Research

The startup engineering hiring market, measured.

Periodic reports computed from live role data: posted salaries by level and market, pay transparency, week-by-week posting velocity, and the stacks startups actually list. Every number is read from postings at venture-backed US startups, then frozen at a stable URL so it stays citable. Free to use with attribution.

July 2026 · published July 17, 2026

The state of startup engineering hiring, July 2026

1,887 live software engineering roles at 419 venture-backed US startups, 48% of postings include a salary range, senior posted base in San Francisco holds a $228K median. Every figure is read from the postings themselves.

1,887 live roles419 companies48% with posted pay

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The next report is not published

Reports are monthly snapshots. July 2026 is the latest one frozen. The following month has no page yet, and no numbers to cite. Until that snapshot is frozen, the salary index is the live figure.

Salary index

Looking for the always-current numbers instead? The salary index recomputes from live role data several times a day, and just raised tracks which startups closed a round and are hiring now.