A quant is a specialist who uses mathematics, statistics and code to price instruments, find trading signals or run systematic strategies inside a trading firm, hedge fund or bank.

Which quant role pays the most?

Portfolio management pays the most at the top end, with a New York band reaching $15m, though the outcomes are the widest and least certain in the industry.

Is London or New York better for a quant career?

New York pays more in gross terms, with a quant researcher median of $475k against £319k in London, but London gives broader access to European markets and easier visa routes for many candidates.

Do you need a PhD to be a quant?

No. A PhD is close to a requirement for research seats at the most selective funds, but trading, development and analytics roles hire strong masters and bachelors candidates routinely.

How do quant bonuses work?

Most quant compensation is delivered as an annual performance bonus rather than base salary, and at senior levels the bonus is usually the larger half of the package.

Where do KnowQuant's figures come from?

Vacancy counts are rebuilt from employers' own career pages, classified and de-duplicated by our research desk; pay bands are modelled market ranges compiled from publicly reported compensation data and role benchmarking. Method 2026.1, last reviewed September 2026.

Can I cite or republish KnowQuant data?

Yes. Figures are free to quote and republish with attribution and a link to the source page, under our terms of use.

How often is the quant hiring index updated?

Vacancy data is refreshed daily from employer career pages, market rankings are rebuilt weekly, and compensation benchmarks are frozen and republished each quarter as a dated edition.

What does a quant researcher do?

A quant researcher designs and tests the statistical models that generate trading signals. In New York, total compensation typically runs from about $250,000 at entry level to $900,000 or more for senior researchers with an attributable track record, with the majority of the package delivered as performance bonus.

What does a quant trader do?

A quant trader runs risk on systematic strategies - sizing positions, managing execution and adjusting to live market conditions. New York total compensation typically ranges from around $200,000 at entry level to well over $1,000,000 for experienced traders, with the bonus tied directly to desk profit and loss.

What does a quant developer do?

A quant developer builds the systems that research and trading depend on: backtesting infrastructure, data pipelines, execution platforms and production strategy code. New York total compensation typically runs from about $180,000 at entry level to $600,000 or more for senior developers at leading firms.

What does a quant analyst do?

A quant analyst prices instruments, builds risk models and validates the models a firm trades on - most often on the sell side or in a risk function. New York total compensation typically runs from about $130,000 at entry level to $450,000 or more at senior level, with a lower bonus share than buy-side quant roles.

What does a hft / low-latency engineer do?

A low-latency engineer optimises the path from market data to order at nanosecond resolution, working across C++, kernel bypass, network hardware and FPGA. Chicago and Amsterdam total compensation typically runs from about $200,000 at entry level to $800,000 or more for specialists with proven latency results.

What does a systematic portfolio manager do?

A systematic portfolio manager runs their own book under a defined risk mandate and is typically paid a percentage of the profit they generate rather than a conventional bonus. Packages are largely performance-driven, and guarantee levels are negotiated case by case rather than set at a market figure we can evidence.

What does a software engineer do?

A software engineer at a quant firm builds the internal platforms the desks depend on: order and position systems, research tooling, reference data services and internal applications. New York total compensation typically runs from about $175,000 at entry level to $550,000 or more at staff level. How much of that sits in bonus varies by firm and desk; we do not hold a measured comparison against general technology pay, so treat the split as offer-specific.

What does a machine learning engineer do?

A machine learning engineer at a quant firm turns research models into production systems: feature pipelines, training infrastructure, evaluation harnesses and the serving path into live strategies. New York total compensation typically runs from about $200,000 at entry level to $800,000 or more for senior people whose models carry live risk.

What does a data engineer do?

A data engineer at a quant firm acquires, cleans, stores and serves the market and alternative data research runs on, including point-in-time correctness and vendor onboarding. New York total compensation typically runs from about $165,000 at entry level to $500,000 or more for senior engineers owning the firm's data platform.

