StartupJobList_
31 Active Listings Updated December 2025

LLM Salary Data

Real compensation packages for LLM developers at high-growth startups. Based on direct data from Hacker News "Who is Hiring" threads.

Median Salary

$130,000

/year
Based on 31 verified postings

Market Range (P25 - P75)

$100,000-$150,000
Entry ($60,000)MedianTop ($200,000)

Top Companies Hiring

Location Distribution

Remote39%
San Francisco Bay Area35%
Other26%

verified_listings

Founding engineer (ML & Backend)
[F]CRUNCH
$200,000 - $500,000
Senior Engineers: Backend, Frontend, AI
[F]grind
$180,000 - $280,000
Open Source Software Engineer
[F]stable
$180,000 - $180,000
Senior Engineers: Backend, Frontend, AI
[E]grind
$180,000 - $280,000
Senior/Staff Software Engineer
[F]grind
$175,000 - $250,000
AI researchers and engineers
[F]CRUNCH
$165,000 - $165,000
Founding Software Engineer
[F]CRUNCH
$160,000 - $200,000
Senior Machine Learning Engineer
[F]CRUNCH
$150,000 - $250,000
Senior Machine Learning Engineer
[E]grind
$150,000 - $250,000
Machine Learning Engineer
[E]CRUNCH
$150,000 - $190,000
Founding Engineer
[F]grind
$150,000 - $150,000
Multiple Roles
[F]CRUNCH
$150,000 - $250,000
Senior/Staff Backend Engineer & Junior Backend Engineer
[F]grind
$140,000 - $230,000
Founding Engineer
[F]grind
$130,000 - $170,000
AI Engineer
[E]CRUNCH
$130,000 - $205,000
Founding Full Stack/AI Engineer
[F]CRUNCH
$125,000 - $200,000
Full stack Engineer
[F]grind
$125,000 - $175,000
Founding Rust Engineer
[F]CRUNCH
$125,000 - $150,000
Full-stack Engineer
[F]stable
$120,000 - $200,000
Growth Lead, AI Engineer, Full-Stack Product Engineer
[E]grind
$110,000 - $200,000
AI Solutions Engineer / Forward Deployed Engineer
[E]grind
$105,000 - $200,000
Founding Engineer (Backend)
[F]grind
$100,000 - $200,000
AI Research Residency Program
[F]CRUNCH
$100,000 - $200,000
Founding AI Engineer
[F]grind
$100,000 - $150,000
Full-stack Engineer
[F]grind
$100,000 - $200,000
iOS Engineer
[F]grind
$96,000 - $134,000
Founding Software Engineer / Founding Product Designer
[F]CRUNCH
$80,000 - $120,000
Remote Engineer
[F]grind
$60,000 - $100,000
Applied Research Engineer
[E]CRUNCH
$60,000 - $180,000
Showing 31 of 31 jobs
Per page:
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Commonly Paired With

## Market Signal (December 2025)

Top Hirers: Stealth AI Startup leads hiring for LLM roles with 2 active posts, followed by Ascertain.

### 🌍 Location & Remote Dynamics
SF Centric: LLM roles are concentrated in the SF Bay Area (35% of listings), often paying a location premium. Parity: Remote and onsite compensation for LLM is effectively equal, with less than 5% variance in median pay.

### 💡 Tech Stack Context
Common Stack: 45% of LLM jobs also require Artificial Intelligence, and 29% mention Python.

### 💰 Compensation Analysis
The median base salary for LLM developers is $130,000, with top-tier roles (P75) reaching $150,000.