Staff software engineer salary at startups in the United States
Every US market on the live board, including cities too thin for a page of their own. Taken from the salary ranges venture-backed startups post on their own job sites. Not a survey.
$260K
Median posted base
$235K - $300K
Typical range, 25th to 75th percentile
180
Live priced postings in the sample
228
Venture-backed companies in the index
How the national figure sits against each market
United States runs about the same as San Francisco for staff software engineers
$260K median there
United States runs $10K above New York for staff software engineers
$250K median there
United States runs $15K below Remote (US) for staff software engineers
$275K median there
Questions people ask
What does a staff software engineer make at a startup in the United States?
Across 180 live postings with a USD range at venture-backed startups, the median posted base is $260K, with a typical range of $235K to $300K. That is base salary only. Startup offers add equity on top.
Does this include equity or bonus?
No. These figures are posted base salary ranges only. Equity is usually the larger upside at earlier stages, which is why a startup base can trail big tech while the total package does not.
How current are these numbers?
They recompute from the live roles.cc board several times a day. Each figure traces to the salary range a company posted on its own job site, so the page reflects offers being made now.
Other cuts
Open roles for these markets sit on the company directory and the job hubs. The research reports freeze a month of the same board.
These are live roles, not survey rows.
Every posting behind these numbers is open right now on the board, sorted by how recently the company raised.
Method: USD base ranges as posted; each role counts once at the midpoint of its range; buckets under 12 roles suppressed. Free to cite with attribution to roles.cc and a link to this page.