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The Startup Salary Transparency Report · July 2026

Only 30% of Hacker News “Who is Hiring” posts state a salary.

We read 3,968 job posts across the last 12 monthly threads. These are advertised ranges from job posts, which skew toward the low end of real pay and toward companies transparent enough to post numbers. Not verified paid comp.

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1. Most startups still hide pay

Across the last 12 “Who is Hiring” threads, only 30% of the 3,968 job posts stated a salary. It has barely moved, month to month.

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% of posts stating a salary, by month (last 12 threads)

2. Europe is advertised roughly a third less

Startups advertise about 37% less for Europe-based roles than US ones: a median of $95k versus $150k. The European sample is UK-heavy, so read it as a startup-hiring signal, not a country ranking.

United States$150k n=249
Europe$95k n=77

3. The median advertised startup salary is $140k

Across 692 listings in the last 12 months, the median advertised salary is $140k, with a wide spread: $105k at the 25th percentile to $200k at the 90th. Deduped by company and role it is $145k (n=669).

p25 $105kmedian $140kp90 $200k

By seniority (title-inferred, for reference)

Entry
n/a
n=11 (too small)
Mid
$130k
n=287
Senior
$150k
n=233
Lead
$150k
n=161

Methodology & data

Salaries are advertised ranges extracted from Hacker News “Who is Hiring” job posts, normalized to USD, over the trailing 12 months. Transparency is the share of top-level posts containing a salary figure. Full method on the methodology page.

Cite this: “30% of Hacker News startup job posts state a salary; the median advertised is $140k (StartupJobList Salary Transparency Report 2026).”

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Data: Hacker News “Who is Hiring”, aggregated by StartupJobList. CC BY 4.0. Generated 2026-07-12.