total, Chicago
ReportedAbout $249,000
Median base plus median bonus, all levels, 2025
Research intern pay
About $4,810 to $5,770 a week
A $250,000 to $300,000 yearly base
Chicago quant researcher, first year
EstimateAbout $295,000 to $450,000
Base plus bonus at every firm, for comparison
DRW is a trading firm founded in 1992 on the idea of applying modelling, technology and quantitative research to global markets. It is headquartered in Chicago, trades with its own capital on exchanges across five continents, and runs Cumberland DRW, its crypto trading business, launched in 2014.
DRW states a base range in its US ads and adds an annual discretionary bonus. Its campus researcher range, $250,000 to $300,000, is one of the highest in the market.
How much does DRW pay graduates?
A graduate quantitative researcher at DRW starts on a base of $250,000 to $300,000 in Chicago or New York, plus an annual discretionary bonus. The campus ad is for candidates graduating between December 2026 and August 2027.
Traders are advertised lower and over a wider range. Quantitative traders on the Chicago futures desk start at $150,000 to $250,000, depending on experience.
What do DRW’s salary filings show?
The typical base in DRW’s US salary filings is $167,000 to $200,000, well below the campus ad. The gap comes from how DRW files: it states a wide range for each position, the lower end is often the legal minimum for the role, and each range counts at its middle.
By role, the typical filed base is $156,000 to $194,000 for traders, $171,000 to $200,000 for researchers and $167,000 to $181,000 for developers. The filings do not say which positions are graduate hires, so read them as pay across levels and the campus ad as the graduate figure.
Filed US base salaries, July 2025 to June 2026
| Job title as filed | Lower end (median) | Upper end (median) |
|---|---|---|
| Quantitative Researcher | $150,000 | $200,000 |
| Quantitative Trading Analyst | $124,446 | $200,000 |
| Software Developer | $151,659 | $200,000 |
DRW 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?
With the first bonus, our estimate for a first-year quant researcher in Chicago is $295,000 to $450,000. That estimate is market-wide, across every firm in the city. DRW does not publish the size of its bonus, so its own staff’s reports are the nearest view of the firm.
Reported by employeesReported
Quantitative researchers at DRW in Chicago report a median base of about $174,000 and a median bonus of about $75,000, across all levels (35 reports, 2025). Researchers with about a year of experience report a base of about $158,000 and a bonus of about $90,000 (3 reports). Both bases sit below the range in the current campus ad.
How does pay grow after the first year?
Through the bonus, above all. In what DRW’s US staff report, the base changes little between one and six years of experience, and the jump comes after year seven, when the bonus reaches or passes the base. Across every Chicago firm, our estimate for a quant researcher with 4 to 6 years is $395,000 to $930,000.
What DRW employees in the US report, by years of experienceReported
| Experience | Base | Total pay |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 3 years | $168,000 | $203,000 to $280,000 |
| 4 to 6 years | $169,000 | $236,000 to $319,000 |
| 7 years or more | $207,000 | $414,000 to $500,000 |
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.
How much do DRW interns earn?
Quantitative research interns earn about $4,810 to $5,770 a week: DRW states their pay as a yearly base of $250,000 to $300,000, paid for the weeks worked. Quantitative trading analyst interns in Chicago are on $250,000 a year, about $4,810 a week, and software developer interns on $225,000, about $4,330 a week.
How does DRW compare with other firms?
The top of DRW’s graduate researcher range matches the $300,000 that Jane Street, HRT and SIG advertise. The bottom, $250,000, is level with IMC’s graduate base.
DRW states $250,000 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 DRW offer?
DRW tests probability, statistics and quick mental arithmetic from the first stage, and expects you to talk through your reasoning rather than just state an answer. Later rounds add Python coding and trading games where you price a market and manage the risk as it moves, often with the sums done in your head. Interviewers also ask about the markets, so hold a view on what is happening in them.
The DRW interview guide walks through each stage and how to prepare for it. The practice page has tests and questions matched to the firm, so the probability and market-making questions feel familiar before they count.