What is the median salary at startups building the future?

The median posted base salary is $175k per year, across 22,530 live openings at 475 companies. The middle half of postings falls between $135k and $222k.

Which startup roles pay the most?

AI & Autonomy roles lead at a $222k median, followed by Software & Data ($214k) and Product, Programs, & Systems ($193k), based on the ranges companies post on live openings.

Which companies building the future pay the highest salaries?

Magic tops the list with a $388k median posted base salary, ahead of Thinking Machines Lab ($375k) and MatX ($363k), among companies with eight or more openings that post pay.

Do startup job postings include salary?

About 58% of the openings BuildList tracks post a pay range. Disclosure is highest at US companies covered by pay-transparency laws, so coverage skews to US roles.

Where does this salary data come from?

From the pay ranges companies publish on their own job postings, pulled hourly from their applicant tracking systems and normalized to annual USD base salary. Equity and bonus are excluded. Nothing is self-reported or estimated.

Startup Salaries — What Companies Building the Future Pay

Median base salary

$175k

All openings with posted pay

Typical range

$135k–$222k

25th to 75th percentile

Openings with pay data

22,530

58% of 38,531 live openings

Companies disclosing

475

From their own postings

Annual base salary in USD. Equity and bonus excluded. Methodology

Distribution

Share of openings by posted midpoint

Under $50k

208

$50k–$100k

2,354

$100k–$150k

4,798

$150k–$200k

6,979

$200k–$250k

4,525

$250k–$300k

2,050

$300k–$400k

1,317

$400k+

299

By role

Bar shows 25th to 75th percentile

AI & Autonomy1,332

$182k–$275k

$222k

Software & Data3,589

$174k–$256k

$214k

Product, Programs, & Systems2,266

$160k–$236k

$193k

Infrastructure, IT, & Security1,750

$150k–$238k

$192k

Business Development & Customer Ops2,470

$135k–$250k

$183k

Marketing & Design703

$144k–$225k

$180k

Finance, Legal, & Compliance1,180

$130k–$235k

$179k

Electrical & Firmware1,918

$148k–$210k

$175k

Mechanical & Physical Systems1,979

$130k–$185k

$160k

Test, Quality, & Reliability1,628

$108k–$175k

$143k

Business & People Operations1,185

$105k–$180k

$142k

Supply Chain & Procurement942

$105k–$170k

$140k

Manufacturing & Production1,588

$75k–$150k

$109k

Find high-paying roles

Sorted by top of posted range

22,530 matching openings with posted pay

Research Engineer, Chip Design RL (Reinforcement Learning)

Anthropic · San Francisco, CA · Senior

$500k–$850k

Research Engineer, Computer Use

Anthropic · San Francisco, CA · Senior

$500k–$850k

Engineering Manager, ML Acceleration

Anthropic · San Francisco, CA · Manager

$500k–$850k

Research Engineer, Universes

Anthropic · San Francisco, CA · Senior

$500k–$850k

Research Engineer, Machine Learning (RL Velocity)

Anthropic · San Francisco, CA · Senior

$500k–$850k

Research Engineer, Code RL (Reinforcement Learning)

Anthropic · San Francisco, CA · Senior

$500k–$850k

Research Engineer, RL Engineering

Anthropic · San Francisco, CA · Mid-Level

$500k–$850k

Evals Infrastructure Tech Lead / Manager

Anthropic · San Francisco, CA · Manager

$500k–$850k

Research Engineer, Machine Learning (Reinforcement Learning)

