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
/yearBased on 31 verified postings
Market Range (P25 - P75)
$100,000-$150,000
Entry ($60,000)MedianTop ($200,000)
Top Companies Hiring
- Stealth AI Startup2 jobs
- Ascertain2 jobs
- Tufalabs2 jobs
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
AI researchers and engineers
[F]CRUNCH
$165,000 - $165,000
Senior Machine Learning Engineer
[E]grind
$150,000 - $250,000
Machine Learning Engineer
[E]CRUNCH
$150,000 - $190,000
Senior Software Engineer
[E]CRUNCH
$150,000 - $225,000
Senior/Staff Backend Engineer & Junior Backend Engineer
[F]grind
$140,000 - $230,000
Founding Full Stack/AI Engineer
[F]CRUNCH
$125,000 - $200,000
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
AI Research Residency Program
[F]CRUNCH
$100,000 - $200,000
Research engineer
[F]CRUNCH
$100,000 - $135,000
Founding Software Engineer / Founding Product Designer
[F]CRUNCH
$80,000 - $120,000
Showing 31 of 31 jobs
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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.
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.