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Engineering roles pay a median of $220K in 2026, based on 22,904 public job postings. Top-paying: Director of Engineering at $295K. Engineering covers engineers who design, build, and operate the core software systems.
Median $220K across 22,904 public job postings. 19 roles tracked.
| Role | Median | Range | Postings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Director of Engineering | $295K | $250K–$335K | 495 |
| 2. Staff Software Engineer | $255K | $225K–$300K | 3,261 |
| 3. Infrastructure Engineer | $240K | $200K–$280K | 204 |
| 4. ASIC / Chip Design Engineer | $240K | $220K–$285K | 136 |
| 5. Engineering Manager | $230K | $185K–$275K | 1,315 |
| 6. Founding PM | $230K | $200K–$250K | 70 |
| 7. Senior Infrastructure Engineer | $229K | $205K–$250K | 98 |
| 8. Site Reliability Engineer | $225K | $180K–$295K | 229 |
| 9. Senior Platform Engineer | $221K | $198K–$265K | 670 |
| 10. Tech Lead | $220K | $189K–$260K | 549 |
| 11. Forward Deployed Engineer | $220K | $185K–$250K | 656 |
| 12. Embedded Systems Engineer | $220K | $175K–$280K | 202 |
| 13. Senior SRE | $220K | $189K–$237K | 178 |
| 14. Senior Embedded Engineer | $220K | $200K–$252K | 83 |
| 15. Senior Software Engineer | $215K | $185K–$250K | 6,495 |
| 16. Software Engineer | $200K | $160K–$250K | 7,685 |
| 17. Data Infrastructure Engineer | $200K | $200K–$200K | 235 |
| 18. Hardware Engineer | $184K | $145K–$250K | 278 |
| 19. Junior Software Engineer | $111K | $95K–$144K | 65 |
Engineering covers engineers who design, build, and operate the core software systems. Figures reflect base salary at AI-native and high-growth companies — no private placement data.
The median Engineering salary is $220K in 2026, based on 22,904 public job postings. The highest-paying Engineering role is Director of Engineering at $295K.
Director of Engineering: $295K; Staff Software Engineer: $255K; Infrastructure Engineer: $240K.
Public job postings on company career pages — no private placement or client data. We require a minimum of 15 postings per role.
USD base salary aggregated from 22,904 public job postings (2025–2026). Range = 25th–75th percentile; median = 50th percentile. At least 15 postings required per role. Last refreshed June 10, 2026.
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