Hiring a software engineer in San Francisco? Across 3,989 live software engineer postings in San Francisco, the market pays a $215K median salary (typically $189K–$254K). 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 San Francisco means competing with the companies below.
What employers actually screen for, aggregated across 3,989 active software engineer postings in San Francisco:
| Percentile | Base salary |
|---|---|
| 25th | $189K |
| Median | $215K |
| 75th | $254K |
Based on 2,770 software engineer postings in San Francisco that disclose pay. Base only — equity is typically on top.
San Francisco pays about 17% above the US median for this role ($184K).
Across the 2,160 software engineer postings in San Francisco that spell out responsibilities:
The companies with the most live software engineer openings in San Francisco, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 321 | $214K | Python, GCP, Java | |
| OpenAI | 125 | $308K | OpenAI, Python, Kubernetes |
| Tesla | 108 | — | Python, Docker, CI/CD |
| Anthropic | 92 | $403K | Python, Go, AWS |
| Waymo | 87 | $238K | Python, SQL, Angular |
| Roblox | 78 | $269K | Go, Python, Java |
| Databricks | 71 | $222K | Spark, Databricks, Scala |
| Apple | 67 | — | Java, Swift, Python |
| Applied Digital | 56 | $190K | Python, Java, Go |
| CoreWeave | 45 | $204K | Kubernetes, Go, Python |
Where the software 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 | 8 | 389 | $214K | Google, Speechify, Clera |
| Series A | 8 | 72 | $225K | Scale AI, Nooks, Eventual |
| Series B | 17 | 145 | $245K | Streamlit, Chase, Braintrust |
| Series C | 9 | 67 | $233K | Notion, NexHealth, Parafin |
| Series D+ | 56 | 1050 | $240K | OpenAI, Anthropic, Waymo |
| Public | 30 | 687 | $216K | Tesla, Roblox, Apple |
A further 22 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 San Francisco command in 2026?Across 3,989 live postings in San Francisco, a $215K median salary (typically $189K–$254K) — 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, AWS, Go, React, TypeScript, Kubernetes, Java, GCP), 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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