Across 599 live US postings for staff software engineers with a listed USD salary, measured November 2026, the median offer is $213,000–$285,000 a year. This is the tracked catalog, not the whole labor market.
Measured November 2026 · n=599 US postings with salary
Staff software engineer salary: $213,000–$285,000 a year, measured from live postings.
Every number below comes from 1,103 tracked live postings whose title matches "staff software engineer". No surveys, no self-reports. Listed salaries only, in US dollars.
- The median staff software engineer posting offers $213,000–$285,000 a year (n=599).
- 39.2% of the 1,103 live postings matching "staff software engineer" are remote.
- Builds AI staff software engineers list $220,000–$310,000, vs $214,550–$273,760 at Little AI.
Median salary by seniority (USD / year)
Seniority as tagged on the posting. Both salary bounds required.
| Segment | US postings with salary | Median min–max / year |
|---|---|---|
| Mid-level | 1 | $192,000–$260,000 |
| Senior | 261 | $202,400–$273,600 |
| Lead | 337 | $218,025–$291,500 |
Remote vs on-site (USD / year)
| Segment | US postings with salary | Median min–max / year |
|---|---|---|
| Remote | 240 | $218,025–$284,500 |
| On-site / hybrid | 359 | $208,000–$285,000 |
Companies hiring staff software engineers
Method
US-dollar postings whose title contains "staff software engineer", with both salary bounds listed. This page exists because 599 such postings clear the 50-posting floor Level requires before publishing a dedicated salary page. Below that, the median moves too much between ingestion cycles to be a citable number.
Sample: postings at tech companies tracked by Level. Not the whole labor market. Do not cite as a national average.
Refreshed automatically; this edition is measured November 2026. Small-n slices move a lot. Read the n column first.
Source: O*NET OnLine (U.S. Dept. of Labor): Software Developers (SOC 15-1252.00).
Staff software engineer salary questions, answered from the data
How many staff software engineers jobs are remote?
39.2% of the 599 live postings are marked remote by the employer, measured November 2026.
Does the AI level of the job change the pay?
In this sample, 167 postings build AI and 721 involve little AI. See the level breakdown below for the median at each level. Measured November 2026.