A surface acoustic wave (SAW) filter includes a piezoelectric substrate, a first interdigital transducer (IDT) for input and a second IDT for output that are provided on the piezoelectric substrate, the first IDT and the second IDT being arranged in a propagation direction, and a shield electrode arranged between the first IDT and the second IDT and/or between interconnection lines that connect the first IDT and the second IDT, at least one of the first IDT and the second IDT being of a longitudinal coupling multi-mode type having a balanced operation. Thus, it is possible to suppress a stray capacitance between the first IDT and the second IDT, and thereby to improve the symmetry of balanced operation signals.