Quick answer: HRT's own postings list a $175k–$250k base for new-grad Algorithm Developers (its QR title), and candidate reports put first-year totals around $400k–$550k all-in, with industry insiders reporting top 2026 packages around ~$750k. Interns are posted at ~$5,800/week plus a $25k sign-on. Per levels.fyi self-reports, experienced engineers run ~$446k–$723k+ and researcher reports reach $1M+. Non-posting figures are self-reported, with wide variance.
Hudson River Trading is a roughly 1,000-person automated trading firm that consistently shows up in the same sentence as Jane Street and Citadel Securities when new grads compare offers — and its distinguishing feature is how much of the money is guaranteed. HRT's posted base salaries are among the highest published anywhere in quant or tech, before any bonus. The figures below combine HRT's own job postings with self-reported data from levels.fyi, Glassdoor, and aggregators like Quant Blueprint, as of mid-2026. Bonus components are candidate-reported and vary with firm performance.
The high-base culture, explained
Most trading firms pay a modest base and let the bonus do the talking. HRT flips that ratio at the junior level: the posted $175k–$250k new-grad base — and reported intern rates up to $120/hour per levels.fyi — means a first-year hire's guaranteed floor at HRT can exceed a peer firm's median total. On top of base sits a performance bonus linked to the profitability of the strategies you touch and the firm's overall year. Candidate reports describe bonuses growing to well over half of total comp at senior levels, so the high-base effect fades as you climb — but as a new grad, more of your number is in writing at HRT than almost anywhere else.
Reported numbers: intern to experienced
| Role / Level | Reported comp | Source (as reported) |
|---|---|---|
| Algo Trader / SWE intern | ~$5,800/week + $25k sign-on + paid housing (posting); ~$102–$120/hour (≈ $18k–$21k/month) reported | HRT internship postings; levels.fyi self-reports |
| New grad Algorithm Developer base | $175k–$250k base (official posting range) | HRT job postings, 2025–26 grad cycles |
| New grad total (year 1) | roughly $400k–$550k all-in (base + sign-on + performance bonus) | candidate reports; Quant Blueprint aggregate |
| Software Engineer (by level) | ~$446k (L1) to ~$723k (L3) TC | levels.fyi self-reports, mid-2026 |
| Quantitative Researcher (experienced) | group average ~$450k; aggregated reports span ~$180k–$1.15M | Glassdoor; Quant Blueprint aggregate |
Honest caveats: HRT is smaller and more secretive than the banks its pay gets compared to, sample sizes on Glassdoor are tiny (single-digit QR submissions), and the $1M+ researcher reports are the strong-year tail, not a median. When sources disagree, we quote the wide range.
Algo Developer vs Algo Trader vs Core Engineer
- Algorithm Developer (quant researcher): HRT's flagship new-grad quant title — research plus production code in one seat. The posted base band above applies here.
- Algorithm Trader: the monitoring-and-markets-facing track; internship postings share the ~$5,800/week rate, and reported full-time totals track close to Algo Dev.
- Core / Systems Engineer: low-latency C++ infrastructure. Levels.fyi self-reports of $446k–$723k+ make HRT arguably the highest-paying pure-SWE shop in the world.
How HRT stacks up against peers
On reported year-one totals, HRT sits in the top tier with Jane Street and Citadel Securities, and above the reported new-grad numbers at SIG, DRW, and Optiver — with the distinction that more of HRT's package is base rather than bonus promise. Our 2026 quant salary guide lines the tiers up in one table.
Getting the offer
HRT's loop is heavier on algorithms, data structures, and applied probability than a typical trading interview — closer to a hard tech loop with a markets brain attached. Our HRT interview process guide maps every stage, the HRT online assessment guide covers the coding-and-probability screen, and our bank of HRT interview questions comes with full solutions. For the probability rounds, drill the probability question bank until expected-value reasoning is reflexive.
More career guides
- Citadel Quant Salary (2026): QR, QT & Citadel Securities Comp
- DRW Quant Salary (2026): Trader & Researcher Comp Breakdown
- Jane Street Salary 2026: $400K–$650K New Grad to $1.5M+ Senior, by Level
- Optiver Salary (2026): Trader Compensation by Office & Level
- Quant Firms by Interview Difficulty
- Quant Researcher Salary (2026): New Grad to Senior, With PhD Premium Data
- Quant Salaries in 2026: The Honest Numbers, From Intern to PM
- Quant Trader vs Quant Researcher
- SIG Quant Salary (2026): Trader & Researcher Comp Breakdown
- Two Sigma Quant Salary (2026): Researcher & New Grad Comp
- All guides & explainers
Frequently asked questions
How much does a new grad Algorithm Developer at HRT make?
HRT's own job postings for new-grad Algorithm Developers (its quant researcher title) list a base salary range of roughly $175k to $250k. Candidate reports and aggregators such as Quant Blueprint put total first-year compensation, including sign-on and performance bonus, roughly between $400k and $550k. Bonus figures are self-reported and vary with firm performance.
How much do HRT quant interns get paid?
HRT's Algo Trader internship postings list roughly $5,800 per week plus a $25k signing bonus and company-paid housing. Levels.fyi self-reports put software engineer interns around $120 per hour (about $20k per month) and quant trader interns around $102 per hour. That makes HRT one of the highest-paying internships in any industry.
How much do experienced quants at HRT make?
Per levels.fyi self-reports as of mid-2026, HRT software engineer total comp runs from about $446k at L1 to $723k at L3, and aggregated candidate reports put quant researcher total comp between roughly $180k and $1.15M depending on seniority and year, with the QR group averaging around $450k. Bonuses tied to strategy performance drive most of the spread.
How is HRT compensation structured?
HRT pays an unusually high base salary by industry standards plus a performance bonus linked to the profitability of your strategies and the firm's results. At senior levels candidate reports describe bonuses making up well over half of total comp. There is no equity; the firm is privately held.
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