Inside Disney’s Pay Scale: Tech Roles Earn Up to $230K—While Median Worker Makes $55K
Newly released U.S. Department of Labor filings offer a rare glimpse into compensation at The Walt Disney Company, revealing significant pay disparities between high-level tech roles and the company’s typical frontline employee.
According to H-1B visa applications Disney submitted between October 1, 2024, and June 30, 2025, the company is offering substantial salaries for specialized positions—particularly in technology and data. Software engineering managers can earn up to $208,000, while software engineering directors are paid as much as $230,500. Lead data engineers in Disney’s streaming division make around $188,876, and senior machine learning scientists earn approximately $177,437.
Other disclosed salaries include:
- **Associate Ride Control Software Engineer**: $134,700
- **Decision Scientist, Worldwide Services**: $119,028
- **Financial Accounting Manager, Hulu**: $127,571
- **Senior Data Analyst, Hulu**: $139,405
- **Senior Product Manager**: $170,150–$172,932
- **Technology Manager**: $162,041–$193,766
- **Senior Master Planner, Parks & Resorts**: $113,500
For context, tech salaries at other major firms vary widely: Meta pays software engineers between $120,000 and $480,000, Google offers $109,180 to $340,000, and Microsoft’s range is $82,971 to $284,000.
These H-1B filings—required under a September 2024 executive order by former President Donald Trump that mandates a $100,000 fee per application—highlight roles that are far above the norm for most Disney employees.
Disney’s 2025 Proxy Statement, filed with the SEC in January, states that the median employee is a full-time hourly worker in the parks division with over seven years of tenure. In fiscal year 2024, the median worker earned **$55,111**—a stark contrast to CEO Bob Iger’s compensation of **$41 million**, or roughly **746 times** more.
As of fiscal 2024, Disney employed approximately **233,000 people worldwide**, including **82,000 in Florida**, home to Walt Disney World.