What does a data scientist do?

A data scientist at a quant firm answers business questions with data: execution quality, vendor value, capacity analysis, hiring funnels and operational performance. New York total compensation typically runs from about $150,000 at entry level to $400,000 or more at senior level, below signal-research pay because the work is not directly attributable to trading profit.

What does a site reliability engineer do?

A site reliability engineer keeps trading and research systems running: deployment, observability, capacity, incident response and the automation that prevents repeat failures. New York total compensation typically runs from about $165,000 at entry level to $500,000 or more for senior engineers carrying production ownership of the trading path.

What does a network and infrastructure engineer do?

A network and infrastructure engineer at a trading firm builds and runs exchange connectivity, colocation footprint, switching, time synchronisation and the physical path market data travels. New York total compensation typically runs from about $150,000 at entry level to $450,000 or more for senior engineers owning multi-venue connectivity.

What does a security engineer do?

A security engineer at a quant firm protects intellectual property as much as infrastructure: strategy code, research data, credentials and trading access. New York total compensation typically runs from about $160,000 at entry level to $500,000 or more for senior engineers leading detection, identity or offensive security.

What does a trading operations analyst do?

A trading operations analyst owns the daily lifecycle behind the desks: trade capture, reconciliation, break resolution, margin, corporate actions and broker relationships. New York total compensation typically runs from about $95,000 at entry level to $300,000 or more for senior people running a global operations function.

What does a risk manager do?

A risk manager at a quant firm monitors exposure, enforces limits, runs stress and scenario analysis and challenges the desks independently of them. New York total compensation typically runs from about $130,000 at entry level to $450,000 or more for a head of risk at a multi-strategy platform.

What does a compliance officer do?

A compliance officer at a quant firm owns regulatory permissions, trade surveillance, personal account dealing, market-abuse controls and regulator relationships across every venue the firm touches. New York total compensation typically runs from about $110,000 at entry level to $400,000 or more for a head of compliance at a multi-venue firm.

Answer library

Quant careers, answered

KnowQuant research deskUpdated 1 September 2026168 answers publishedMethod 2026.1

What is this?

A permanent library of 168 direct answers on quant pay, disciplines, hub markets and hiring. Every answer opens with the figure, names the market and currency, and states what the number excludes. Each one has its own address so it can be quoted and linked. Method 2026.1, last reviewed September 2026.

