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Market index

Base-salary bands computed from 123 live searches we have run for VC-backed startups — not scraped job posts, not survey self-reports. Figures are median band floor/ceiling per role family; “top of market” is the highest ceiling we've carried.

Live searches
123
every band computed from real mandates
Role families
4
SF · NYC · remote, tracked separately
Strongest band
$300k
ML / AI Engineering & Research · San Francisco
Top of market
$600k
Infrastructure / Backend · San Francisco

Median bands at a glance

San FranciscoNew York$100k$150k$200k$250k$300kForward DeployedForward Deployed Engineering — San Francisco: median band $140k–$180k (from 11 searches)140–180Forward Deployed Engineering — New York: median band $150k–$220k (from 9 searches)150–220Infra / BackendInfrastructure / Backend — San Francisco: median band $192k–$252k (from 8 searches)192–252Infrastructure / Backend — New York: median band $160k–$240k (from 4 searches)160–240ML / AIML / AI Engineering & Research — San Francisco: median band $160k–$300k (from 7 searches)160–300ML / AI Engineering & Research — New York: median band $150k–$250k (from 9 searches)150–250Product / Full-StackProduct / Full-Stack — San Francisco: median band $170k–$255k (from 34 searches)170–255Product / Full-Stack — New York: median band $150k–$225k (from 15 searches)150–225
MEDIAN AUTHORIZED BASE BANDS, $K/YEAR — FROM OUR LIVE SEARCHES, 2026

The index

Role familyMarketSearchesMedian bandTop of market
Forward Deployed Engineering San Francisco11$140k – $180k$300k
New York9$150k – $220k$400k
Remote / other3$150k – $220k$230k
Infrastructure / Backend San Francisco8$192k – $252k$600k
New York4$160k – $240k$250k
Remote / other4$177k – $242k$275k
ML / AI Engineering & Research San Francisco7$160k – $300k$450k
New York9$150k – $250k$300k
Remote / other6$150k – $217k$270k
Product / Full-Stack San Francisco34$170k – $255k$500k
New York15$150k – $225k$400k
Remote / other13$175k – $224k$323k

Base salary only — equity excluded. Bands reflect what companies authorized us to offer, updated as searches run. Last computed 2026-08.

What the data says

SF pays for infra.

Infrastructure/backend carries the strongest bands in San Francisco — median $192–252k with outliers to $600k. If you're hiring infra in SF on a $180k ceiling, the market will outbid you weekly.

FDE is the arbitrage.

Forward-deployed engineering bands start lower ($140–180k median in SF) but top out at $300–400k for senior operators — the widest spread of any family. Titles are unstandardized; great FDEs are priced by impact, not by band.

Per-role salary guides

Forward Deployed Engineer Salary Guide23 searchesREAD →ML & AI Engineer Salary Guide22 searchesREAD →Backend & Infrastructure Engineer Salary Guide16 searchesREAD →Startup Software Engineer Salary Guide62 searchesREAD →

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