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Salaries

What companies building the future pay, straight from their own job postings.

20,096 openings with posted pay · 500 companies · Updated Sep 22, 2026

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Sorted by top of posted range

Finance, Legal, & Compliance in Seattle: median base salary $204k · Typical range $148k–$238k · 77 openings with pay.

Finance, Legal, & Compliance · Seattle

77 matching openings with posted pay
1
Head of Accounting Policy

Anthropic · San Francisco, CA · Director

$385k–$570k / year
2
Senior Counsel, Real Estate

Fluidstack · Seattle, WA · Senior

$325k–$450k / year
3
Counsel, Infrastructure

Fluidstack · Seattle, WA · Senior

$300k–$400k / year
4
VP, Enterprise Risk & Compliance

CoreWeave · Livingston, NJ · Executive

$350k–$375k / year
5
Sr. Counsel, Product

Databricks · Bellevue, WA · Senior

$244k–$336k / year
6
Compute & Infrastructure Counsel, Real Estate

Anthropic · San Francisco, CA · Senior

$265k–$335k / year
7
Litigation Counsel

Whatnot · San Francisco, CA · Senior

$225k–$335k / year
8
Power System Lead, Launch Recovery Vehicle (R6025)

Shield AI · Seattle, WA · Senior

$216k–$325k / year

Median base salary

$180k

All openings with posted pay

Typical range

$137k–$230k

25th to 75th percentile

20,096 openings with pay data across 500 companies · 46% of 43,302 tracked openings. Annual base salary. Equity and bonus excluded. Methodology

Distribution

Share of openings by posted midpoint

Under $50k
198
$50k–$100k
2,115
$100k–$150k
3,978
$150k–$200k
5,775
$200k–$250k
4,366
$250k–$300k
2,038
$300k–$400k
1,287
$400k+
339

By role

Bar shows 25th to 75th percentile

AI & Autonomy1,021 openings
Typical range $188k–$281k
$234k
Infrastructure, IT, & Security1,521 openings
Typical range $160k–$253k
$205k
Software & Data5,692 openings
Typical range $160k–$250k
$203k
Product, Programs, & Systems1,625 openings
Typical range $160k–$235k
$193k
Business Development & Customer Ops1,931 openings
Typical range $137k–$243k
$185k
Marketing & Design631 openings
Typical range $150k–$220k
$181k
Electrical & Firmware1,378 openings
Typical range $145k–$218k
$177k
Finance, Legal, & Compliance994 openings
Typical range $124k–$223k
$166k
Mechanical & Physical Systems1,352 openings
Typical range $125k–$185k
$158k
Business & People Operations851 openings
Typical range $113k–$185k
$150k
Test, Quality, & Reliability1,269 openings
Typical range $108k–$183k
$147k
Supply Chain & Procurement624 openings
Typical range $104k–$170k
$142k
Manufacturing & Production1,207 openings
Typical range $75k–$148k
$110k

By experience level

Intern508 openings
Typical range $60k–$92k
$70k
Entry-Level1,968 openings
Typical range $80k–$176k
$122k
Mid-Level5,956 openings
Typical range $120k–$200k
$155k
Senior7,841 openings
Typical range $161k–$233k
$193k
Staff / Principal1,518 openings
Typical range $195k–$275k
$231k
Manager1,486 openings
Typical range $150k–$236k
$188k
Director750 openings
Typical range $215k–$295k
$250k
Executive69 openings
Typical range $260k–$317k
$300k

By funding stage

Seed461 openings
Typical range $123k–$190k
$155k
Series A1,276 openings
Typical range $125k–$198k
$163k
Series B1,264 openings
Typical range $138k–$225k
$180k
Series C+13,026 openings
Typical range $145k–$237k
$188k
Public4,032 openings
Typical range $124k–$220k
$170k

By sector

AI Research1,636 openings
Typical range $213k–$353k
$278k
Compute & Semiconductors2,598 openings
Typical range $177k–$261k
$218k
AI App2,947 openings
Typical range $172k–$260k
$215k
Fintech705 openings
Typical range $146k–$249k
$198k
Transportation1,187 openings
Typical range $119k–$228k
$175k
Robotics571 openings
Typical range $125k–$210k
$175k
Public Services148 openings
Typical range $140k–$220k
$170k
Defense2,879 openings
Typical range $144k–$210k
$170k
Construction & Housing113 openings
Typical range $135k–$215k
$170k
Bio & Health438 openings
Typical range $125k–$219k
$165k
Agriculture164 openings
Typical range $115k–$170k
$165k
Energy & Climate1,484 openings
Typical range $120k–$189k
$155k
Supply Chain246 openings
Typical range $110k–$207k
$149k
Aerospace4,257 openings
Typical range $109k–$182k
$147k
Manufacturing682 openings
Typical range $101k–$183k
$141k
Education41 openings
Typical range $77k–$170k
$110k

Top-paying companies

Median pay · 8+ openings each

1Anthropic283 roles$363k
2Aaru19 roles$353k
3Thinking Machines Lab27 roles$325k
4OpenAI667 roles$308k
5Periodic Labs9 roles$300k
6Normal Computing18 roles$300k
7Goodfire12 roles$300k
8Polymarket66 roles$290k
9Wayve68 roles$290k
10World Labs9 roles$288k
11Wispr Flow30 roles$285k
12Lambda83 roles$279k
13Oxide12 roles$275k
14Generalist AI12 roles$275k
15Gimlet Labs10 roles$270k

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.

Pay in other currencies 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 46% of tracked openings post pay. US pay-transparency laws drive most disclosure, so coverage skews to US roles. Explore hiring patterns in the hiring report.

Frequently asked questions

What is the median salary at companies building the future?
The median posted base salary is $180k per year, across 20,096 live openings at 500 companies. The middle half of postings falls between $137k and $230k.
Which startup roles pay the most?
AI & Autonomy roles lead at a $234k median, followed by Infrastructure, IT, & Security ($205k) and Software & Data ($203k), based on the ranges companies post on live openings.
Which companies building the future pay the highest salaries?
Anthropic tops the list with a $363k median posted base salary, ahead of Aaru ($353k) and Thinking Machines Lab ($325k), among companies with eight or more openings that post pay.
Do startup job postings include salary?
About 46% 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 base salary. Equity and bonus are excluded. Nothing is self-reported or estimated.

These numbers come from 20,096 live openings. Browse the roles behind them.

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