Hiring a frontend engineer in San Francisco? Across 185 live frontend engineer postings in San Francisco, the market pays a $200K median salary (typically $175K–$225K). Recruiting from Scratch is the contingency technical recruiting firm for these hires — a 29-day average time to hire, 300+ placements, and a 2M+ candidate network.
A frontend engineer builds the user-facing product — interfaces, performance, and interaction — in modern web frameworks. Hiring one in San Francisco means competing with the companies below.
What employers actually screen for, aggregated across 185 active frontend engineer postings in San Francisco:
| Percentile | Base salary |
|---|---|
| 25th | $175K |
| Median | $200K |
| 75th | $225K |
Based on 119 frontend engineer postings in San Francisco that disclose pay. Base only — equity is typically on top.
San Francisco pays about 11% above the US median for this role ($180K).
The companies with the most live frontend engineer openings in San Francisco, with what each pays and screens for (medians shown only where at least 3 postings disclose pay):
| Company | Open frontend engineer roles | Median pay (disclosed) | Top skills |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roblox | 8 | $269K | React, TypeScript, JavaScript |
| Verkada | 8 | $220K | React, JavaScript, TypeScript |
| Clera | 6 | $175K | Kubernetes, Go, React |
| Hire Feed | 4 | $140K | — |
| Handshake | 3 | $253K | TypeScript |
| Klarity Ai | 3 | $225K | TypeScript, React, Next.js |
| Apple | 3 | — | — |
| Doss | 3 | $220K | React, GraphQL, Node.js |
| Baseten | 3 | $165K | TypeScript, React |
| Halliday | 3 | $200K | TypeScript, React |
Where the frontend engineer demand sits across funding stages, across the 125 companies with the most live openings in San Francisco:
| Stage | Companies hiring | Open roles | Median pay (disclosed) | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seed | 16 | 25 | $200K | Clera, Layer Financial Technologies, Mochi Health |
| Series A | 15 | 18 | $200K | Halliday, Cogent Security, Fable |
| Series B | 14 | 20 | $200K | Doss, Droyd, Collate |
| Series C | 11 | 12 | $200K | nScale, Finix, Factory |
| Series D+ | 27 | 44 | $200K | Verkada, Handshake, Baseten |
| Public | 6 | 16 | $269K | Roblox, Apple, Snowflake |
A further 36 of those companies have no funding stage on file and are not shown above.
Recruiting from Scratch is a contingency technical recruiting firm — no retainer and no upfront cost, so you pay only when you make a hire. The process: align on the role and must-haves → a curated shortlist of 3–5 genuinely qualified frontend engineers (not resume volume) → a 29-day average time to hire versus the 49-day industry average → a 90-day replacement guarantee. Backed by 300+ placements, a 2M+ candidate network, and named hires at companies like Decagon and Mercor.
A frontend engineer builds the user-facing product — interfaces, performance, and interaction — in modern web frameworks.
What salary does a frontend engineer in San Francisco command in 2026?Across 185 live postings in San Francisco, a $200K median salary (typically $175K–$225K) — base only; equity is typically on top. Most postings expect 5+ years of experience.
What should you look for when hiring a frontend engineer?Depth in the skills these postings require (React, TypeScript, JavaScript, Next.js, GraphQL, Python, PostgreSQL, CI/CD), plus strong JavaScript/TypeScript and framework depth plus a real eye for UX and performance. Recruiting from Scratch sends a shortlist of 3–5 genuinely qualified candidates, not resume volume.
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