The short answer
A senior engineer in Pakistan typically costs $3,000–$5,500/month all-in through a managed partner — roughly a third of a comparable US hire's salary, before you even count US benefits, equity, and recruiting.
By role (senior, monthly, all-in)
- AI / ML: $4,200–$7,000
- Backend: $3,000–$5,200
- Full-stack: $3,000–$5,400
- DevOps / SRE: $3,400–$5,800
- Frontend: $2,600–$4,600
- Mobile: $2,800–$4,900
- Data: $3,200–$5,500
- QA / SDET: $2,000–$3,600
Seniority moves the number
As a rule of thumb against the senior baseline: junior ≈ 62%, mid ≈ 82%, senior = 100%, lead/staff ≈ 130%.
Direct rate vs all-in cost
A raw contractor rate looks cheaper, but it excludes management, retention, payroll ops, and the cost of a bad hire. The all-in managed cost is what you should compare against a US total cost of employment.
See your exact number
Use the cost calculator to estimate a specific role, seniority, and team size — plus your annual saving versus a US hire.