Desk·2026-08-15
Chicago pays. Tempus is not Jump.
Citadel and Jump print like NY. Tempus is the other Chicago — clinical data, public paper, a real engineering org.
Jump Trading typical $460,000 against $230,000 at Tempus.
Chicago SWE spread
Jump typical is roughly 2× Tempus
Same city. Different book. The floor is P&L. The lab is a product company that happens to sit on the river.
How to plan it
Do not move to Chicago for 'tech'
Move for a named desk or a named lab. Jump, Citadel, HRT-adjacent, or Tempus / the exchanges. A generic SaaS seat in River North will not clear SF, and it will not clear the shops. If you want cash, interview the shops. If you want a product career you can explain to a PM, Tempus and the public names are the path.
Also: Chicago SWE