Skip to content
BuildList

Software & Data salaries in Seattle

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

378 openings with posted pay · Updated Oct 31, 2026

Browse jobs
On this page

Find high-paying roles

Sorted by top of posted range

Software & Data · Seattle

378 matching openings with posted pay
1
TPU Performance Engineer

Anthropic · San Francisco, CA · Senior

$280k–$850k / year
2
Staff+ Software Engineer, Developer Productivity

Anthropic · San Francisco, CA · Staff / Principal

$405k–$625k / year
3
Staff Software Engineer, Code RL

Anthropic · San Francisco, CA · Staff / Principal

$405k–$625k / year
4
Staff Software Engineer, Claude Code

Anthropic · San Francisco, CA · Staff / Principal

$320k–$625k / year
5
Engineering Manager, Core Experimentation

OpenAI · Seattle, WA · Manager

$510k–$536k / year
6
Principal Software Engineer, Infrastructure Security

OpenAI · Remote · Staff / Principal

$401k–$510k / year
7
Software Engineer, Developer Productivity

OpenAI · San Francisco, CA · Senior

$210k–$490k / year
8
Staff+ Software Engineer, Inference Velocity

Anthropic · Remote · Staff / Principal

$405k–$485k / year

Median base salary

$223k

378 openings with posted pay

Typical range

$186k–$284k

25th to 75th percentile

Across all 26,320 openings with posted pay, the median is $175k. Annual base salary. Equity and bonus excluded. Methodology

Software & Data by sector

Bar shows 25th to 75th percentile

AI Research453 openings
Typical range $243k–$366k
$310k
Compute & Semiconductors496 openings
Typical range $197k–$270k
$236k
Fintech197 openings
Typical range $172k–$260k
$217k
AI App796 openings
Typical range $185k–$265k
$216k
Bio & Health81 openings
Typical range $168k–$255k
$209k
Defense650 openings
Typical range $175k–$223k
$204k
Transportation223 openings
Typical range $161k–$243k
$204k
Robotics107 openings
Typical range $160k–$229k
$200k
Energy & Climate115 openings
Typical range $160k–$231k
$188k
Manufacturing82 openings
Typical range $150k–$220k
$183k

Software & Data by location

Bar shows 25th to 75th percentile

United Kingdom57 openings
Typical range $159k–$312k
$247k
NYC687 openings
Typical range $200k–$295k
$243k
SF Bay Area1,955 openings
Typical range $196k–$285k
$236k
Seattle378 openings
Typical range $186k–$284k
$223k
Remote483 openings
Typical range $170k–$250k
$216k
Washington, D.C.238 openings
Typical range $168k–$223k
$200k
Boston156 openings
Typical range $175k–$223k
$200k
Austin77 openings
Typical range $157k–$238k
$200k
Canada128 openings
Typical range $140k–$230k
$194k
Los Angeles598 openings
Typical range $159k–$222k
$193k
San Diego58 openings
Typical range $160k–$216k
$188k

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 $175k per year, across 26,320 live openings at 530 companies. The middle half of postings falls between $135k and $225k.
Which startup roles pay the most?
AI & Autonomy roles lead at a $230k median, followed by Software & Data ($214k) and Infrastructure, IT, & Security ($200k), based on the ranges companies post on live openings.
Which companies building the future pay the highest salaries?
MatX tops the list with a $394k median posted base salary, ahead of Aaru ($353k) and Anthropic ($345k), 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 26,320 live openings. Browse the roles behind them.

Browse JobsGet Weekly Jobs