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Salaries

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

18,882 openings with posted pay · 455 companies · Updated Sep 10, 2026

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Sorted by top of posted range

Infrastructure, IT, & Security in Aerospace: median base salary $171k · Typical range $125k–$203k · 200 openings with pay.

Infrastructure, IT, & Security · Aerospace

200 matching openings with posted pay
1
Principal Security Software Engineer (Starlink)

SpaceX · Palo Alto, CA · Staff / Principal

$235k–$355k / year
2
Sr. AI Engineer, Platform Infrastructure, Special Programs

SpaceX · Palo Alto, CA · Senior

$220k–$350k / year
3
Principal Security Software Engineer (Starlink)

SpaceX · Redmond, WA · Staff / Principal

$225k–$345k / year
4
Vice President & Chief Information Security Officer

Planet Labs · San Francisco, CA · Executive

$261k–$326k / year
5
Pilot in Command (PIC)

SpaceX · Hawthorne, CA · Senior

$225k–$325k / year
6
Sr Manager, Vehicle Software Infrastructure

Relativity Space · Long Beach, CA · Manager

$206k–$308k / year
7
Staff Platform Engineer, Infrastructure

True Anomaly · Denver, CO · Staff / Principal

$205k–$295k / year
8
Staff Mission Cloud Engineer

True Anomaly · Denver, CO · Staff / Principal

$205k–$295k / year

Median base salary

$179k

All openings with posted pay

Typical range

$135k–$230k

25th to 75th percentile

18,882 openings with pay data across 455 companies · 46% of 41,407 tracked openings. Annual base salary. Equity and bonus excluded. Methodology

Distribution

Share of openings by posted midpoint

Under $50k
188
$50k–$100k
2,042
$100k–$150k
3,770
$150k–$200k
5,387
$200k–$250k
4,020
$250k–$300k
1,949
$300k–$400k
1,217
$400k+
309

By role

Bar shows 25th to 75th percentile

AI & Autonomy944 openings
Typical range $193k–$283k
$236k
Infrastructure, IT, & Security1,394 openings
Typical range $154k–$259k
$203k
Software & Data5,502 openings
Typical range $160k–$250k
$200k
Product, Programs, & Systems1,630 openings
Typical range $160k–$239k
$194k
Marketing & Design524 openings
Typical range $157k–$223k
$188k
Business Development & Customer Ops1,738 openings
Typical range $136k–$250k
$183k
Electrical & Firmware1,273 openings
Typical range $147k–$216k
$177k
Finance, Legal, & Compliance847 openings
Typical range $128k–$228k
$174k
Mechanical & Physical Systems1,206 openings
Typical range $126k–$185k
$158k
Business & People Operations782 openings
Typical range $113k–$183k
$148k
Supply Chain & Procurement551 openings
Typical range $108k–$170k
$143k
Test, Quality, & Reliability1,305 openings
Typical range $99k–$177k
$143k
Manufacturing & Production1,186 openings
Typical range $73k–$145k
$108k

By experience level

Intern333 openings
Typical range $62k–$92k
$71k
Entry-Level2,140 openings
Typical range $78k–$180k
$123k
Mid-Level5,407 openings
Typical range $120k–$200k
$153k
Senior7,384 openings
Typical range $160k–$236k
$193k
Staff / Principal1,490 openings
Typical range $194k–$275k
$230k
Manager1,408 openings
Typical range $148k–$235k
$186k
Director653 openings
Typical range $215k–$296k
$250k
Executive67 openings
Typical range $258k–$317k
$293k

By funding stage

Seed407 openings
Typical range $123k–$188k
$150k
Series A1,186 openings
Typical range $125k–$195k
$160k
Series B1,075 openings
Typical range $138k–$215k
$178k
Series C+11,712 openings
Typical range $145k–$238k
$188k
Public4,471 openings
Typical range $120k–$224k
$170k

By sector

AI Research1,500 openings
Typical range $215k–$356k
$283k
Compute & Semiconductors2,693 openings
Typical range $178k–$265k
$220k
AI App2,593 openings
Typical range $175k–$263k
$216k
Fintech533 openings
Typical range $153k–$257k
$204k
Robotics542 openings
Typical range $125k–$205k
$175k
Defense2,376 openings
Typical range $145k–$208k
$170k
Construction & Housing115 openings
Typical range $135k–$215k
$170k
Public Services137 openings
Typical range $143k–$225k
$168k
Agriculture157 openings
Typical range $117k–$175k
$165k
Energy & Climate1,410 openings
Typical range $120k–$190k
$155k
Bio & Health409 openings
Typical range $112k–$210k
$155k
Transportation1,579 openings
Typical range $96k–$215k
$154k
Aerospace3,889 openings
Typical range $111k–$180k
$148k
Supply Chain241 openings
Typical range $103k–$207k
$144k
Manufacturing667 openings
Typical range $101k–$175k
$138k
Education41 openings
Typical range $77k–$165k
$110k

Top-paying companies

Median pay · 8+ openings each

1Anthropic262 roles$389k
2Thinking Machines Lab16 roles$338k
3OpenAI653 roles$309k
4Normal Computing22 roles$300k
5Polymarket52 roles$295k
6Pika9 roles$293k
7Goodfire17 roles$288k
8Wayve69 roles$286k
9Wispr Flow21 roles$285k
10Lambda83 roles$276k
11Oxide12 roles$275k
12Luma AI21 roles$275k
13Generalist AI12 roles$275k
14Gimlet Labs11 roles$270k
15Sierra184 roles$265k

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 $179k per year, across 18,882 live openings at 455 companies. The middle half of postings falls between $135k and $230k.
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 ($309k), 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 18,882 live openings. Browse the roles behind them.

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