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SpaceX Salary

SpaceX Salary

SpaceX pays a median of $143K ($115K–$173K) across 1,171 public job postings (2025–2026).

💰 $115K–$173K salary range

Median: $143K  ·  Based on 1,171 public SpaceX job postings  ·  Updated October 7, 2026


This SpaceX salary benchmark is built from public job postings — no private placement data. Figures reflect base salary and are refreshed as new postings are collected.

📊 Salary breakdown

SpaceX · pay benchmark · updated October 7, 2026
$143K
inc. eng · sales · ops
All-role median
$115K–$173K
Typical range
$355K view JD
Highest base · Principal Software Engineer, CDN (Starlink)
1,171
Open roles
~3 yrs
Typical exp.
+236
745 last 90d
New last 30d
ⓘ Base salary only — 99% of roles mention equity · espp, options
Management pay by function
Human Resources
$209K (2)
Information Technology - Corporate
$203K (2)
Starshield Missions
$188K (4)
Starlink - Global Operations
$168K (7)
Finance
$168K (4)
Starlink - Ground Infrastructure Operations
$160K (3)
Salary by department · median & top base
starshield ai engineering
$234K · $350K top (20)
legal
$228K · $305K top (10)
product security - starlink
$218K · $355K top (21)
vehicle engineering software & ai
$215K · $265K top (7)
silicon engineering
$213K · $355K top (30)
starship software engineering
$193K · $295K top (18)
rfic engineering
$185K · $280K top (27)
security engineering
$185K · $280K top (7)
Highest-paying skills
Pulumi $234KGCP $234KAzure $234KIstio $215KFlink $205KSpark $198KFine-Tuning $188KJenkins $185K

Highest-paying open roles at SpaceX

SpaceX salary by department

  • starshield ai engineering: $234K median · $350K top base — Sr. AI Engineer, Supercomputing, Special Programs - Top Secret Clearance (view JD) (20 roles)
  • legal: $228K median · $305K top base — Sr. Counsel, Labor & Employment Litigation (view JD) (10 roles)
  • product security - starlink: $218K median · $355K top base — Principal Security Software Engineer (Starlink) (view JD) (21 roles)
  • vehicle engineering software & ai: $215K median · $265K top base — Sr. Software Engineer, Simulations (Vehicle Engineering) (view JD) (7 roles)
  • silicon engineering: $213K median · $355K top base — Principal DFT Engineer (Silicon Engineering) (view JD) (30 roles)
  • starship software engineering: $193K median · $295K top base — Principal Software Engineer (Platform Team) (view JD) (18 roles)
  • rfic engineering: $185K median · $280K top base — Sr. RFIC Design Engineer (RFIC Engineering) (view JD) (27 roles)
  • security engineering: $185K median · $280K top base — Sr. Network Security Engineer (view JD) (7 roles)

SpaceX salary by location

  • Remote: $148K median · $340K top base — Principal RF Software Engineer (Starshield) (view JD) (61 roles)

Remote work at SpaceX

16% of SpaceX's disclosed-pay roles are remote-friendly. Remote roles run a $148K median vs $135K onsite.

What SpaceX looks for

Most-required skills across these postings: Python (271) · Go (90) · Kubernetes (51) · SQL (40) · Rust (38) · Supply Chain (37) · Docker (37) · CI/CD (25) · Logistics (24) · Scheduling (24).

Benefits & perks at SpaceX

Commonly listed: 401k (1161) · dental (1157) · life-ins (1157) · pto (1157) · parental (1157) · mental-health (13) · medical (4).

About SpaceX

SpaceX is Series D stage · 10,001+ employees · founded 2002 · HQ Hawthorne, California. This context shapes pay: later-stage, well-funded companies tend to anchor base salary higher.

Experience & background at SpaceX

Roles typically ask for around 3 years of experience (up to 10+ for the most senior). Most postings don't state a degree requirement; of the 125 that do, Bachelor's 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; 99% of these postings reference equity (espp, options). Equity is not included in the medians above.

SpaceX total compensation signals

Beyond the posted-range midpoint, postings indicate: 1% include commission; common structures: salaried, hourly. Bonus, commission, and equity vary by role and are not included in the base medians above.

SpaceX hiring activity

SpaceX has 1,171 open roles right now, and this benchmark draws on 1,171 public job postings with disclosed pay. 236 of these roles were first seen in the last 30 days (745 in the last 90). Mostly full-time, with 124 contract roles in the mix.

💼 Similar companies hiring

Compare SpaceX's pay with companies in the same space:

CompanyMedian payvs SpaceXStage
Sierra Space$152K↑ +7%Series C
Boeing$132K↓ -7%Public
K2 Space$160K↑ +12%Series D
True Anomaly$185K↑ +30%Series D
CesiumAstro$147K↑ +3%Series C
Voyager Technologies$149K↑ +5%Public

💸 Companies that pay more than SpaceX

Muon Space · Loft Orbital · Astranis · Inversion Space · Vanta

📚 Salary guides & rankings

Top-Paying Tech Companies for Engineers (2026) · Highest-Paying Cities for Software Engineers · Highest-Paying Engineering Roles

Browse all company salary pages →

Explore more salary data

All Engineering salaries →  ·  Browse all tech salaries →

Common questions

What does SpaceX pay?
The median pay is $143K, with a typical range of $115K–$173K, based on 1,171 public job postings (2025–2026). Base only — equity is separate.

What is the highest-paying job at SpaceX?
One of the highest-paying open roles is Principal Software Engineer, CDN (Starlink), at $210K–$355K base.

Which team pays the most at SpaceX?
The starshield ai engineering team, at a $234K 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 1,171 public SpaceX 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 7, 2026.

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