Kafka Salary at Startups (2026): $147k median

Market Signal (August 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: 64% of Kafka jobs also require Python, and 50% mention React.

💰 Compensation Analysis

The median base salary for Kafka developers is $146,500, with top-tier roles (P75) reaching $176,000.

Kafka salary FAQ

What is the median Kafka developer salary at startups?

The median Kafka salary is $147k, based on 28 verified Hacker News 'Who is Hiring' listings as of July 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 $144k versus $150k onsite in this dataset.

Kafka jobs

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

Kafka remote → Kafka onsite → All technologies

Kafka startup salary data

Median Kafka salary over time