QUANT PAY BY CITY IN 2026

Article reviewed 8 October 2026. Historical tables retain the data periods and source-check dates shown below. Filing-derived numbers are a selected snapshot, not current offers; candidate-reported totals are unverified reports. An article update does not refresh the underlying dataset.

Checked on 21 September 2026. US figures here are employer-published or filed with the government. Non-US figures are candidate-reported, and that asymmetry is a fact about disclosure law rather than about the firms.

A New York quant offer and an Amsterdam one are not measured with the same instrument. The New York number is usually a documented base, the Amsterdam number is usually somebody's recollection of a total. Comparing them directly overstates the gap. These sources alone do not establish an equivalent-role or after-tax advantage.

First-year total compensation by city

The midpoints above are a charting convenience, not a quotable figure. The ranges in the right-hand column are what the underlying sources actually say, and they overlap heavily.

Why these sources differ

Some employers publish salary ranges on particular postings. Jane Street and Citadel Securities have the employer-published examples linked in our source list. The historical US filing tables describe a selected subset of roles; the non-US ranges in this guide come from candidate reports. Neither source covers the whole market.

Different job levels, currencies and payment periods make a direct comparison unreliable. A source being easier to find does not make its sample representative of every employee.

New York

The deepest market and the best documented. Filed base salaries at the top firms cluster between $200,000 and $300,000, with Jane Street flat at $300,000 for Trader and Researcher titles. Reported first-year totals run $400,000 to $700,000 at the elite tier.

Take-home pay depends on the actual package and personal tax treatment. The gross historical ranges do not establish the amount someone would receive after tax.

Chicago

Chicago is where US market-making concentrates, and the filing data shows it. For the Quantitative Trader title in fiscal 2025, Chicago carried 22 filings to New York's 21 — the only major title where Chicago leads. For Quantitative Researcher, New York leads 220 to 49.

If you want to trade rather than research, Chicago is not a fallback market. Base is broadly comparable to New York and the cost of living is materially lower.

Miami

Take-home pay depends on the actual package and personal tax treatment. The gross historical ranges do not establish the amount someone would receive after tax.

London

Reported first-year graduate trader compensation runs £250,000 to £500,000 at the top firms, paid in cash rather than equity. Nothing in that range is employer-published.

London's position is genuinely strong relative to the rest of Europe and genuinely behind New York. Income tax above £125,140 is 45%, with no equivalent of the Dutch expatriate facility.

Amsterdam

Nominally the weakest of the major hubs and the one where the headline number misleads most. Reported Optiver trader compensation in Amsterdam averages around $205,000, across a wide $140,000 to $460,000 range drawn from 97 Glassdoor self-reports.

Compare after-tax income and living costs using the terms of the actual offers. Residency, eligibility for tax relief, exchange rates and personal circumstances can change the comparison; the gross figures here do not establish take-home pay.

The ruling has been narrowed more than once in recent years. Check the current percentage and duration against the Belastingdienst before building an offer comparison on it.

How to compare two offers across cities

1. Convert both to total, not base. A US base is 30% to 50% of the package. A European figure quoted to you by another candidate is often already a total. Establish which you are holding.
2. Apply the actual marginal rate, including the Dutch 30% ruling or the absence of Florida state tax, rather than a headline national rate.
3. Subtract rent at the level you would really live at. This is usually the largest single line after tax and it varies more between these cities than pay does.
4. Price the currency risk. Being paid in euros or pounds while planning to settle in dollars is an unhedged position.

How these figures were sourced

Every city section above states which tier its numbers come from. Where a figure is candidate-reported it is labelled as such, and no attempt has been made to dress an estimate up as a filing.

Keep reading

• Quant salary guide 2026 — pay by role, level and firm, from the same sources.
• Quant intern pay in 2026 — weekly rates and housing across the top programs.
• How to get into quant finance — routes in, including from outside the US.

Data period and verification limits

The charts combine differently sampled historical reports and illustrative USD conversions. They cannot rank equivalent offers across cities. The article update date is not an exchange-rate date or evidence that a 2025 filing describes current pay. Compare role, seniority, period, currency and guaranteed versus discretionary payments before comparing cities.