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Salaries

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

20,089 openings with posted pay · 500 companies · Updated Sep 21, 2026

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Sorted by top of posted range

Infrastructure, IT, & Security: median base salary $206k · Typical range $160k–$254k · 1,525 openings with pay.

Infrastructure, IT, & Security

1,525 matching openings with posted pay
1
Pre-training Data Infrastructure Engineer

Anthropic · San Francisco, CA · Staff / Principal

$500k–$850k / year
2
Research Engineer, Discovery

Anthropic · San Francisco, CA · Senior

$350k–$850k / year
3
Software Engineer, ML Networking

Anthropic · San Francisco, CA · Senior

$280k–$850k / year
4
Staff Software Engineer, Kubernetes Platform

Anthropic · United Kingdom · Staff / Principal

$436k–$650k / year
5
Staff Infrastructure Engineer, Cluster Infrastructure

Anthropic · United Kingdom · Staff / Principal

$436k–$650k / year
6
Staff Software Engineer, Node Infra

Anthropic · United Kingdom · Staff / Principal

$436k–$650k / year
7
Software Engineer, Research Infrastructure

Anthropic · San Francisco, CA · Senior

$405k–$625k / year
8
Staff Software Engineer, Environments Infrastructure

Anthropic · San Francisco, CA · Staff / Principal

$405k–$605k / year

Median base salary

$180k

All openings with posted pay

Typical range

$137k–$230k

25th to 75th percentile

20,089 openings with pay data across 500 companies · 47% of 43,170 tracked openings. Annual base salary. Equity and bonus excluded. Methodology

Distribution

Share of openings by posted midpoint

Under $50k
195
$50k–$100k
2,118
$100k–$150k
3,961
$150k–$200k
5,761
$200k–$250k
4,373
$250k–$300k
2,048
$300k–$400k
1,291
$400k+
342

By role

Bar shows 25th to 75th percentile

AI & Autonomy1,020 openings
Typical range $188k–$283k
$233k
Infrastructure, IT, & Security1,525 openings
Typical range $160k–$254k
$206k
Software & Data5,764 openings
Typical range $161k–$250k
$203k
Product, Programs, & Systems1,607 openings
Typical range $160k–$233k
$193k
Business Development & Customer Ops1,927 openings
Typical range $135k–$242k
$185k
Marketing & Design625 openings
Typical range $153k–$220k
$182k
Electrical & Firmware1,375 openings
Typical range $145k–$218k
$177k
Finance, Legal, & Compliance972 openings
Typical range $125k–$223k
$168k
Mechanical & Physical Systems1,352 openings
Typical range $125k–$185k
$155k
Business & People Operations834 openings
Typical range $113k–$183k
$148k
Test, Quality, & Reliability1,265 openings
Typical range $108k–$184k
$147k
Supply Chain & Procurement628 openings
Typical range $105k–$170k
$144k
Manufacturing & Production1,195 openings
Typical range $75k–$148k
$110k

By experience level

Intern509 openings
Typical range $60k–$92k
$70k
Entry-Level2,010 openings
Typical range $80k–$180k
$123k
Mid-Level5,940 openings
Typical range $120k–$200k
$155k
Senior7,832 openings
Typical range $161k–$233k
$194k
Staff / Principal1,521 openings
Typical range $195k–$275k
$231k
Manager1,472 openings
Typical range $150k–$236k
$189k
Director734 openings
Typical range $215k–$295k
$250k
Executive71 openings
Typical range $260k–$320k
$300k

By funding stage

Seed461 openings
Typical range $123k–$190k
$155k
Series A1,267 openings
Typical range $125k–$198k
$160k
Series B1,269 openings
Typical range $140k–$225k
$180k
Series C+12,950 openings
Typical range $145k–$238k
$188k
Public4,104 openings
Typical range $125k–$223k
$171k

By sector

AI Research1,636 openings
Typical range $214k–$353k
$280k
Compute & Semiconductors2,696 openings
Typical range $177k–$261k
$218k
AI App2,929 openings
Typical range $173k–$260k
$215k
Fintech703 openings
Typical range $146k–$249k
$198k
Robotics575 openings
Typical range $125k–$210k
$175k
Transportation1,191 openings
Typical range $119k–$228k
$173k
Defense2,817 openings
Typical range $145k–$210k
$170k
Construction & Housing112 openings
Typical range $135k–$215k
$170k
Public Services155 openings
Typical range $140k–$213k
$165k
Agriculture163 openings
Typical range $115k–$170k
$165k
Bio & Health438 openings
Typical range $123k–$216k
$164k
Energy & Climate1,465 openings
Typical range $120k–$188k
$155k
Aerospace4,241 openings
Typical range $109k–$182k
$147k
Supply Chain247 openings
Typical range $103k–$207k
$146k
Manufacturing680 openings
Typical range $101k–$183k
$140k
Education41 openings
Typical range $77k–$170k
$110k

Top-paying companies

Median pay · 8+ openings each

1Anthropic279 roles$363k
2Aaru18 roles$353k
3Thinking Machines Lab27 roles$325k
4OpenAI673 roles$308k
5Periodic Labs9 roles$300k
6Normal Computing18 roles$300k
7Goodfire12 roles$300k
8Polymarket66 roles$290k
9Wayve70 roles$290k
10World Labs9 roles$288k
11Wispr Flow30 roles$285k
12Lambda86 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 47% 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 20,089 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 $233k median, followed by Infrastructure, IT, & Security ($206k) 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 47% 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 20,089 live openings. Browse the roles behind them.

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