Software Engineer, ML Networking
San Francisco, CA | New York City, NY | Seattle, WA $280k – $850k/yr
visa sponsorshiprustrecruitingnetworkingDirect from employer Sep 23
Software Engineer salary in San Francisco
What employers are offering right now, from 1,071 live Software Engineer postings in San Francisco that publish a pay range. Updated October 2026.
Median
$253k
a year, base pay
Middle half
$209k–$310k
25th to 75th percentile
Highest posted
$565k
range midpoint
How the offers are spread
$145k
$183k
$220k
$258k
$295k
$333k
$370k
$408k
Software Engineer pay by level
| Level | Median | Postings |
|---|---|---|
| Entry level | $153k | 17 |
| Mid level | $187k | 10 |
| Senior | $221k | 211 |
| Staff & principal | $284k | 321 |
Top-paying companies for Software Engineer roles
| Company | Median | Postings |
|---|---|---|
| Anthropic | $403k | 93 |
| OpenAI | $353k | 180 |
| Lambda | $331k | 12 |
| Perplexity | $313k | 31 |
| Sierra | $310k | 25 |
| Suno | $304k | 4 |
| Decagon | $300k | 16 |
| Triumph | $300k | 5 |
| Monaco | $300k | 4 |
| Slash Financial | $300k | 6 |
| Sentry | $295k | 11 |
| Generalist | $290k | 4 |
Highest-paying open Software Engineer jobs
All 1,277 open jobs →TPU Kernel Engineer
San Francisco, CA | New York City, NY | Seattle, WA $280k – $850k/yr
visa sponsorshipmachine learningrecruitingDirect from employer May 22
Staff Software Engineer, Code RL
San Francisco, CA | New York City, NY | Seattle, WA $405k – $625k/yr
visa sponsorshippythonmachine learningllmDirect from employer Jul 25
Software Engineer, Research Infrastructure
San Francisco, CA | New York City, NY $405k – $625k/yr
visa sponsorshipmachine learningrecruitingDirect from employer Jul 6
Staff+ Software Engineer, Developer Productivity
San Francisco, CA | New York City, NY | Seattle, WA $405k – $625k/yr
visa sponsorshippythonrustdockerDirect from employer Feb 13
Staff Software Engineer, Environments Infrastructure
San Francisco, CA | New York City, NY $405k – $605k/yr
visa sponsorshippythonmachine learningllmDirect from employer Jul 24
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Software Engineer salary: common questions
- What is the average Software Engineer salary in San Francisco?
- The median midpoint of 1,071 live Software Engineer postings in San Francisco is $253k a year. Half of them fall between $209k and $310k.
- How does Software Engineer pay change with seniority?
- Entry-level postings have a median of $153k, while senior postings $221k. Staff, principal and director roles usually pay more and often add equity.
- Which companies pay Software Engineer roles the most?
- Among companies with at least two postings, the highest medians are at Anthropic ($403k), OpenAI ($353k), Lambda ($331k), Perplexity ($313k).
- Where do these numbers come from?
- From the pay ranges employers publish in their own job postings (required in states such as California, Colorado, New York, Washington and Illinois). We take the midpoint of each range, convert hourly pay at 2,080 hours a year, and update the figures daily as postings open and close. They show base pay, not bonus or equity.
Other salaries in San Francisco
- Research Scientist · $300k
- Engineering Manager · $290k
- Hardware Engineer · $288k
- Cybersecurity · $278k
- Mobile Developer · $260k
- DevOps Engineer · $255k
- Full Stack Developer · $254k
- Legal & Compliance · $245k
- AI & Machine Learning · $243k
- Backend Developer · $241k
- Data Engineer · $240k
- Program Manager · $238k
- Product Manager · $236k
- Data Scientist · $236k
- Frontend Developer · $230k
- Sales · $220k
- Solutions Engineer · $212k
- Product & UX Designer · $206k
- Finance & Accounting · $200k
- Data Analyst · $200k
- Marketing · $199k
- Operations · $195k
- IT · $191k
- HR & Recruiting · $183k
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JobApplyPilot reads employers' own job postings. Pay shown is base salary from published ranges, not total compensation.