OpenAI Salary

💰 $253K–$366K salary range

Median: $308K  ·  Based on 640 public OpenAI job postings  ·  Updated October 19, 2026

This OpenAI salary benchmark is built from public job postings — no private placement data. Figures reflect the posted-range midpoint (equity is separate) and are refreshed as new postings are collected.

📊 Salary breakdown

Highest-paying open roles at OpenAI

• Researcher, Training — $300K–$600K · Research
• Research Engineer, Retrieval & Search, Applied Engineering — $293K–$585K · Applied AI
• Machine Learning Engineer, Monetization AI/ML — $381K–$555K · Applied AI
• Engineering Manager, MLE — $500K–$555K · Applied AI
• Software Engineer, Inference - Multi Modal — $295K–$555K · Scaling
• 3P Systems Architect — $342K–$555K · Scaling
• Data Engineering Manager, Growth & Revenue — $459K–$536K · Applied AI
• Software Engineer - Data Aquisition (systems) — $295K–$536K · Research
• Full-Stack SWE, Data Acquisition (Foundations) — $295K–$536K · Research
• Engineering Manager, Rosalind Workbench — $401K–$536K · Life Sciences

OpenAI salary by department

• safety systems: $440K median · $500K top base — Researcher, Frontier Cybersecurity Risks (view JD) (17 roles)
• research: $370K median · $600K top base — Researcher, Training (view JD) (60 roles)
• partnerships: $367K median · $445K top base — B2B Ecosystem Lead, Business Development (view JD) (5 roles)
• product management: $366K median · $530K top base — Product Manager, Financial Services (view JD) (9 roles)
• applied ai: $356K median · $585K top base — Research Engineer, Retrieval & Search, Applied Engineering (view JD) (113 roles)
• core product & platform: $356K median · $445K top base — Software Engineer, API Multimodal (view JD) (9 roles)
• security: $356K median · $510K top base — Network Engineer (view JD) (26 roles)
• data science: $339K median · $515K top base — Applied Data Science & Insights Leader - GTM Intelligence Solutions and Technical Success (view JD) (17 roles)

OpenAI engineering & product salary by seniority

• Mid: $295K median · $536K top base — Software Engineer - Data Aquisition (systems) (view JD) (165)
• Senior: $356K median · $585K top base — Research Engineer, Retrieval & Search, Applied Engineering (view JD) (219)
• Staff: $396K median · $600K top base — Researcher, Training (view JD) (11)

OpenAI engineering & product management salary

• Manager: $383K median · $555K top base — Engineering Manager, MLE (view JD) (23)

OpenAI salary by location

• San Francisco: $309K median · $600K top base — Researcher, Training (view JD) (550 roles)
• Remote: $305K median · $515K top base — Data Scientist, Cybersecurity (view JD) (23 roles)
• New York: $265K median · $445K top base — B2B Ecosystem Lead, Partner Growth (view JD) (22 roles)

Remote work at OpenAI

4% of OpenAI's disclosed-pay roles are remote-friendly. Remote roles run a $305K median vs $276K onsite.

What OpenAI looks for

Most-required skills across these postings: OpenAI (564) · Python (151) · Go (48) · Rust (47) · SQL (46) · Kubernetes (35) · JavaScript (30) · TypeScript (28) · Azure (26) · CI/CD (23).

Benefits & perks at OpenAI

Commonly listed: relocation (259) · mental-health (7) · commuter (1).

About OpenAI

OpenAI is Late Stage stage · 1,001–5,000 employees · founded 2015 · HQ San Francisco, California. This context shapes pay: later-stage, well-funded companies tend to anchor base salary higher.

Experience & background at OpenAI

Roles typically ask for around 7 years of experience (up to 15+ for the most senior). Most postings don't state a degree requirement; of the 34 that do, Bachelor's and PhD and Master's and Associate's are most common.

Posted pay vs. total compensation

The figures on this page are the midpoint of each posting's advertised salary range (which, for commission roles, includes on-target earnings). Equity is a separate — and often large — component of total compensation, especially at high-growth and AI-native companies; 24% of these postings reference equity (options). Equity is not included in the medians above.

OpenAI total compensation signals

Beyond the posted-range midpoint, postings indicate: 100% include commission. Bonus, commission, and equity vary by role and are not included in the base medians above.

OpenAI hiring activity

OpenAI has 640 open roles right now, and this benchmark draws on 640 public job postings with disclosed pay. 135 of these roles were first seen in the last 30 days (341 in the last 90).

💼 Similar companies hiring

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Explore more salary data

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Common questions

What does OpenAI pay?
The median pay is $308K, with a typical range of $253K–$366K, based on 640 public job postings (2025–2026). Base only — equity is separate.

What is the highest-paying job at OpenAI?
One of the highest-paying open roles is Researcher, Training, at $300K–$600K base.

Which team pays the most at OpenAI?
The safety systems team, at a $440K median.

Where does this data come from?
Public job postings on company career pages and public job boards — no private placement or client data.

Methodology

Posted-range midpoints (USD) aggregated from 640 public OpenAI job postings (2025–2026). Range = 25th–75th percentile; median = 50th percentile. Roles, departments, skills, and experience are parsed from the postings. Base salary only — equity excluded. Last refreshed October 19, 2026.

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