Hiring a full stack engineer in San Francisco? Across 454 live full stack engineer postings in San Francisco, the market pays a $198K 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 full stack engineer works across the front end, back end, and data layer to ship complete features on their own. Hiring one in San Francisco means competing with the companies below.
What employers actually screen for, aggregated across 454 active full stack engineer postings in San Francisco:
| Percentile | Base salary |
|---|---|
| 25th | $175K |
| Median | $198K |
| 75th | $225K |
Based on 292 full stack engineer postings in San Francisco that disclose pay. Base only — equity is typically on top.
San Francisco pays about 13% above the US median for this role ($175K).
Across the 263 full stack engineer postings in San Francisco that spell out responsibilities:
The companies with the most live full stack engineer openings in San Francisco, with what each pays and screens for (medians shown only where at least 3 postings disclose pay):
| Company | Open full stack engineer roles | Median pay (disclosed) | Top skills |
|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAI | 16 | $308K | OpenAI, Python, React |
| Tesla | 14 | — | React |
| Commure | 8 | $200K | React, Kubernetes, Docker |
| Series A | 7 | $175K | — |
| Infilla | 5 | — | — |
| Clera | 5 | $165K | React, TypeScript, CI/CD |
| Discord | 4 | $208K | Python, React, Rust |
| Ansa | 4 | — | Go, PostgreSQL, AWS |
| Rippling | 4 | $252K | Python, JavaScript, React |
| David AI | 4 | $255K | TypeScript, Next.js, Node.js |
Where the full stack engineer demand sits across funding stages, across the 150 companies with the most live openings in San Francisco:
| Stage | Companies hiring | Open roles | Median pay (disclosed) | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seed | 20 | 41 | $210K | Clera, Dryft, Circleback |
| Series A | 17 | 34 | $195K | Ansa, Uncountable, Bobyard |
| Series B | 15 | 29 | $208K | LangChain, Mr. Beast, Scribe |
| Series C | 7 | 12 | — | Infinitus Systems, Meter, BentoBox |
| Series D+ | 38 | 97 | $205K | OpenAI, Commure, Discord |
| Public | 19 | 49 | $198K | Tesla, Roblox, General Motors |
A further 34 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 full stack 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 full stack engineer works across the front end, back end, and data layer to ship complete features on their own.
What salary does a full stack engineer in San Francisco command in 2026?Across 454 live postings in San Francisco, a $198K 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 full stack engineer?Depth in the skills these postings require (React, Python, TypeScript, PostgreSQL, AWS, Node.js, JavaScript, Go), plus breadth across the stack with genuine depth in at least one layer, and strong product instincts. Recruiting from Scratch sends a shortlist of 3–5 genuinely qualified candidates, not resume volume.
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