New York
$185,000 to $259,000
Typical base, all quant roles and levels
Chicago
$165,000 to $213,000
Typical base, all quant roles and levels
Miami
$183,000 to $288,000
Typical base, all quant roles and levels
Top graduate base
$300,000
Jane Street, HRT and SIG, in their US ads
In the US, quant pay depends on the city as well as the firm. The typical base for a quant is $185,000 to $259,000 in New York, $165,000 to $213,000 in Chicago and $183,000 to $288,000 in Miami. State and city income tax then pull the three further apart.
The US is also where quant pay is most public. New York City and several states require a pay figure or range in job ads, and every US work visa filing states the base salary for the position.
How does quant pay compare in New York, Chicago and Miami?
New York pays traders and developers the most. A quant trader there typically earns a $188,000 to $300,000 base, against $162,000 to $203,000 in Chicago. Miami pays researchers the most: $191,000 to $313,000, against $182,000 to $250,000 in New York. Chicago’s base sits below New York’s for every role, and Miami pays developers the least of the three.
Each typical figure is the middle half of the base pay firms file for quant roles in the city, at every firm and every level. That is why it sits below the $300,000 that Jane Street, HRT and SIG advertise to graduates: it covers every firm and every stage of a career. A firm that files a range also counts at the middle of it, while the lower end of such a range is often the legal minimum.
Typical base pay, July 2025 to June 2026
| City | Typical base | Median |
|---|---|---|
| New York | $185,000 to $259,000 | $220,000 |
| Chicago | $165,000 to $213,000 | $195,000 |
| Miami | $183,000 to $288,000 | $198,000 |
| Bala Cynwyd | $155,000 to $200,000 | $169,000 |
The middle half of the base firms file, across every firm and every level. Graduates at the best-paying firms start higher, and the bonus is paid on top.
Some firms hire outside the three cities. SIG is based in Bala Cynwyd, near Philadelphia, and AQR in Greenwich.
What does total pay look like in each US city?
With the bonus, our estimate for a first-year quant trader is $295,000 to $450,000 in New York and $255,000 to $450,000 in Chicago. For a first-year quant researcher in Miami, the estimate is $325,000 to $450,000.
The bonus is worked out as a share of the base, so a higher base in a city lifts the whole range. What grows with experience is the bonus itself, not the base. The table below gives the estimate for the US as a whole, by role and years of experience, and the guide to quant compensation explains how the bonus works.
Estimated total pay in the US, base plus bonusEstimate
| Experience | Quant trader | Quant researcher | Quant developer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | About $290,000 to $450,000 | About $310,000 to $450,000 | About $295,000 to $510,000 |
| 1 to 3 years | About $330,000 to $560,000 | About $355,000 to $600,000 | About $310,000 to $520,000 |
| 4 to 6 years | About $390,000 to $930,000 | About $420,000 to $930,000 | About $325,000 to $545,000 |
| 7 years or more | About $590,000 to $1,380,000 | About $640,000 to $1,490,000 | About $400,000 to $900,000 |
An estimate, a year before tax, not counting a sign-on bonus. It starts from the median base filed for the role. The low end adds the bonus of an ordinary year at an ordinary firm; the top is a strong year at the best-paying firms, at least what the best-paid tenth of employees report in total. From 7 years, Tradermath sets the trader and researcher bonus from what senior people in these roles earn in the market, because too few of them report their pay.
What do firms in each US city pay graduates?
The top graduate base is the same in all three cities: $300,000. In New York, Jane Street advertises it for new-grad traders, researchers and engineers, and SIG for Master’s researchers. HRT advertises it for 2027 algorithm developers.
In Chicago, DRW advertises $250,000 to $300,000 for graduate researchers, and IMC $250,000 for graduate traders. For Miami, Citadel’s graduate quantitative research analyst role pays $235,000 to $300,000. Lower down, Flow Traders advertises $175,000 in New York and Two Sigma $165,000 to $190,000.
Jane Street, Hudson River Trading and SIG advertise $300k, the highest graduate base in any US ad; the list starts at $165k. 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.
Why is US quant pay the most public?
Two rules make it public. First, New York City and several US states require employers to state a pay figure or range in job ads. Flow Traders’ New York ads cite the city’s law directly. That is why the same firms publish pay in the US but usually not in Amsterdam or London.
Second, every US work visa filing states the base salary a firm offers for the position and the city where the work takes place. The filings cover every level, not only graduates, so they show what firms pay experienced staff too. Some firms file one figure per position, others a range.
Neither rule covers the bonus, which most firms leave out of their ads. That is why every total on these pages is an estimate, built from the base and from the pay employees report.
How do state and city taxes change quant pay?
Federal tax is the same in every city. It reaches 35% on taxable income above $256,225 and 37% above $640,600. Social Security takes 6.2% of wages up to $184,500, and Medicare 1.45% of all wages, plus 0.9% on wages above $200,000.
State and city tax is where the cities differ. A New York City resident pays New York State tax, at up to 6.85% on taxable income from $215,400 to $1,077,550, and city tax of up to 3.876% on top. Illinois charges a flat 4.95%, and Chicago adds no city income tax. Florida has no state income tax at all, so Miami pays federal tax only.
On the same salary, then, a quant in Miami keeps the most and a New York City resident the least, with Chicago between them. The take-home comparison works out the figures city by city, at both ends of the estimate.