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SQL Developer Salary and Equity Compensation in Startups 2026

SQL Developer Salary and Equity in 2026

How much can a SQL developer expect to make at US-based startups? The average estimated salary for SQL developers is 108k per year, with a range from 60k to 185k. The salary range for SQL developers varies depending on factors such as location, industry, experience, and startup stage.

107.7k

Average Salary

3 years

Average years of experience

Salary

The average salary for a SQL developer is$107,667, which is 16.5% lower than the average startup salary of$129,000. SQL developer 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, and industry.

Top of market

$176,958/yr

Range $170k - $185k

Average

$107,667/yr

Range $95k - $125k

Below Average

$71,333/yr

Range $60k - $85k

Top Locations

The highest average salary a SQL developer can get in Austin, that is $210,000. This pay is 95.0% higher than the average SQL salary in startups, which is $107,667. Salaries will vary based on your location. The top-paying markets in the US, on average, are currently: Austin (avg $210,000 per year), San Francisco Bay Area (avg $170,000 per year), Sydney (avg $140,000 per year). Remote jobs often pay based on the location you reside in.

Austin

$210k

San Francisco Bay Area

$170k

Sydney

$140k

Minneapolis

$132k

Melbourne

$125k

Seattle

$120k

Industries

The highest average salary a SQL developer can get in Unified Communication, that is $272,500. This pay is 10.4% higher than the average SQL salary, which is $246,800. The highest-paying industries in 2023 are: Unified Communication (avg $272,500 per year), Mobile Analytics (avg $254,500 per year), Virtualization (avg $253,500 per year).

Tech Stack

Top Tech Stacks

The top-paying developer skills of 2026 are:

1. Celery
$202k
2. Clojure
$195k
3. OpenCV
$192k
4. Clojurescript
$187.5k
5. rundeck
$176.5k
6. Scipy
$175k
7. Symfony
$175k
8. react
$175k
9. RESTful APIs
$174k
10. Vue
$170k

Years of experience

Below Average

Average

Top of Market

The highest average salary a SQL developer can get with 10+ years of experience, that is $102,000. This pay is 20.9% lower than the average salary in startups, which is $129,000. 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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Popular skills

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Tech Hubs for SQL

Austin Boston Chicago Denver Los Angeles San Diego Seattle London Vancouver Toronto Santa Monica Melbourne Minneapolis New York Cambridge San Francisco Bay Area Remote

SQL Developer Salary and Equity in 2026

$176,958/yr

$107,667/yr

$71,333/yr

Austin

San Francisco Bay Area

Sydney

Minneapolis

Melbourne

Seattle

Vancouver

Santa Monica

Denver

Boston

San Diego

Toronto

Los Angeles

Chicago

Top Tech Stacks

1. Celery

2. Clojure

3. OpenCV

4. Clojurescript

5. rundeck

6. Scipy

7. Symfony

8. react

9. RESTful APIs

10. Vue

Popular roles

Popular skills

Tech Hubs for SQL

Industries for SQL