Staff software engineer salary
The median posted base pay for staff software engineer jobs is $230K a year, from 1,568 open jobs at 643 companies. The middle half of the jobs is from $205K to $262K. One job in ten has posted pay above $293K.
- Median posted base pay
- $230K
- Middle half of the jobs
- $205K to $262K
- 10th to 90th percentile
- $181K to $293K
- Open jobs with posted pay
- 1,568
- Companies
- 643
Software engineer pay by level
Posted base pay for software engineer jobs, by the level in the job title. This page is about the staff level. A level needs 20 or more jobs with posted pay.
- Intern29 jobs$123K$113K to $132K
- Entry level176 jobs$140K$115K to $150K
- Level not stated6,588 jobs$175K$143K to $210K
- Senior4,275 jobs$193K$168K to $220K
- Staff1,568 jobs$230K$205K to $262K
- Principal437 jobs$238K$206K to $281K
- Director+512 jobs$248K$208K to $288K
| Level | 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th | Jobs with pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intern | $88K | $113K | $123K | $132K | $149K | 29 |
| Entry level | $92K | $115K | $140K | $150K | $171K | 176 |
| Level not stated | $115K | $143K | $175K | $210K | $250K | 6,588 |
| Senior | $141K | $168K | $193K | $220K | $244K | 4,275 |
| Staff | $181K | $205K | $230K | $262K | $293K | 1,568 |
| Principal | $175K | $206K | $238K | $281K | $322K | 437 |
| Director+ | $170K | $208K | $248K | $288K | $333K | 512 |
Top-paying companies for staff software engineer jobs
The companies with the highest median posted base pay for staff software engineer jobs. A company name opens its levels in the pay explorer.
- 1Anthropic$424K42 jobs
- 2OpenAI$356K6 jobs
- 3Block$330K7 jobs
- 4Suno$296K9 jobs
- 5Snowflake$288K13 jobs
- 6Harvey$286K17 jobs
- 7Wayve$285K5 jobs
- 8Scale AI$284K6 jobs
- 9Waymo$281K16 jobs
- 10Ashby$278K5 jobs
- 11Adyen$276K5 jobs
- 12Clear Street$275K5 jobs
- 13Trustly$273K8 jobs
- 14Pinterest$271K5 jobs
- 15Brex$263K14 jobs
- 16Capital One$262K33 jobs
- 17Reddit$260K14 jobs
- 18Braze$259K8 jobs
- 19Anduril Industries$256K36 jobs
- 20Sigma Computing$255K6 jobs
Staff software engineer pay by US region
The median posted base pay for staff software engineer jobs in each US region, compared with the median of all US jobs.
- New York312 jobs+8%$253K
- Bay Area658 jobs+3%$240K
- Other US cities438 jobs−2%$229K
- US remote368 jobs−4%$225K
| Region | Median posted base pay | Against the US median | Jobs with pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York | $253K | +8% | 312 |
| Bay Area | $240K | +3% | 658 |
| Other US cities | $229K | −2% | 438 |
| US remote | $225K | −4% | 368 |
| All US jobs | $234K | 0% | 1,436 |
Related pay pages
Other levels
By place
How we compute these numbers
We read each job from the job board of the company and check it every day. We use only open jobs that state a yearly pay range in US dollars. One job counts with the middle point of its posted range. The median is the middle value of these amounts: half of the jobs are above it and half are below it.
We do not use a range with a bottom below $15,000, a top above $1,000,000, or a top that is more than four times the bottom. A role page needs 20 or more open jobs with posted pay. In the bar chart, a company needs 5 or more jobs with posted pay.
The numbers are base pay as the company posted it. They are not the pay of a person, and they do not include stock, a bonus or benefits. For the stock and the bonus that people reported, see Reported pay.