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Salaries

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

19,388 openings with posted pay · 462 companies · Updated 9/9/2026

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Sorted by top of posted range

Software & Data in San Diego: median base salary $200k · Typical range $168k–$230k · 53 openings with pay.

Software & Data · San Diego

53 matching openings with posted pay
1
Senior Staff Engineer, Autonomy Behaviors (R4073)

Shield AI · Washington, D.C. · Mid-Level

$234k–$351k / year
2
Senior Staff Engineer, ML Ops (R4941)

Shield AI · San Diego, CA · Entry-Level

$233k–$350k / year
3
Senior Staff Engineer, Discrete Planning (R5440)

Shield AI · San Diego, CA · Senior

$230k–$350k / year
4
Senior Staff Engineer, Software - Autonomous Aircraft Integration (R4983)

Shield AI · Washington, D.C. · Mid-Level

$221k–$331k / year
5
Principal Engineer, Software (R5285)

Shield AI · United States · Senior

$220k–$330k / year
6
Principal Technical Product Manager (R5249)

Shield AI · United States · Mid-Level

$220k–$330k / year
7
Senior Staff Engineer, Systems Integration (R5415)

Shield AI · San Diego, CA · Staff / Principal

$212k–$318k / year
8
Forward Deployed Engineer, Operations & Sustainment (R5497)

Shield AI · San Diego, CA · Senior

$152k–$318k / year

Median base salary

$177k

All openings with posted pay

Typical range

$135k–$225k

25th to 75th percentile

19,388 openings with pay data across 462 companies · 47% of 40,834 tracked openings. Annual base salary. Equity and bonus excluded. Methodology

Distribution

Share of openings by posted midpoint

Under $50k
178
$50k–$100k
2,011
$100k–$150k
4,086
$150k–$200k
5,739
$200k–$250k
3,970
$250k–$300k
1,950
$300k–$400k
1,216
$400k+
238

By role

Bar shows 25th to 75th percentile

AI & Autonomy1,022 openings
Typical range $181k–$281k
$225k
Software & Data4,685 openings
Typical range $165k–$250k
$205k
Infrastructure, IT, & Security1,512 openings
Typical range $149k–$245k
$198k
Product, Programs, & Systems1,476 openings
Typical range $160k–$245k
$196k
Marketing & Design582 openings
Typical range $156k–$232k
$188k
Business Development & Customer Ops1,658 openings
Typical range $131k–$255k
$183k
Electrical & Firmware1,565 openings
Typical range $148k–$215k
$178k
Finance, Legal, & Compliance827 openings
Typical range $133k–$228k
$171k
Mechanical & Physical Systems1,522 openings
Typical range $129k–$188k
$158k
Business & People Operations1,043 openings
Typical range $114k–$193k
$150k
Test, Quality, & Reliability1,464 openings
Typical range $106k–$180k
$145k
Supply Chain & Procurement648 openings
Typical range $105k–$170k
$138k
Manufacturing & Production1,384 openings
Typical range $77k–$148k
$109k

By experience level

Intern325 openings
Typical range $62k–$101k
$73k
Entry-Level1,522 openings
Typical range $67k–$128k
$99k
Mid-Level5,954 openings
Typical range $120k–$200k
$153k
Senior7,674 openings
Typical range $160k–$233k
$193k
Staff / Principal1,558 openings
Typical range $192k–$265k
$223k
Manager1,553 openings
Typical range $147k–$235k
$185k
Director743 openings
Typical range $215k–$295k
$250k
Executive59 openings
Typical range $255k–$314k
$279k

By funding stage

Seed419 openings
Typical range $123k–$188k
$155k
Series A1,381 openings
Typical range $125k–$195k
$160k
Series B1,335 openings
Typical range $138k–$211k
$175k
Series C+11,892 openings
Typical range $143k–$235k
$185k
Public4,319 openings
Typical range $121k–$220k
$168k

By sector

AI Research1,505 openings
Typical range $215k–$345k
$280k
AI App2,262 openings
Typical range $178k–$266k
$220k
Compute & Semiconductors2,683 openings
Typical range $178k–$261k
$219k
Fintech698 openings
Typical range $149k–$250k
$199k
Robotics641 openings
Typical range $125k–$205k
$172k
Defense2,858 openings
Typical range $138k–$200k
$170k
Construction & Housing90 openings
Typical range $135k–$208k
$170k
Public Services103 openings
Typical range $140k–$205k
$165k
Agriculture159 openings
Typical range $115k–$170k
$165k
Bio & Health393 openings
Typical range $113k–$215k
$160k
Transportation1,357 openings
Typical range $106k–$216k
$158k
Energy & Climate1,345 openings
Typical range $120k–$188k
$157k
Aerospace4,436 openings
Typical range $113k–$180k
$148k
Manufacturing691 openings
Typical range $101k–$179k
$138k
Education30 openings
Typical range $91k–$170k
$131k
Supply Chain137 openings
Typical range $91k–$171k
$127k

Top-paying companies

Median pay · 8+ openings each

1Magic8 roles$388k
2Thinking Machines Lab20 roles$381k
3Anthropic268 roles$334k
4OpenAI647 roles$309k
5Normal Computing21 roles$300k
6Pika9 roles$293k
7Goodfire14 roles$288k
8Wayve69 roles$286k
9Wispr Flow22 roles$280k
10Lambda82 roles$276k
11Periodic Labs25 roles$275k
12Luma AI21 roles$275k
13Generalist AI12 roles$275k
14Dataminr12 roles$273k
15Gimlet Labs11 roles$270k

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 47% 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 $177k per year, across 19,388 live openings at 462 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 ($205k) and Infrastructure, IT, & Security ($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 Anthropic ($334k), among companies with eight or more openings that post pay.
Do startup job postings include salary?
About 47% 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 19,388 live openings. Browse the roles behind them.

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