Hiring a software engineer in Mountain View? Across 522 live software engineer postings in Mountain View, the market pays a $209K median salary (typically $193K–$242K). 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 software engineer designs, builds, tests, and ships software across the stack as part of a product team. Hiring one in Mountain View means competing with the companies below.
What employers actually screen for, aggregated across 522 active software engineer postings in Mountain View:
| Percentile | Base salary |
|---|---|
| 25th | $193K |
| Median | $209K |
| 75th | $242K |
Based on 370 software engineer postings in Mountain View that disclose pay. Base only — equity is typically on top.
Mountain View pays about 14% above the US median for this role ($184K).
Across the 281 software engineer postings in Mountain View that spell out responsibilities:
The companies with the most live software engineer openings in Mountain View, with what each pays and screens for (medians shown only where at least 3 postings disclose pay):
| Company | Open software engineer roles | Median pay (disclosed) | Top skills |
|---|---|---|---|
| 113 | $214K | Python, Model Deployment, Java | |
| Waymo | 73 | $238K | Python, SQL, TensorFlow |
| Nuro | 50 | $183K | Python, Redis, PostgreSQL |
| Databricks | 40 | $222K | Spark, Databricks, Java |
| Commure | 34 | $205K | Python, Kubernetes, Docker |
| Glean | 24 | $203K | Java, Python, Go |
| Aurora Innovation | 17 | $211K | GraphQL, Python |
| ServiceNow | 15 | $193K | Python, Go, Java |
| Kodiak Robotics | 14 | $210K | Spring, Python, TypeScript |
| General Motors | 12 | $257K | Java, Python, Spring |
Where the software engineer demand sits across funding stages, across the 54 companies with the most live openings in Mountain View:
| Stage | Companies hiring | Open roles | Median pay (disclosed) | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seed | 7 | 18 | $193K | Intrinsic, Speechify, MAI Agents |
| Series A | 4 | 10 | $228K | Logos Space, NextSense, Inworld AI |
| Series B | 1 | 3 | — | Otter |
| Series C | 3 | 4 | — | EarnIn, Syllable, NewsBreak |
| Series D+ | 16 | 251 | $209K | Waymo, Nuro, Databricks |
| Public | 15 | 186 | $214K | Google, ServiceNow, Kodiak Robotics |
A further 8 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 software 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 software engineer designs, builds, tests, and ships software across the stack as part of a product team.
What salary does a software engineer in Mountain View command in 2026?Across 522 live postings in Mountain View, a $209K median salary (typically $193K–$242K) — base only; equity is typically on top. Most postings expect 5+ years of experience.
What should you look for when hiring a software engineer?Depth in the skills these postings require (Python, Java, AWS, GCP, Spark, Databricks, Go, Kubernetes), plus solid engineering fundamentals, clean code, and the ability to own features from design to production. Recruiting from Scratch sends a shortlist of 3–5 genuinely qualified candidates, not resume volume.
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