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Salaries

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

21,282 openings with posted pay · 478 companies · Updated 9/9/2026

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Sorted by top of posted range

Infrastructure, IT, & Security in Defense: median base salary $178k · Typical range $145k–$200k · 214 openings with pay.

Infrastructure, IT, & Security · Defense

214 matching openings with posted pay
1
Forward Deployed Site Reliability Engineer

Twenty · Fort Meade, MD · Senior

$192k–$455k / year
2
Principal Offensive Cyber Research Engineer

Twenty · Arlington, VA · Staff / Principal

$192k–$455k / year
3
Forward Deployed Site Reliability Engineer (TS/SCI Required)

Twenty · Arlington, VA · Senior

$192k–$455k / year
4
Sr. Staff Lead Site Reliability Engineer (R5803)

Shield AI · San Mateo, CA · Senior

$220k–$340k / year
5
Director, Site Reliability Engineering

Anduril Industries · Costa Mesa, CA · Director

$253k–$336k / year
6
Senior Staff Network Engineer (R4843)

Shield AI · Seattle, WA · Staff / Principal

$200k–$300k / year
7
Staff AI Infrastructure Engineer

Anduril Industries · Costa Mesa, CA · Staff / Principal

$220k–$292k / year
8
Staff Software Engineer, Security

Anduril Industries · Costa Mesa, CA · Staff / Principal

$220k–$292k / year

Median base salary

$175k

All openings with posted pay

Typical range

$135k–$225k

25th to 75th percentile

21,282 openings with pay data across 478 companies · 52% of 41,065 tracked openings. Annual base salary. Equity and bonus excluded. Methodology

Distribution

Share of openings by posted midpoint

Under $50k
185
$50k–$100k
2,209
$100k–$150k
4,483
$150k–$200k
6,369
$200k–$250k
4,385
$250k–$300k
2,125
$300k–$400k
1,278
$400k+
248

By role

Bar shows 25th to 75th percentile

AI & Autonomy1,005 openings
Typical range $175k–$278k
$224k
Software & Data4,646 openings
Typical range $168k–$250k
$208k
Product, Programs, & Systems1,766 openings
Typical range $160k–$246k
$198k
Infrastructure, IT, & Security1,630 openings
Typical range $150k–$241k
$194k
Marketing & Design688 openings
Typical range $154k–$230k
$188k
Business Development & Customer Ops2,048 openings
Typical range $133k–$254k
$184k
Electrical & Firmware1,728 openings
Typical range $148k–$213k
$178k
Finance, Legal, & Compliance971 openings
Typical range $131k–$230k
$171k
Mechanical & Physical Systems1,783 openings
Typical range $130k–$188k
$158k
Business & People Operations1,249 openings
Typical range $110k–$190k
$148k
Test, Quality, & Reliability1,567 openings
Typical range $105k–$179k
$144k
Supply Chain & Procurement774 openings
Typical range $107k–$170k
$139k
Manufacturing & Production1,427 openings
Typical range $77k–$148k
$109k

By experience level

Intern371 openings
Typical range $62k–$112k
$77k
Entry-Level1,406 openings
Typical range $67k–$125k
$95k
Mid-Level6,069 openings
Typical range $118k–$185k
$150k
Senior8,532 openings
Typical range $158k–$228k
$192k
Staff / Principal2,052 openings
Typical range $193k–$263k
$226k
Manager1,886 openings
Typical range $145k–$234k
$180k
Director892 openings
Typical range $213k–$290k
$245k
Executive74 openings
Typical range $258k–$317k
$291k

By funding stage

Seed428 openings
Typical range $123k–$188k
$151k
Series A1,415 openings
Typical range $125k–$195k
$160k
Series B1,455 openings
Typical range $135k–$208k
$170k
Series C+13,067 openings
Typical range $144k–$235k
$185k
Public4,872 openings
Typical range $121k–$220k
$167k

By sector

AI Research1,516 openings
Typical range $215k–$345k
$280k
Compute & Semiconductors2,851 openings
Typical range $177k–$261k
$219k
AI App2,932 openings
Typical range $170k–$260k
$215k
Fintech714 openings
Typical range $149k–$249k
$198k
Robotics659 openings
Typical range $125k–$205k
$170k
Public Services152 openings
Typical range $143k–$225k
$170k
Defense2,971 openings
Typical range $135k–$200k
$170k
Construction & Housing91 openings
Typical range $135k–$208k
$170k
Agriculture163 openings
Typical range $115k–$170k
$165k
Energy & Climate1,631 openings
Typical range $120k–$189k
$157k
Bio & Health428 openings
Typical range $113k–$210k
$155k
Transportation1,638 openings
Typical range $100k–$214k
$155k
Aerospace4,576 openings
Typical range $118k–$180k
$150k
Supply Chain214 openings
Typical range $102k–$191k
$138k
Manufacturing714 openings
Typical range $100k–$180k
$138k
Education32 openings
Typical range $80k–$170k
$131k

Top-paying companies

Median pay · 8+ openings each

1Magic8 roles$388k
2Thinking Machines Lab20 roles$381k
3MatX37 roles$380k
4Anthropic268 roles$334k
5OpenAI656 roles$309k
6Normal Computing21 roles$300k
7Pika9 roles$293k
8Goodfire13 roles$288k
9Wayve69 roles$286k
10Wispr Flow22 roles$280k
11Lambda82 roles$276k
12Oxide12 roles$275k
13Luma AI23 roles$275k
14Generalist AI12 roles$275k
15Dataminr12 roles$273k

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 52% 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 $175k per year, across 21,282 live openings at 478 companies. The middle half of postings falls between $135k and $225k.
Which startup roles pay the most?
AI & Autonomy roles lead at a $224k median, followed by Software & Data ($208k) and Product, Programs, & Systems ($198k), 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 ($381k) and MatX ($380k), among companies with eight or more openings that post pay.
Do startup job postings include salary?
About 52% 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 21,282 live openings. Browse the roles behind them.

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