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Sorted by top of posted range
Mechanical & Physical Systems in SF Bay Area: median base salary $179k · Typical range $150k–$207k · 425 openings with pay.
Mechanical & Physical Systems · SF Bay Area
MatX · Mountain View, CA · Senior
Atomic Machines · Emeryville, CA · Executive
Nvidia · Santa Clara, CA · Staff / Principal
Nvidia · Santa Clara, CA · Staff / Principal
Periodic Labs · Menlo Park, CA · Senior
Pacific Fusion · San Leandro, CA · Senior
Median base salary
$176k
All openings with posted pay
Typical range
$135k–$225k
25th to 75th percentile
22,954 openings with pay data across 482 companies · 56% of 40,728 tracked openings. Annual base salary. Equity and bonus excluded. Methodology
Distribution
Share of openings by posted midpoint
By role
Bar shows 25th to 75th percentile
By experience level
By funding stage
By sector
Top-paying companies
Median pay · 8+ openings each
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 56% 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 $176k per year, across 22,954 live openings at 482 companies. The middle half of postings falls between $135k and $225k.
- Which startup roles pay the most?
- AI & Autonomy roles lead at a $225k median, followed by Software & Data ($216k) 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 56% 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 22,954 live openings. Browse the roles behind them.