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Software Engineer Salary and Equity in 2026
How much do Software Engineers expect to make at US-based startups? The average expected salary for Software Engineers in a startup is 154k per year, with a range from 67k to 239k. The salary range for Software Engineers varies depending on factors such as location, industry, experience, skills, and startup stage.
153.8k
Average Salary
4 years
Average years of experience
Salary
The average Software Engineer salary is $153,833, which is 19.3% higher than the average startup salary of $129,000. Software Engineer salaries are based on exclusive Wellfound data. All data is updated on a weekly basis. Factors that may influence salary include: location, years of experience, title, size of company, skill-set, and industry.
Top of market
$219,458/yr
Range $180k - $239k
Average
$153,833/yr
Range $115k - $165k
Below Average
$110,125/yr
Range $67k - $125k
Top Locations
The highest average salary a Software Engineer can get in Austin, that is $175,000. This pay is 13.8% higher than the average Software Engineer salary in startups, which is $153,833. Salaries will vary based on your location. The top-paying markets in the US, on average, are currently: Austin (avg $175,000 per year), Cambridge (avg $173,500 per year), Seattle (avg $162,000 per year). Remote jobs often pay based on the location you reside in.
Austin
$175k
Cambridge
$173.5k
Seattle
$162k
Santa Monica
$145k
Boston
$142k
Denver
View SalariesNew York
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View SalariesMelbourne
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View SalariesSydney
View SalariesIndustries
The highest average salary a Software Engineer can get in Talent, that is $315,000. This pay is 20.4% higher than the average Software Engineer salary, which is $261,550. The highest-paying industries in 2023 are: Talent (avg $315,000 per year), Luxury (avg $275,000 per year), Growth Hacker (avg $262,500 per year).
Tech Stack
The highest average salary a Software Engineer can get with Airflow, that is $260,000. This pay is 69.0% higher than the average Software Engineer salary in startups, which is $153,833. Salary range for specific skills will vary based on the supply and demand in the current market.
Top Tech Stacks
The top-paying Software Engineer skills of 2026 are:
1. Airflow
$260k
2. Gradle
$197.5k
3. Spark
$197.5k
4. Budgeting
$184k
5. LTE
$180k
6. Vue
$180k
7. Qt
$176.5k
8. Fortran
$175k
9. D3.js
$175k
10. Celery
$175k
Years of experience
Below Average
Average
Top of Market
The highest average salary a Software Engineer can get with 10+ years of experience, that is $112,000. This pay is 27.2% lower than the average Software Engineer salary, which is $153,833. The salary range varies with years of experience and depends on other factors such as skill set, size of company, and industry.
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Tech Hubs for Software Engineer
Industries for Software Engineer
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