Head to head
Hudson River Trading vs Jane Street
Hudson River Trading or Jane Street?
Hudson River Trading is a proprietary trading headquartered in New York; Jane Street is a proprietary trading headquartered in New York. On indicative total compensation Jane Street sits roughly 3 percentage points higher against the market median. The larger difference for most candidates is the work itself: automated market making and statistical arbitrage at Hudson River Trading, versus etf market making and options at Jane Street.
| Hudson River Trading | Jane Street | |
|---|---|---|
| Business model | Proprietary trading | Proprietary trading |
| Headquarters | New York | New York |
| Founded | 2002 | 2000 |
| Comp vs market median | +22% | +25% |
| Offices | New York, Chicago, London, Singapore, San Francisco | New York, London, Austin, Hong Kong, Singapore, Amsterdam |
| Strategies | Automated market making, Statistical arbitrage, High-frequency trading | ETF market making, Options, Statistical arbitrage, Fixed income |
| Hires for | Quant Researcher, Quant Developer, HFT / Low-Latency Engineer | Quant Trader, Quant Researcher, Quant Developer |
| Interview stages | 3 | 4 |
| Typical backgrounds | Competitive programming, Computer science graduates, Systems engineering | Olympiad mathematics, Competitive programming, Physics and mathematics undergraduates, Poker and games backgrounds |
Compensation by role
Indicative mid-level total compensation, US dollars, New York reference market.
| Role | Hudson River Trading | Jane Street |
|---|---|---|
| Quant Researcher | $550k | $575k |
| Quant Trader | - | $600k |
| Quant Developer | $460k | $450k |
| HFT / Low-Latency Engineer | $500k | - |
A dash means we hold no indicative figure for that role at that firm. It is recorded as unknown rather than estimated.
Hudson River Trading
Engineering-first proprietary firm where the distinction between researcher and developer is deliberately blurred. Strong reputation for technical depth and for paying engineers at research levels.
Interview process
- 1. Online assessmentAlgorithmic problems under time limit.
- 2. Technical phone screensTwo rounds of algorithms and systems reasoning.
- 3. On-siteDeep C++ or Python, systems design, and a research or statistics component.
Jane Street
Known for ETF and options market making at scale, an unusually strong graduate pipeline, and a distinctive engineering culture built around OCaml. Entry-level packages are among the highest in the industry, and the firm hires heavily for probabilistic reasoning rather than finance knowledge.
Interview process
- 1. Screening callRecruiter conversation and background discussion.
- 2. Probability and mental mathsFast-paced expected-value and market-making games.
- 3. Technical roundsAlgorithms, problem solving, and for engineers a strong functional-programming component.
- 4. Final / on-siteMultiple interviewers, trading games, and estimation under time pressure.
Markets where both compete for talent
Other comparisons
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.
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