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October 2026 data

Kafka startup salary data

As of October 2026, the median advertised pay for Kafka startup roles is $150k across 32 Hacker News “Who is Hiring” listings.

Based on advertised pay in 32 Kafka listings from Hacker News “Who is Hiring”. Sample size is shown so you know how much weight to give the number.

See matching jobs Remote Kafka pay Check the method
MEDIAN
$150k
P25 TO P75
$130k to $176k
RANGE
$60k to $280k
LISTINGS
32

Median Kafka salary over time

2024-07-01 to 2026-10-01

Market Signal (October 2026)

Top Hirers: Peregrine Technologies leads hiring for Kafka roles with 3 active posts, followed by Obsidian Security.

🌍 Location & Remote Dynamics

Remote-Friendly: Kafka is highly remote-friendly, with 50% of roles open to remote work. Parity: Remote and onsite compensation for Kafka is effectively equal, with less than 5% variance in median pay.

💡 Tech Stack Context

Common Stack: 59% of Kafka jobs also require Python, and 56% mention AWS.

💰 Compensation Analysis

Median advertised base pay for Kafka roles is $149,500, with top-tier advertised ranges (P75) reaching $176,000.

Kafka salary FAQ

What is the median advertised pay for Kafka roles at startups?

Median advertised pay for Kafka roles is $150k, based on 32 Hacker News 'Who is Hiring' listings as of October 2026.

What is the salary range for Kafka roles?

Kafka roles run from $130k (25th percentile) to $176k (75th percentile), with top listings reaching $280k.

Do remote Kafka jobs pay more than onsite?

Remote Kafka roles show a median of $149k versus $150k onsite in this dataset.

Kafka jobs

COMPANY ROLE SALARY VIBE STACK Actions
BillionToOne Senior Software Engineer
$280,000 - $307,000
@HR stable
Python Django PostgreSQL +8
HN Apply
Artemis Staff Principal Product Backend Distributed Systems Engineer
$200,000 - $250,000
[F] stable
Python Node.js Rust +5
HN Apply
Moment Distributed Systems Engineer, Product Engineer
$200,000 - $325,000
[E] CRUNCH
Golang Kafka PostgreSQL +6
HN Apply
DAT Frontline Engineering Manager, Senior Engineering Manager
$192,000 - $261,000
[E] zen
Node.js TypeScript React +5
HN Apply
Rally UXR Senior/Staff Backend Engineer
$190,000 - $225,000
[E] grind
TypeScript AWS PostgreSQL +3
HN Apply
Adobe Staff Backend Engineer (Distributed Systems)
$177,900 - $257,550
[E] grind
Java Scala Spring Boot +7
HN Apply
Obsidian Security Staff Software Engineer
$176,000 - $196,000
[E] grind
TypeScript Python Rust +7
HN Apply
Tivly Principal Software Engineer (Java)
$170,000 - $190,000
@HR zen
Java 17+ Spring Boot AWS +2
HN Apply
Procore Multiple Engineering Roles (IC + Management)
$169,000 - $273,000
@HR grind
Ruby on Rails React TypeScript +3
HN Apply
Mailgun Senior Golang Engineer
$165,000 - $190,000
[E] grind
Golang MongoDB Cassandra +6
HN Apply
Virtasant Senior Data Engineer
$160,000 - $180,000
[E] zen
AWS Python SQL +7
HN Apply
Kernel Intelligence Senior Backend Systems Engineer
$150,000 - $200,000
[E] grind
Python FastAPI Async +10
HN Apply
Matroid Field Software Engineer
$150,000 - $300,000
[E] grind
Python PyTorch Kubernetes +7
HN Apply
Artis Works Backend Engineer
£150,000 - £190,000 ≈ $191k
[E] CRUNCH
Rust Java Clojure +7
HN Apply
Matroid Software Engineer
$150,000 - $300,000
[E] grind
Python PyTorch Kubernetes +7
HN Apply
Obsidian Security Senior Threat Backend Engineer
$149,000 - $208,000
[E] CRUNCH
Python FastAPI Asyncio +8
HN Apply
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory Lead Engineer (Staff Engineer 4)
$144,000 - $236,000
[E] grind
Python Postgres/sql Kubernetes +9
HN Apply
Matcha.fm Full-stack Software Engineer
$140,000 - $290,000
[E] grind
TypeScript React Node.js +9
HN Apply
Godel Terminal Frontend Engineer, Backend Engineer
$140,000 - $250,000
[E] grind
TypeScript React Websockets +13
HN Apply
Skylight Senior Backend Engineer
$140,000 - $213,000
[E] grind
React TypeScript GraphQL +9
HN Apply
Peregrine Technologies Senior Software Engineer, Mobile
$130,000 - $215,000
@HR grind
Python Django Celery +13
HN Apply
Peregrine Technologies Senior Mobile Engineer
$130,000 - $215,000
@HR stable
Python JavaScript TypeScript +8
HN Apply
Peregrine Technologies Senior Full Stack Engineer
$130,000 - $215,000
@HR stable
Python JavaScript TypeScript +7
HN Apply
Moov Multiple Roles
$120,000 - $325,000
[E] grind
Golang PostgreSQL Alloydb +6
HN Apply
Artis Works Senior Engineer Frontend and Backend
£120,000 - £168,000 ≈ $152k
[E] grind
Rust Clojure TypeScript +6
HN Apply
Healthesystems Principal Appian Engineer
$119,000 - $164,000
[E] grind
Appian SQL Server MongoDB +2
HN Apply
Xeotek Inc. (Senior) Sales Engineer / Manager
$110,000 - $140,000
[E] grind
Kafka Flink
HN Apply
Justworks Associate Software Engineer, Expenses
CA$109,000 - CA$136,000 ≈ $80k
[E] grind
Golang Ruby on Rails JavaScript +7
HN Apply
CVector Full Stack Software Engineer
$100,000 - $100,000
[E] grind
Python TypeScript React +6
HN Apply
Vornoy Software Engineer
$90,000 - $110,000
[F] stable
Python React FastAPI +5
HN Apply
CVector Full Stack Software Engineer; UI/UX Designer
$75,000 - $75,000
[E] stable
Python TypeScript React +6
HN Apply
Elastics Founding Engineer
$60,000 - $60,000
[F] grind
Python Docker Redis +4
HN Apply

Related technologies

PythonAWSReact
Kafka remote → Kafka onsite → All technologies