Most salary data for startups comes from self-reported surveys. This guide uses something firmer: the pay ranges startups publish in their own job postings. JustBacked reads every open role at venture-backed startups that raised in the last six months, directly from each company's hiring system, so these numbers are only as old as this morning's sync.
Median posted pay by funding stage
| Stage | US roles with pay | Median midpoint |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-seed | 46 | $180K |
| Seed | 283 | $180K |
| Series A | 912 | $185K |
| Series B | 938 | $188K |
| Series C | 1,337 | $185K |
| Series D+ | 2,661 | $207K |
US full-time roles with a posted USD range; midpoint of each range, annualized. Stages with fewer than 20 roles are left out.
Median posted pay by role and stage
Each cell is the median midpoint, with the middle half of postings (25th to 75th percentile) underneath. Blank cells have fewer than 20 roles.
| Role | Seed | Series A | Series B | Series C | Series D+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Legal | – | – | $216K$160K–$240K | $233K$196K–$297K | $236K$175K–$300K |
| Product | – | $200K$180K–$224K | $208K$186K–$259K | $210K$195K–$234K | $240K$204K–$303K |
| Engineering | $198K$167K–$225K | $205K$169K–$250K | $198K$165K–$237K | $193K$163K–$220K | $224K$181K–$276K |
| Sales & BD | $228K$153K–$290K | $165K$116K–$214K | $175K$130K–$237K | $196K$156K–$269K | $233K$175K–$328K |
| Science | – | – | – | $155K$133K–$200K | $248K$175K–$327K |
| Finance | – | – | $200K$145K–$273K | $184K$138K–$219K | $203K$146K–$257K |
| Design | – | – | $204K$175K–$236K | $175K$140K–$203K | $197K$161K–$238K |
| Data & ML | – | – | $170K$125K–$189K | $180K$131K–$209K | $200K$153K–$270K |
| Marketing | – | $170K$155K–$200K | $185K$146K–$225K | $173K$150K–$210K | $183K$162K–$230K |
| Operations | $153K$100K–$180K | $153K$129K–$180K | $178K$130K–$200K | $170K$124K–$200K | $188K$148K–$233K |
| People | – | $175K$152K–$188K | $150K$134K–$186K | $180K$151K–$199K | $165K$133K–$199K |
| Customer | – | $130K$80K–$153K | $146K$99K–$193K | – | $165K$138K–$225K |
| Clinical | – | – | – | $88K$87K–$90K | – |
| Hardware | – | $78K$71K–$119K | – | $86K$80K–$104K | $89K$60K–$130K |
Source: live JustBacked board, October 8, 2026. US full-time roles, base pay as posted.
What the numbers say
- Seed to Series C is nearly flat. A Series A startup and a Series C startup post similar base pay for the same kind of role. What changes is how much equity comes with it and how risky the company is.
- Series D and later pays the most. Late-stage startups compete with public tech companies for experienced hires, and they have the revenue to do it.
- Role matters more than stage. The gap between role types at the same stage is usually larger than the gap between stages for the same role.
- Hardware and clinical roles post lower ranges because many are hourly technician, manufacturing or care roles rather than salaried office jobs.
How to use this in a negotiation
- Start from the posted range. If the role has one, that is the company's own budget. Offers usually land inside it, and asking for the upper half is reasonable if you meet every requirement.
- Compare against the same stage and role. Use the table above, not averages from big public companies.
- Price the equity separately. Ask for the number of shares, the total shares outstanding and the strike price, so you can work out what percentage of the company you would own. Our questions to ask before joining a startup covers this.
- Know the runway. A startup that just raised can usually afford its posted range. Check when the last round closed on its JustBacked company page.
Method and limits
We include only roles at startups that raised venture money in the last six months, in the US, full-time, with a published USD range. Ranges are as posted by the employer; we don't estimate missing pay. Location mix affects the medians: many roles are in the San Francisco Bay Area and New York, where pay is higher. Sales ranges may be on-target earnings rather than base. Filter the job board by posted pay to see the roles behind any number here.