168 answers shown

Pay

Roles

What is a quant?
A quant is a specialist who uses mathematics, statistics and code to price instruments, find trading signals or run systematic strategies inside a trading firm, hedge fund or bank.
What does a quant researcher do?
A quant researcher designs and tests the statistical models that generate trading signals. In New York, total compensation typically runs from about $250,000 at entry level to $900,000 or more for senior researchers with an attributable track record, with the majority of the package delivered as performance bonus.
What does a quant trader do?
A quant trader runs risk on systematic strategies - sizing positions, managing execution and adjusting to live market conditions. New York total compensation typically ranges from around $200,000 at entry level to well over $1,000,000 for experienced traders, with the bonus tied directly to desk profit and loss.
What does a quant developer do?
A quant developer builds the systems that research and trading depend on: backtesting infrastructure, data pipelines, execution platforms and production strategy code. New York total compensation typically runs from about $180,000 at entry level to $600,000 or more for senior developers at leading firms.
What does a quant analyst do?
A quant analyst prices instruments, builds risk models and validates the models a firm trades on - most often on the sell side or in a risk function. New York total compensation typically runs from about $130,000 at entry level to $450,000 or more at senior level, with a lower bonus share than buy-side quant roles.
What does a hft / low-latency engineer do?
A low-latency engineer optimises the path from market data to order at nanosecond resolution, working across C++, kernel bypass, network hardware and FPGA. Chicago and Amsterdam total compensation typically runs from about $200,000 at entry level to $800,000 or more for specialists with proven latency results.
What does a systematic portfolio manager do?
A systematic portfolio manager runs their own book under a defined risk mandate and is typically paid a percentage of the profit they generate rather than a conventional bonus. Packages are largely performance-driven, and guarantee levels are negotiated case by case rather than set at a market figure we can evidence.
What does a software engineer do?
A software engineer at a quant firm builds the internal platforms the desks depend on: order and position systems, research tooling, reference data services and internal applications. New York total compensation typically runs from about $175,000 at entry level to $550,000 or more at staff level. How much of that sits in bonus varies by firm and desk; we do not hold a measured comparison against general technology pay, so treat the split as offer-specific.
What does a machine learning engineer do?
A machine learning engineer at a quant firm turns research models into production systems: feature pipelines, training infrastructure, evaluation harnesses and the serving path into live strategies. New York total compensation typically runs from about $200,000 at entry level to $800,000 or more for senior people whose models carry live risk.
What does a data engineer do?
A data engineer at a quant firm acquires, cleans, stores and serves the market and alternative data research runs on, including point-in-time correctness and vendor onboarding. New York total compensation typically runs from about $165,000 at entry level to $500,000 or more for senior engineers owning the firm's data platform.
What does a data scientist do?
A data scientist at a quant firm answers business questions with data: execution quality, vendor value, capacity analysis, hiring funnels and operational performance. New York total compensation typically runs from about $150,000 at entry level to $400,000 or more at senior level, below signal-research pay because the work is not directly attributable to trading profit.
What does a site reliability engineer do?
A site reliability engineer keeps trading and research systems running: deployment, observability, capacity, incident response and the automation that prevents repeat failures. New York total compensation typically runs from about $165,000 at entry level to $500,000 or more for senior engineers carrying production ownership of the trading path.
What does a network and infrastructure engineer do?
A network and infrastructure engineer at a trading firm builds and runs exchange connectivity, colocation footprint, switching, time synchronisation and the physical path market data travels. New York total compensation typically runs from about $150,000 at entry level to $450,000 or more for senior engineers owning multi-venue connectivity.
What does a security engineer do?
A security engineer at a quant firm protects intellectual property as much as infrastructure: strategy code, research data, credentials and trading access. New York total compensation typically runs from about $160,000 at entry level to $500,000 or more for senior engineers leading detection, identity or offensive security.
What does a trading operations analyst do?
A trading operations analyst owns the daily lifecycle behind the desks: trade capture, reconciliation, break resolution, margin, corporate actions and broker relationships. New York total compensation typically runs from about $95,000 at entry level to $300,000 or more for senior people running a global operations function.
What does a risk manager do?
A risk manager at a quant firm monitors exposure, enforces limits, runs stress and scenario analysis and challenges the desks independently of them. New York total compensation typically runs from about $130,000 at entry level to $450,000 or more for a head of risk at a multi-strategy platform.
What does a compliance officer do?
A compliance officer at a quant firm owns regulatory permissions, trade surveillance, personal account dealing, market-abuse controls and regulator relationships across every venue the firm touches. New York total compensation typically runs from about $110,000 at entry level to $400,000 or more for a head of compliance at a multi-venue firm.
What does a fund finance and accounting do?
Finance and accounting teams at quant firms handle fund and management-company accounting, treasury and financing, tax, expense allocation and the numbers partners and investors see. New York total compensation typically runs from about $100,000 at entry level to $400,000 or more for a controller or head of finance.
What does a technical recruiter do?
A technical recruiter at a quant firm runs sourcing, assessment logistics and offer negotiation for research, trading and engineering hires, usually including campus programmes. New York total compensation typically runs from about $95,000 at entry level to $350,000 or more for a head of talent at a firm competing for the same small candidate pool as its rivals.

Markets

Firms

Getting in

Method

Methodology

Figures are expressed as annual total compensation (base salary plus expected performance bonus) in the reference market's local currency, converted from a US dollar base. They describe typical market ranges rather than any individual offer, and exclude sign-on payments, deferred equity and carried interest. Portfolio-manager figures reflect formulaic profit-share arrangements and are therefore far more dispersed than any other role.

