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Salaries

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

20,067 openings with posted pay · 500 companies · Updated Sep 20, 2026

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Sorted by top of posted range

Defense: median base salary $170k · Typical range $145k–$210k · 2,808 openings with pay.

Defense

2,808 matching openings with posted pay
1
Director, Software Engineering

Twenty · Arlington, VA · Director

$224k–$470k / year
2
Staff / Principal Backend Software Engineer

Twenty · Arlington, VA · Staff / Principal

$192k–$455k / year
3
Staff Data Engineer

Twenty · New York, NY · Staff / Principal

$192k–$455k / year
4
Staff Data Engineer - TS/SCI Cleared

Twenty · Arlington, VA · Staff / Principal

$192k–$455k / year
5
Forward Deployed Site Reliability Engineer

Twenty · Fort Meade, MD · Senior

$192k–$455k / year
6
Senior/Staff DevOps Engineer

Twenty · Arlington, VA · Senior

$192k–$455k / year
7
Staff / Principal Frontend Software Engineer

Twenty · Arlington, VA · Staff / Principal

$192k–$455k / year
8
Senior / Staff Forward Deployed Software Engineer - TS/SCI Cleared

Twenty · Chantilly, VA · Senior

$192k–$455k / year

Median base salary

$180k

All openings with posted pay

Typical range

$137k–$230k

25th to 75th percentile

20,067 openings with pay data across 500 companies · 46% of 43,184 tracked openings. Annual base salary. Equity and bonus excluded. Methodology

Distribution

Share of openings by posted midpoint

Under $50k
190
$50k–$100k
2,111
$100k–$150k
3,972
$150k–$200k
5,778
$200k–$250k
4,350
$250k–$300k
2,046
$300k–$400k
1,278
$400k+
342

By role

Bar shows 25th to 75th percentile

AI & Autonomy1,019 openings
Typical range $188k–$283k
$235k
Infrastructure, IT, & Security1,511 openings
Typical range $160k–$253k
$205k
Software & Data5,753 openings
Typical range $160k–$250k
$203k
Product, Programs, & Systems1,587 openings
Typical range $160k–$235k
$193k
Business Development & Customer Ops1,939 openings
Typical range $135k–$245k
$185k
Marketing & Design614 openings
Typical range $154k–$220k
$183k
Electrical & Firmware1,385 openings
Typical range $145k–$218k
$177k
Finance, Legal, & Compliance968 openings
Typical range $125k–$223k
$168k
Mechanical & Physical Systems1,330 openings
Typical range $125k–$185k
$155k
Business & People Operations859 openings
Typical range $113k–$183k
$148k
Test, Quality, & Reliability1,261 openings
Typical range $109k–$183k
$147k
Supply Chain & Procurement631 openings
Typical range $105k–$170k
$145k
Manufacturing & Production1,210 openings
Typical range $75k–$148k
$110k

By experience level

Intern496 openings
Typical range $60k–$88k
$69k
Entry-Level2,026 openings
Typical range $80k–$180k
$125k
Mid-Level5,927 openings
Typical range $120k–$200k
$154k
Senior7,822 openings
Typical range $161k–$233k
$193k
Staff / Principal1,515 openings
Typical range $195k–$275k
$231k
Manager1,475 openings
Typical range $150k–$236k
$189k
Director736 openings
Typical range $215k–$295k
$250k
Executive70 openings
Typical range $265k–$320k
$300k

By funding stage

Seed469 openings
Typical range $123k–$188k
$155k
Series A1,274 openings
Typical range $125k–$198k
$160k
Series B1,268 openings
Typical range $140k–$225k
$180k
Series C+12,965 openings
Typical range $144k–$238k
$187k
Public4,055 openings
Typical range $125k–$223k
$171k

By sector

AI Research1,628 openings
Typical range $213k–$356k
$280k
Compute & Semiconductors2,672 openings
Typical range $177k–$261k
$218k
AI App2,928 openings
Typical range $173k–$260k
$215k
Fintech698 openings
Typical range $147k–$249k
$198k
Transportation1,168 openings
Typical range $120k–$228k
$175k
Robotics583 openings
Typical range $125k–$210k
$173k
Defense2,808 openings
Typical range $145k–$210k
$170k
Construction & Housing114 openings
Typical range $135k–$215k
$169k
Public Services154 openings
Typical range $140k–$213k
$168k
Bio & Health436 openings
Typical range $123k–$215k
$161k
Agriculture177 openings
Typical range $115k–$170k
$160k
Energy & Climate1,478 openings
Typical range $120k–$189k
$156k
Aerospace4,253 openings
Typical range $109k–$180k
$147k
Supply Chain249 openings
Typical range $103k–$207k
$147k
Manufacturing681 openings
Typical range $101k–$183k
$140k
Education40 openings
Typical range $77k–$170k
$111k

Top-paying companies

Median pay · 8+ openings each

1Anthropic280 roles$363k
2Aaru18 roles$353k
3Thinking Machines Lab21 roles$330k
4OpenAI672 roles$308k
5Periodic Labs8 roles$300k
6Normal Computing18 roles$300k
7Goodfire13 roles$300k
8Polymarket66 roles$290k
9Wayve72 roles$288k
10World Labs9 roles$288k
11Wispr Flow30 roles$285k
12Lambda87 roles$279k
13Oxide12 roles$275k
14Generalist AI12 roles$275k
15Gimlet Labs10 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 46% 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 20,067 live openings at 500 companies. The middle half of postings falls between $137k and $230k.
Which startup roles pay the most?
AI & Autonomy roles lead at a $235k median, followed by Infrastructure, IT, & Security ($205k) and Software & Data ($203k), 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 ($330k), among companies with eight or more openings that post pay.
Do startup job postings include salary?
About 46% 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 20,067 live openings. Browse the roles behind them.

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