Anthropic · San Francisco, CA · Senior

$500k–$850k

Research Engineer, Model Evaluations

Anthropic · San Francisco, CA · Staff / Principal

$500k–$850k

Staff+ Research Engineer, RL Data Platform

Anthropic · San Francisco, CA · Staff / Principal

$500k–$850k

Engineering Manager, Research Data Platform

Anthropic · San Francisco, CA · Manager

$405k–$850k

Engineering Manager, Research Tools

Anthropic · San Francisco, CA · Manager

$405k–$850k

Research Scientist, Interpretability

Anthropic · San Francisco, CA · Senior

$350k–$850k

Research Scientist, Takeoff Intel

Anthropic · San Francisco, CA · Senior

$350k–$850k

Research Engineer, Domain Scaling

Anthropic · San Francisco, CA · Mid-Level

$350k–$850k

Research Engineer / Research Scientist, Vision

Anthropic · New York City, NY · Senior

$350k–$850k

Research Engineer, Knowledge Team

Anthropic · San Francisco, CA · Senior

$350k–$850k

Research Engineer, Pre-training

Anthropic · San Francisco, CA · Senior

$350k–$850k

Research Engineer, Discovery

Anthropic · San Francisco, CA · Staff / Principal

$350k–$850k

By experience level

Intern330

$62k–$103k

$73k

Entry-Level980

$62k–$121k

$90k

Mid-Level6,009

$108k–$175k

$140k

Senior9,151

$153k–$222k

$185k

Staff / Principal2,309

$193k–$265k

$225k

Manager2,492

$145k–$225k

$177k

Director1,157

$212k–$285k

$245k

Executive102

$250k–$315k

$287k

By funding stage

Seed433

$130k–$195k

$160k

Series A1,349

$125k–$190k

$160k

Series B1,564

$133k–$205k

$170k

Series C+14,561

$144k–$233k

$185k

Public4,557

$118k–$207k

$160k

By sector

AI Research1,699

$220k–$350k

$285k

AI App3,156

$168k–$255k

$214k

Compute & Semiconductors2,324

$175k–$253k

$213k

Fintech746

$146k–$238k

$196k

Defense3,604

$140k–$200k

$170k

Construction & Housing109

$135k–$200k

$168k

Robotics705

$118k–$200k

$165k

Public Services162

$143k–$210k

$165k

Bio & Health478

$121k–$213k

$165k

Agriculture169

$115k–$170k

$160k

Transportation1,734

$101k–$219k

$159k

Energy & Climate1,752

$120k–$190k

$157k

Aerospace4,849

$119k–$181k

$150k

Supply Chain243

$110k–$190k

$148k

Manufacturing755

$101k–$183k

$140k

Education45

$77k–$166k

$123k

Top-paying companies

Median pay · 8+ openings each

1Magic9 roles$388k

2Thinking Machines Lab19 roles$375k

3MatX34 roles$363k

4Anthropic506 roles$350k

5OpenAI647 roles$308k

6Canva9 roles$290k

7Wayve67 roles$290k

8Goodfire16 roles$288k

9Lambda78 roles$276k

10Oxide12 roles$275k

11Generalist AI12 roles$275k

12Pika9 roles$268k

13Dataminr13 roles$263k

14Sierra186 roles$263k

15Wispr Flow22 roles$253k

Methodology

All figures come from salary ranges companies publish on their own job postings, pulled from their applicant tracking systems hourly. Nothing is self-reported or estimated.

Non-USD pay is converted at fixed recent exchange rates. Hourly, weekly, and monthly pay is annualized. Everything is base salary only. Equity and bonus are excluded because postings rarely quantify them.

Stats are medians and quartiles of each posting's range midpoint, weighted by open roles. Groups with fewer than 30 openings (8 for a single company) are not shown.

Numbers reflect currently open roles, not historical offers. About 58% of tracked openings post pay. US pay-transparency laws drive most disclosure, so coverage skews to US roles.

Frequently asked questions

What is the median salary at startups building the future?: The median posted base salary is $175k per year, across 22,530 live openings at 475 companies. The middle half of postings falls between $135k and $222k.
Which startup roles pay the most?: AI & Autonomy roles lead at a $222k median, followed by Software & Data ($214k) and Product, Programs, & Systems ($193k), based on the ranges companies post on live openings.
Which companies building the future pay the highest salaries?: Magic tops the list with a $388k median posted base salary, ahead of Thinking Machines Lab ($375k) and MatX ($363k), among companies with eight or more openings that post pay.
Do startup job postings include salary?: About 58% of the openings BuildList tracks post a pay range. Disclosure is highest at US companies covered by pay-transparency laws, so coverage skews to US roles.
Where does this salary data come from?: From the pay ranges companies publish on their own job postings, pulled hourly from their applicant tracking systems and normalized to annual USD base salary. Equity and bonus are excluded. Nothing is self-reported or estimated.

These numbers come from 22,530 live openings. Browse the roles behind them.

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