Software Engineering salary in San Francisco
Employer-stated pay · updated Oct 24, 2026
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Software Engineering pay in San Francisco is measured from 431 postings where the employer stated pay. The best-evidenced figure is senior, where 214 postings put the middle half between $195,575 and $250,000, with a median of $220,500.
Pay rises with seniority here: the medians run mid-level $200,000 and senior $220,500. Moving from mid-level to senior is worth roughly 10% more.
Against the 75 other measured markets for software engineering at senior, this sits below 4 of them; Foster City leads at $244,000.
1 of these ranges rests on fewer than 10 postings, so read it as a strong hint rather than a benchmark; the sample column shows exactly what backs each number.
21 software engineering roles are open in San Francisco right now, 21 listing pay.
| Level | Market range | Median | Sample |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mid | $169,488 – $240,000 | $200,000 | 212 |
| Senior | $195,575 – $250,000 | $220,500 | 214 |
| Lead | $255,000 – $325,000 | $262,955 | 5hint |
Entry is junior titles. Mid is mid-level and manager titles. Senior is senior titles. Lead is director, VP and above. Rows marked hint rest on fewer than 10 postings: read them as a hint, not a benchmark.
Ranges span the 25th to 75th percentile of employer-stated base pay for the level. Median is the 50th percentile. Sample is the number of postings measured.
Open software engineering roles in San Francisco · 21 with stated pay
this job's paywhere most pay sits here, $175,000–$350,000scale $100,000–$490,000
Senior Software Engineer - Client Lifecycle Virta Health · Remote · US $161,500–$232,500 8d ago 
Forward Deployed Engineer (YC experience) Pragmatike · Remote · US $200,000–$400,000 4w ago 
Senior Software Engineer II Samsara · Remote · US $154,700–$260,000 4w ago 
Software Engineer II, Data Analytics & Engineering Pinterest · Remote · US $123,696–$254,667 5w ago Senior Software Engineer Float Health · Remote · US $175,000–$230,000 5w ago 
Senior Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE), Strategic Accounts Deepgram · Remote · US $197,000–$246,000 7w ago 
Lead Software Engineer – Real-Time Events zetaglobal · Remote · US $200,000–$210,000 8w ago 
Forward Deployed Engineer - RiskOS Agents Socure · Remote · US $250,000–$280,000 2mo ago Member of Technical Staff (YC experience) Pragmatike · Remote · US $200,000–$350,000 2mo ago Staff Founding Product Engineer Pragmatike · Remote · US $200,000–$400,000 2mo ago Principal Founding Product Engineer Pragmatike · Remote · US $200,000–$400,000 2mo ago 
Staff Forward Deployed Engineer Afresh · Remote · US $168,912–$253,368 3mo ago 
Product Engineer Span · Remote · US $100,000–$200,000 6mo ago 
Distinguished Software Engineer Circle · Remote · US $285,000–$352,500 6mo ago Senior Software Engineer, Generalist Anza · Remote · US $180,000–$300,000 8mo ago 
Staff+ Software Engineer, Data Infrastructure Anthropic · Remote · US $405,000–$485,000 8mo ago 
Product Engineer - Identity and Auth WorkOS · Remote · US $175,000–$275,000 9mo ago Software Engineer - Platform & Productivity WorkOS · Remote · US $175,000–$275,000 9mo ago Product Engineer - Radar WorkOS · Remote · US $175,000–$275,000 9mo ago Product Engineer - Pipes & Vault WorkOS · Remote · US $175,000–$275,000 9mo ago Senior Software Engineer, Consensus Anza · Remote · US $180,000–$300,000 9mo ago