San Francisco · United States
Software Engineer salary in San Francisco
The median salary in Software Engineer job ads in San Francisco, United States is $285,500 a year (about $23,792 a month before tax). The middle half of those ads list $230,250 to $352,750, based on 327 salaries from 35 employers, updated 22 Oct 2026.
- Median in job ads
- $285,500
- a year
- 12-month range
- High $320,000
- Aug 2026
- Low $262,500 · Sep 2026
- Salaries
- 327
- from 35 employers
- Last updated
- 22 Oct 2026
- 12-month window to 22 Oct 2026
Salary range
Where pay sits in San Francisco
- 10th percentile
- $161,300
- 25th percentile
- $230,250
- Median
- $285,500
- 75th percentile
- $352,750
- 90th percentile
- $371,000
327 salaries · 431 live local jobs. Box: the middle half of salaries · line: the median · whisker: 10th to 90th percentile.
Compared with the United States median of 1,141 salaries: up +22.8%
Based on 327 salary-listed job postings from the last 12 months · last updated 22 Oct 2026
Salary by experience
How Software Engineer pay changes with experience in San Francisco
Pay by the experience level employers state in their job posts, from salaries listed in the last 12 months. A level appears only with at least 8 salaries.
| Experience level | Pay range chart | Median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Entry level$116,265–$139,100 · 14 salaries | $125,630 | |
| Mid level$161,300–$310,000 · 41 salaries | $194,400 | |
| Senior level$249,375–$355,500 · 128 salaries | $293,000 |
One shared scale, $106.7K to $365.1K. Box: the middle half of salaries · line: the median.
Salary by company
What companies pay a Software Engineer in San Francisco
Employers with at least 5 listed salaries for this role; those with 8 or more link to their own salary page. The sparkline is the company's monthly median where it has enough salaries.
| Company | Pay range chart | Median pay |
|---|---|---|
| OpenAI$325,500–$366,750 · 130 salaries | $355,500 | |
| Notion$159,000–$273,500 · 25 salaries | $228,500 | |
| Sierra$285,000–$310,000 · 23 salaries | $310,000 | |
| Harvey$263,000–$285,500 · 19 salaries | $285,500 | |
| Baseten$247,500–$257,500 · 19 salaries | $247,500 | |
| DoorDash USA$161,300–$184,400 · 19 salaries | $161,300 | |
| Pinterest$183,184–$254,471 · 11 salaries | $189,182 | |
| Databricks$199,588–$226,000 · 10 salaries | $225,500 |
One shared scale, $150.7K to $375.1K. Box: the middle half of salaries · line: the median.
Skills and pay
Skills linked to higher Software Engineer pay in San Francisco
How much higher or lower the median is for job posts that mention a skill. It shows an association, not a guarantee: better-paid jobs often bundle several scarce skills with senior scope. Skills with fewer than 8 salaries are left out.
| Skill | Pay premium chart | Pay premium |
|---|---|---|
| artificial intelligencemedian $355,500 · 140 salaries | up +24.5% | |
| aimedian $296,750 · 308 salaries | up +3.9% | |
| c++median $293,000 · 54 salaries | up +2.6% | |
| typescriptmedian $285,000 · 81 salaries | down −0.2% | |
| pythonmedian $273,088 · 126 salaries | down −4.3% | |
| kubernetesmedian $264,750 · 66 salaries | down −7.3% | |
| azuremedian $263,000 · 33 salaries | down −7.9% | |
| machine learningmedian $247,500 · 57 salaries | down −13.3% |
Pay listed by employers
Latest Software Engineer jobs that show their pay in San Francisco
Pay as the employer wrote it, per year: individual job posts, not averages.
- Software Engineer IIRipple · Mid level · posted 18 Oct 2026$140,000 – $170,000
- Senior Staff Software Engineer, Financial CrimesRipple · Senior level · posted 18 Oct 2026$236,000 – $295,000
- Software Engineer, Developer PlatformNotion · Senior level · posted 19 Oct 2026$179,000 – $200,000
- Staff Software EngineerRipple · Senior level · posted 18 Oct 2026$212,000 – $265,000
- Staff Software Engineer - Distributed Data SystemsDatabricks · Senior level · posted 17 Oct 2026$192,000 – $260,000
Evidence
Where these numbers come from
327 salaries from 35 employers, posted between 22 Oct 2025 and 22 Oct 2026. Last updated 22 Oct 2026. Every figure on this page comes from this one group of salaries; the median is the middle value, not the average.
- Employer hiring-system feeds 96%
- Other sources 4%
Frequently asked questions
Software Engineer salary in San Francisco: common questions
What is the average Software Engineer salary in San Francisco in 2026?
Job ads for Software Engineer in San Francisco on Jobiba list a median salary of $285,500 a year, based on 327 salary-listed job postings. The middle half of those job ads pay between $230,250 and $352,750 a year (25th to 75th percentile).
How much does an entry-level Software Engineer earn in San Francisco compared with experienced hires?
By experience level in the postings Jobiba could classify: Entry level: $125,630 median (14 postings); Mid level: $194,400 median (41 postings); Senior level: $293,000 median (128 postings). Bands with too few postings are not shown.
How does Software Engineer pay in San Francisco compare with the United States median?
The Software Engineer median in San Francisco is +22.8% versus the United States median for the same role on Jobiba.
How does Jobiba calculate Software Engineer salary in San Francisco?
From 327 salary-listed Jobiba job postings from the last 12 months that state an explicit salary, currency and pay period. Hourly, daily and monthly pay is converted to an annual figure, implausible values and outliers are removed, and currencies are never mixed or converted. Jobiba publishes the median and 25th–75th percentile range only when enough comparable postings exist.