Salaries

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

18,892 openings with posted pay · 459 companies · Updated Sep 12, 2026

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Sorted by top of posted range

Infrastructure, IT, & Security in Canada: median base salary $210k · Typical range $118k$248k · 50 openings with pay.

Infrastructure, IT, & Security · Canada

50 matching openings with posted pay
1
Senior Staff Backline Engineer - Data & AI

Databricks · Dallas, TX · Staff / Principal

$354k–$532k / year
2$220k–$405k / year
3$180k–$385k / year
4$180k–$385k / year
5
Chief Information Security Officer (CISO)

Cohere · Canada · Executive

$302k–$349k / year
6
Software Engineer - AI Developer Productivity

Baseten · San Francisco, CA · Senior

$165k–$330k / year
7
Software Engineer - Testing Frameworks

Baseten · San Francisco, CA · Senior

$165k–$330k / year
8
Cloud Platform Engineer

Baseten · San Francisco, CA · Senior

$165k–$330k / year

Median base salary

$178k

All openings with posted pay

Typical range

$135k–$229k

25th to 75th percentile

18,892 openings with pay data across 459 companies · 46% of 41,495 tracked openings. Annual base salary. Equity and bonus excluded. Methodology

Distribution

Share of openings by posted midpoint

Under $50k
189
$50k–$100k
2,069
$100k–$150k
3,783
$150k–$200k
5,427
$200k–$250k
3,974
$250k–$300k
1,924
$300k–$400k
1,215
$400k+
311

By role

Bar shows 25th to 75th percentile

AI & Autonomy954 openings
Typical range $193k$283k
$236k
Typical range $154k$261k
$203k
Software & Data5,470 openings
Typical range $160k$250k
$200k
Typical range $159k$233k
$193k
Typical range $138k$250k
$186k
Marketing & Design529 openings
Typical range $155k$222k
$185k
Electrical & Firmware1,233 openings
Typical range $146k$216k
$176k
Typical range $120k$222k
$166k
Typical range $125k$185k
$158k
Typical range $115k$183k
$148k
Typical range $108k$180k
$145k
Typical range $108k$170k
$145k
Typical range $72k$145k
$106k

By experience level

Intern359 openings
Typical range $60k$87k
$70k
Entry-Level2,162 openings
Typical range $78k$180k
$123k
Mid-Level5,409 openings
Typical range $120k$200k
$153k
Senior7,427 openings
Typical range $160k$235k
$193k
Staff / Principal1,437 openings
Typical range $194k$275k
$230k
Manager1,379 openings
Typical range $145k$233k
$183k
Director650 openings
Typical range $215k$295k
$250k
Executive69 openings
Typical range $260k$317k
$293k

By funding stage

Seed412 openings
Typical range $123k$188k
$155k
Series A1,220 openings
Typical range $123k$193k
$160k
Series B1,081 openings
Typical range $138k$215k
$178k
Series C+11,834 openings
Typical range $145k$239k
$188k
Public4,317 openings
Typical range $118k$220k
$168k

By sector

AI Research1,525 openings
Typical range $215k$356k
$283k
Typical range $177k$261k
$219k
AI App2,613 openings
Typical range $175k$263k
$216k
Fintech554 openings
Typical range $152k$257k
$202k
Robotics550 openings
Typical range $120k$205k
$175k
Defense2,421 openings
Typical range $145k$208k
$170k
Typical range $135k$215k
$170k
Public Services142 openings
Typical range $143k$213k
$165k
Agriculture157 openings
Typical range $117k$175k
$165k
Bio & Health410 openings
Typical range $112k$215k
$158k
Energy & Climate1,408 openings
Typical range $120k$190k
$155k
Transportation1,540 openings
Typical range $94k$214k
$152k
Aerospace3,956 openings
Typical range $110k$180k
$148k
Supply Chain241 openings
Typical range $103k$207k
$144k
Manufacturing677 openings
Typical range $101k$178k
$138k
Education41 openings
Typical range $77k$170k
$110k

Top-paying companies

Median pay · 8+ openings each

1Anthropic262 roles$389k
2Thinking Machines Lab16 roles$338k
3OpenAI664 roles$308k
4Normal Computing21 roles$300k
5Polymarket53 roles$295k
6World Labs8 roles$294k
7Pika9 roles$293k
8Wayve67 roles$290k
9Goodfire17 roles$288k
10Wispr Flow27 roles$285k
11Lambda85 roles$276k
12Oxide12 roles$275k
13Luma AI21 roles$275k
14Generalist AI12 roles$275k
15Ambience Healthcare11 roles$275k

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 $178k per year, across 18,892 live openings at 459 companies. The middle half of postings falls between $135k and $229k.
Which startup roles pay the most?
AI & Autonomy roles lead at a $236k median, followed by Infrastructure, IT, & Security ($203k) and Software & Data ($200k), based on the ranges companies post on live openings.
Which companies building the future pay the highest salaries?
Anthropic tops the list with a $389k median posted base salary, ahead of Thinking Machines Lab ($338k) and OpenAI ($308k), 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 18,892 live openings. Browse the roles behind them.