KnowQuantIndex 2026.1 · Updated September 2026

Modelled bands describe the market, not an individual offer. Where an employer states pay, the stated figure is used and labelled as such.

Quant careers, answered

Pay

Which quant role pays the most?

How do quant bonuses work?

How much does a quant researcher earn in New York?

How much does a quant researcher earn in London?

How much does a quant researcher earn in Chicago?

How much does a quant researcher earn in Singapore?

How much does a quant researcher earn in Hong Kong?

How much does a quant trader earn in New York?

How much does a quant trader earn in London?

How much does a quant trader earn in Chicago?

How much does a quant trader earn in Singapore?

How much does a quant trader earn in Hong Kong?

How much does a quant developer earn in New York?

How much does a quant developer earn in London?

How much does a quant developer earn in Chicago?

How much does a quant developer earn in Singapore?

How much does a quant developer earn in Hong Kong?

How much does a quant analyst earn in New York?

How much does a quant analyst earn in London?

How much does a quant analyst earn in Chicago?

How much does a quant analyst earn in Singapore?

How much does a quant analyst earn in Hong Kong?

How much does a hft / low-latency engineer earn in New York?

How much does a hft / low-latency engineer earn in London?

How much does a hft / low-latency engineer earn in Chicago?

How much does a hft / low-latency engineer earn in Singapore?

How much does a hft / low-latency engineer earn in Hong Kong?

How much does a systematic portfolio manager earn in New York?

How much does a systematic portfolio manager earn in London?

How much does a systematic portfolio manager earn in Chicago?

How much does a systematic portfolio manager earn in Singapore?

How much does a systematic portfolio manager earn in Hong Kong?

How much does a software engineer earn in New York?

How much does a software engineer earn in London?

How much does a software engineer earn in Chicago?

How much does a software engineer earn in Singapore?

How much does a software engineer earn in Hong Kong?

How much does a machine learning engineer earn in New York?

How much does a machine learning engineer earn in London?

How much does a machine learning engineer earn in Chicago?

How much does a machine learning engineer earn in Singapore?

How much does a machine learning engineer earn in Hong Kong?

How much does a data engineer earn in New York?

How much does a data engineer earn in London?

How much does a data engineer earn in Chicago?

How much does a data engineer earn in Singapore?

How much does a data engineer earn in Hong Kong?

How much does a data scientist earn in New York?

How much does a data scientist earn in London?

How much does a data scientist earn in Chicago?

How much does a data scientist earn in Singapore?

How much does a data scientist earn in Hong Kong?

How much does a site reliability engineer earn in New York?

How much does a site reliability engineer earn in London?

How much does a site reliability engineer earn in Chicago?

How much does a site reliability engineer earn in Singapore?

How much does a site reliability engineer earn in Hong Kong?

How much does a network and infrastructure engineer earn in New York?

How much does a network and infrastructure engineer earn in London?

How much does a network and infrastructure engineer earn in Chicago?

How much does a network and infrastructure engineer earn in Singapore?

How much does a network and infrastructure engineer earn in Hong Kong?

How much does a security engineer earn in New York?

How much does a security engineer earn in London?

How much does a security engineer earn in Chicago?

How much does a security engineer earn in Singapore?

How much does a security engineer earn in Hong Kong?

How much does a trading operations analyst earn in New York?

How much does a trading operations analyst earn in London?

How much does a trading operations analyst earn in Chicago?

How much does a trading operations analyst earn in Singapore?

How much does a trading operations analyst earn in Hong Kong?

How much does a risk manager earn in New York?

How much does a risk manager earn in London?

How much does a risk manager earn in Chicago?

How much does a risk manager earn in Singapore?

How much does a risk manager earn in Hong Kong?

How much does a compliance officer earn in New York?