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Software Engineer salaries range from $100K (Junior) to $225K (Staff), based on 11,746 public job postings (2025–2026).
The Software Engineer career path spans a 125% salary range from Junior to Staff — $100K to $225K — based on 11,746 public job postings.
| Level | Median | Range | Postings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Junior | $100K | $82K–$123K | 63 |
| Mid | $170K | $134K–$203K | 5,245 |
| Senior | $189K | $165K–$215K | 4,283 |
| Staff | $225K | $200K–$260K | 2,155 |
The biggest single jump is Junior → Mid: +$70K (+70%) — plan your promotion trajectory around this.
San Francisco · New York · Seattle · Remote
OpenAI ($344K) · Anthropic ($365K) · Google ($285K) · Stripe ($295K) · Databricks ($318K)
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Software Engineer salaries range from $100K at the Junior level to $225K at the Staff level, based on 11,746 public job postings.
A Staff Software Engineer earns a median of $225K, which is $36K (+19%) more than a Senior Software Engineer at $189K.
Most Senior Software Engineer roles at AI-native and high-growth companies require 5–8 years of experience. Staff-level roles typically require 8–12+ years.
Public job postings on company career pages — no private placement or client data. Minimum 15 postings required per level.
Posted-range midpoints (USD) aggregated from 11,746 public job postings (2025–2026). Range = 25th–75th percentile; median = 50th percentile. Minimum 15 postings required per level. Last refreshed June 17, 2026.
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