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Salaries

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

20,917 openings with posted pay · 503 companies · Updated Sep 29, 2026

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Sorted by top of posted range

Infrastructure, IT, & Security in Defense: median base salary $179k · Typical range $145k–$222k · 222 openings with pay.

Infrastructure, IT, & Security · Defense

222 matching openings with posted pay
1
Senior/Staff DevOps Engineer

Twenty · Arlington, VA · Staff / Principal

$192k–$455k / year
2
Senior/Staff DevOps Engineer

Twenty · New York, NY · Senior

$192k–$455k / year
3
Forward Deployed Site Reliability Engineer

Twenty · Fort Meade, MD · Senior

$192k–$455k / year
4
Principal Offensive Cyber Research Engineer

Twenty · Arlington, VA · Staff / Principal

$192k–$455k / year
5
Forward Deployed Site Reliability Engineer (TS/SCI Required)

Twenty · Arlington, VA · Senior

$192k–$455k / year
6
Chief Information Security Officer

Anduril Industries · Costa Mesa, CA · Executive

$252k–$380k / year
7
Senior Engineering Manager, Business Systems

Verkada · San Mateo, CA · Manager

$200k–$350k / year
8
Senior Director, Product Security

Anduril Industries · Costa Mesa, CA · Director

$253k–$336k / year

Median base salary

$180k

All openings with posted pay

Typical range

$135k–$229k

25th to 75th percentile

20,917 openings with pay data across 503 companies · 48% of 43,775 tracked openings. Annual base salary. Equity and bonus excluded. Methodology

Distribution

Share of openings by posted midpoint

Under $50k
198
$50k–$100k
2,291
$100k–$150k
4,130
$150k–$200k
5,976
$200k–$250k
4,519
$250k–$300k
2,107
$300k–$400k
1,353
$400k+
343

By role

Bar shows 25th to 75th percentile

AI & Autonomy1,091 openings
Typical range $185k–$281k
$232k
Software & Data5,540 openings
Typical range $163k–$250k
$205k
Infrastructure, IT, & Security1,659 openings
Typical range $160k–$255k
$205k
Product, Programs, & Systems1,709 openings
Typical range $160k–$235k
$193k
Business Development & Customer Ops2,038 openings
Typical range $137k–$243k
$188k
Marketing & Design670 openings
Typical range $154k–$220k
$182k
Electrical & Firmware1,516 openings
Typical range $140k–$217k
$177k
Finance, Legal, & Compliance1,042 openings
Typical range $125k–$225k
$168k
Mechanical & Physical Systems1,435 openings
Typical range $125k–$185k
$158k
Business & People Operations926 openings
Typical range $113k–$185k
$148k
Test, Quality, & Reliability1,386 openings
Typical range $102k–$181k
$145k
Supply Chain & Procurement652 openings
Typical range $99k–$170k
$140k
Manufacturing & Production1,253 openings
Typical range $75k–$148k
$109k

By experience level

Intern602 openings
Typical range $60k–$94k
$71k
Entry-Level1,949 openings
Typical range $78k–$170k
$115k
Mid-Level6,029 openings
Typical range $120k–$200k
$153k
Senior8,215 openings
Typical range $160k–$233k
$193k
Staff / Principal1,649 openings
Typical range $194k–$273k
$230k
Manager1,614 openings
Typical range $150k–$236k
$188k
Director788 openings
Typical range $218k–$296k
$250k
Executive71 openings
Typical range $260k–$317k
$297k

By funding stage

Seed474 openings
Typical range $125k–$190k
$155k
Series A1,318 openings
Typical range $125k–$198k
$163k
Series B1,340 openings
Typical range $138k–$225k
$180k
Series C+13,568 openings
Typical range $143k–$236k
$186k
Public4,181 openings
Typical range $123k–$220k
$170k

By sector

AI Research1,714 openings
Typical range $215k–$351k
$276k
Compute & Semiconductors2,671 openings
Typical range $177k–$262k
$218k
AI App3,009 openings
Typical range $173k–$260k
$215k
Fintech724 openings
Typical range $147k–$249k
$196k
Robotics581 openings
Typical range $125k–$210k
$175k
Construction & Housing109 openings
Typical range $135k–$215k
$175k
Transportation1,228 openings
Typical range $113k–$228k
$173k
Public Services143 openings
Typical range $140k–$225k
$170k
Defense3,109 openings
Typical range $143k–$208k
$170k
Bio & Health458 openings
Typical range $123k–$219k
$165k
Agriculture165 openings
Typical range $115k–$170k
$160k
Energy & Climate1,527 openings
Typical range $120k–$189k
$158k
Supply Chain250 openings
Typical range $103k–$212k
$153k
Aerospace4,482 openings
Typical range $108k–$180k
$146k
Manufacturing709 openings
Typical range $100k–$180k
$138k
Education38 openings
Typical range $77k–$174k
$111k

Top-paying companies

Median pay · 8+ openings each

1Anthropic315 roles$363k
2Aaru19 roles$353k
3Thinking Machines Lab31 roles$325k
4OpenAI682 roles$308k
5Normal Computing18 roles$300k
6Goodfire12 roles$300k
7Wayve69 roles$290k
8World Labs11 roles$288k
9Wispr Flow29 roles$285k
10Lambda86 roles$285k
11Dataminr13 roles$283k
12Luma AI12 roles$276k
13Periodic Labs20 roles$275k
14Oxide13 roles$275k
15Generalist AI12 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 48% 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 20,917 live openings at 503 companies. The middle half of postings falls between $135k and $229k.
Which startup roles pay the most?
AI & Autonomy roles lead at a $232k median, followed by Software & Data ($205k) and Infrastructure, IT, & Security ($205k), 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 48% 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 20,917 live openings. Browse the roles behind them.

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