Highest Paying Tech Jobs in 2026 (Real Startup Salary Data)
opening.live Research · Data updated November 1, 2026
The highest paying tech jobs right now, ranked from posted salary ranges on live startup job listings. Median pay by role, level and team, updated continuously.
How we got these numbers
Most salary lists rely on self-reported surveys. These numbers come from the salary ranges companies publish on their own job listings, which US pay transparency laws in states like California, New York, Colorado and Washington now require. opening.live syncs those listings from 20 startups every 10 minutes, so this page reflects what companies are offering today, not last year.
We use the midpoint of each posted range, in USD base salary only. Equity and bonus are not included, and at startups equity can be a large part of total pay.
The 15 highest paying tech jobs open right now
| Role | Company | Posted base pay |
|---|---|---|
| Research Engineer, Chip Design RL | Anthropic | $500k–$850k |
| Staff Research Engineer, Multi-Agent Scaling | Anthropic | $500k–$850k |
| Research Engineer / Research Scientist, RL Frontiers | Anthropic | $500k–$850k |
| Research Engineer / Performance Engineer, RL Distributed Systems | Anthropic | $500k–$850k |
| Staff+ Research Engineer, RL Data Platform | Anthropic | $500k–$850k |
| Research Engineer, Computer Use | Anthropic | $500k–$850k |
| Research Engineer, Code RL (Reinforcement Learning) | Anthropic | $500k–$850k |
| Research Engineer, Post-Training Model Evaluations | Anthropic | $500k–$850k |
| Research Engineer, Machine Learning (RL Velocity) | Anthropic | $500k–$850k |
| Research Engineer, Cybersecurity RL (Reinforcement Learning) | Anthropic | $500k–$850k |
| Pre-training Data Infrastructure Engineer | Anthropic | $500k–$850k |
| Research Engineer, RL Engineering | Anthropic | $500k–$850k |
| Engineering Manager, GPU (ML Accelerator) | Anthropic | $500k–$850k |
| Research Engineer, Machine Learning (Reinforcement Learning) | Anthropic | $500k–$850k |
| Staff+ Research Scientist, Multi-Agent | Anthropic | $500k–$850k |
Median pay by team
Engineering and research roles at AI labs pull the engineering median up. Go-to-market roles often carry commission on top of the base shown here.
| Team | Median posted base | Listings with pay |
|---|---|---|
| Engineering | $276k | 732 |
| Product | $253k | 82 |
| Design | $240k | 88 |
| Other | $221k | 355 |
| Go-to-market | $220k | 297 |
Median pay by seniority
| Level | Median posted base | Listings with pay |
|---|---|---|
| Staff+ | $279k | 331 |
| Manager | $269k | 150 |
| Mid | $260k | 805 |
| Senior | $213k | 257 |
| Junior | $148k | 10 |
| Intern | $135k | 1 |
Highest paying startups
How to land one of these roles
- Apply in the first 24 hours. Recruiters at startups review applicants as they arrive, and strong early candidates often fill the interview slots.
- Apply on the company's own career page, not through a reposted listing. Every role here links straight to the source.
- Use the posted range in negotiation. If a range is published, asking for the upper half is normal.
- Set an instant alert for the roles and companies you want so you see new openings within 10 minutes.
FAQ
What is the highest paying tech job in 2026?
Among live startup listings with posted pay, the top role right now is Research Engineer, Chip Design RL at Anthropic ($500k–$850k). By team, Engineering has the highest median at $276k.
How much do software engineers at startups make?
The median posted base salary for engineering roles we track is $276k, before equity.
Are startup salaries lower than big tech?
Not at well-funded startups. Late-stage AI and fintech startups in our data post base ranges that match or exceed big tech, though total comp at public companies often includes more liquid stock.
Where does this salary data come from?
From salary ranges published on 1,554 live job listings at 20 startups, synced every 10 minutes by opening.live.
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