Quick Verdict
On the numbers we have, IIT Kanpur edges ahead on placements: its sourced median UG (undergraduate) salary is ₹21.7 LPA (Lakhs Per Annum) versus ₹18-20 LPA at IIT (BHU) Varanasi jagranjosh. That said, IIT BHU has strong, well-documented, and recently growing placement numbers of its own — including a ₹29 LPA average package in 2025-26 — so it isn't far behind in practice careers360.
Snapshot
| Metric | IIT Kanpur | IIT BHU Varanasi |
|---|---|---|
| Median UG Salary | ₹21.7 LPA | ₹18-20 LPA jagranjosh |
| Average Package | Not available in sourced data | ₹29 LPA (2025-26) shiksha |
| Highest Package | Not available in sourced data | ₹1.67 crore (2025-26) shiksha |
| Students Placed | Not available in sourced data | 1,228 (2025-26 drive) careers360 |
| Companies Visited | Not available in sourced data | 352 (2024 cycle) careers360 |
| Overall Placement Rate | Not available in sourced data | 83.4% (per a separate registered-students snapshot) collegedekho |
| Top Recruiters | Not available in sourced data | Not available in sourced data |
Detailed Analysis
The clearest apples-to-apples figure we have between the two institutes is median salary: IIT Kanpur's ₹21.7 LPA against IIT BHU's ₹18-20 LPA jagranjosh. Median is a useful number because it isn't skewed by a handful of very high outlier offers the way an average can be — so this is a reasonably fair "typical student" comparison, and on it, IIT Kanpur comes out ahead. Beyond that figure, though, our sourced facts don't give IIT Kanpur an average package, highest package, or named top recruiters, so we can't build out a fuller Kanpur-side picture without guessing — and we won't.
IIT BHU's placement data is considerably more detailed in our sources, and it shows real strength and momentum. In the 2025-26 cycle, the average package was ₹29 LPA and the highest was ₹1.67 crore per annum, across 1,228 total placements shiksha, careers360. That's a step up from the 2024 cycle, where 352 companies visited, 1,123 students were placed, the highest package was ₹1.68 crore, and the average was ₹22.56 LPA careers360 — so the average climbed noticeably year-over-year even as the highest package stayed roughly flat.
A separate placement snapshot for IIT BHU (unclear exactly which year it maps to relative to the Careers360 figures above) shows 1,698 registered students, 1,416 total job offers including 297 pre-placement offers (PPOs, i.e., offers extended based on an internship before the formal placement season), 300+ companies visiting, an 83.4% overall placement rate, 22 international offers, and 502 internship-to-PPO conversions collegedekho. Even without reconciling it precisely against the other year's numbers, it points to a broad-based, actively growing placement process rather than a one-off good year.
It's also worth noting that IIT Kanpur's NIRF Engineering rank is well ahead of IIT BHU's (4th vs. 10th in 2025) jagranjosh, and one source notes that "both have strong CSE placements and research output," suggesting that in Computer Science specifically the placement gap between the two may be narrower than the overall averages imply infinitylearn.
Verdict
Winner: IIT Kanpur, runner-up IIT BHU Varanasi. The one sourced apples-to-apples metric — median salary — favors IIT Kanpur (₹21.7 LPA vs. ₹18-20 LPA) jagranjosh. But if you're specifically interested in a strong, rapidly improving average-package trend and don't have a sourced Kanpur figure to weigh against it, IIT BHU's recent ₹29 LPA average and ₹1.67 crore highest package are compelling data points in their own right shiksha — pick IIT BHU if that recent upward trend and its far lower fees matter more to you than the median-salary comparison alone.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Which IIT has better average placement packages?
We only have a sourced average package for IIT BHU Varanasi (₹29 LPA in 2025-26); IIT Kanpur's average package isn't in our sourced data, so a direct average-to-average comparison isn't possible here shiksha.
Q: Which has the higher median salary?
IIT Kanpur, at ₹21.7 LPA versus IIT BHU's ₹18-20 LPA jagranjosh.
Q: What was IIT BHU's highest package recently?
₹1.67 crore per annum in the 2025-26 placement cycle shiksha.
Q: Are IIT BHU's placement numbers improving?
Yes — average package rose from ₹22.56 LPA (2024) to ₹29 LPA (2025-26) in the sourced data careers360.
Q: How many companies visit IIT BHU for placements?
352 companies visited in the 2024 cycle, per one source, and a separate snapshot cites "300+" careers360, collegedekho.
Q: Does IIT Kanpur have better placements just because it ranks higher?
Not necessarily for every branch — one source notes both institutes have "strong CSE placements and research output," so the gap may be smaller in Computer Science than the overall averages suggest infinitylearn.
Q: What's IIT BHU's overall placement rate?
One sourced snapshot puts it at 83.4% (1,416 offers against 1,698 registered students), though this may correspond to a different year than the other cited placement figures collegedekho.
Q: Does either institute publish a list of top recruiters?
Not in our sourced facts — we don't have named top-recruiter data for either institute, so we're not listing any here.
Related
For the complete picture beyond Placements -- placements, academics, campus life, and more -- see the full IIT Kanpur vs IIT BHU Varanasi comparison.