Startup Compensation & Equity Benchmark 2026: Salary and Equity Ranges by Stage

This report presents startup compensation and equity benchmarks for 2026 — base salaries, equity grant ranges, and total compensation for key startup roles across funding stages. Data from Carta Compensation, Levels.fyi, Radford, and a Remvix primary survey of 250 US startups.

Engineering Compensation by Stage and Level (US, 2026)

Seed stage ($1M–$4M raised)

• Junior Engineer (L2): $85,000–$110,000 base; 0.05–0.20% equity
• Mid-level Engineer (L3): $110,000–$140,000 base; 0.10–0.35% equity
• Senior Engineer (L4): $140,000–$175,000 base; 0.20–0.60% equity
• Staff Engineer (L5): $165,000–$210,000 base; 0.40–1.0% equity

Series A stage ($5M–$20M raised)

• Junior Engineer (L2): $100,000–$130,000 base; 0.02–0.08% equity
• Mid-level Engineer (L3): $130,000–$165,000 base; 0.04–0.12% equity
• Senior Engineer (L4): $160,000–$200,000 base; 0.07–0.20% equity
• Staff Engineer (L5): $190,000–$240,000 base; 0.12–0.35% equity
• Head of Engineering: $195,000–$265,000 base; 0.20–0.60% equity

Series B stage ($20M–$60M raised)

• Senior Engineer (L4): $175,000–$225,000 base; 0.03–0.10% equity
• Staff Engineer (L5): $210,000–$265,000 base; 0.06–0.18% equity
• VP Engineering: $230,000–$310,000 base; 0.15–0.50% equity
• CTO: $260,000–$380,000 base; 0.25–1.0% equity

Go-to-Market Compensation by Stage (US, 2026)

Series A

• Account Executive (Mid-Market, $20K–$60K ACV): $90,000–$120,000 base; $180,000–$240,000 OTE
• SDR/BDR: $55,000–$75,000 base; $90,000–$120,000 OTE
• VP Sales: $180,000–$240,000 base; $360,000–$480,000 OTE; 0.15–0.40% equity
• Customer Success Manager: $80,000–$105,000 base
• Head of Marketing: $160,000–$210,000 base; 0.10–0.25% equity

Series B

• Account Executive (Enterprise, $50K–$200K ACV): $120,000–$160,000 base; $240,000–$320,000 OTE
• VP Sales: $220,000–$290,000 base; $440,000–$580,000 OTE; 0.10–0.30% equity
• Head of CS: $175,000–$220,000 base; 0.08–0.20% equity
• VP Marketing: $200,000–$260,000 base; 0.08–0.20% equity

Offshore Engineering Compensation (India, via EOR, 2026)

• Junior Full-Stack (0–2 years): $8,000–$14,000/year
• Mid-level Full-Stack (3–5 years): $16,000–$28,000/year
• Senior Full-Stack (6–9 years): $28,000–$48,000/year
• Staff Engineer (10+ years): $44,000–$72,000/year
• QA Engineer (mid-level): $12,000–$20,000/year
• DevOps Engineer (senior): $22,000–$40,000/year
• EOR fee on top of gross salary: 15–25%
• Fully-loaded cost for senior India engineer via EOR: $35,000–$60,000/year
• Saving vs equivalent US senior engineer at Series A: $120,000–$165,000/year

Equity Benchmarks by Role (Series A, 2026)

• First engineering hire (pre-seed): 0.5–2.0%
• CTO (external hire, Series A): 0.5–1.5%
• VP Engineering (Series A): 0.3–0.7%
• VP Sales (Series A): 0.2–0.5%
• Head of Product (Series A): 0.2–0.5%
• VP Marketing (Series A): 0.15–0.35%
• Senior Engineer (Series A): 0.07–0.20%
• Mid-level Engineer (Series A): 0.04–0.12%
• Note: These are target grants at the time of hire; refresh grants maintain retention for employees past their original 4-year vest

Compensation Trends

• Startup engineering salaries (US, non-FAANG): +4.5% YoY 2025 — stabilizing after 2021–2022 peak
• Offshore engineering salaries (India): +10.2% YoY 2025 — significantly faster growth than US
• Equity grant sizes: flat to slightly declining as valuations normalize post-2021 peak; employee-friendly exercise windows (5-year+) increasingly used to compensate
• Benefits spend per employee (startups, Series A–B): $18,200 median annual — up 12% from 2023
• Companies publishing salary bands publicly in job postings: 67% — up from 41% in 2023, driven by state salary disclosure laws and candidate expectation