LLM Advertised Pay at Startups (2026): $150k median

Market Signal (October 2026)

Top Hirers: Tufalabs leads hiring for LLM roles with 3 active posts, followed by Extend.

🌍 Location & Remote Dynamics

Remote Premium: Remote LLM roles currently fetch a 20% salary premium (median $180,000) compared to onsite positions.

💡 Tech Stack Context

Common Stack: 29% of LLM jobs also require Artificial Intelligence, and 27% mention TypeScript.

💰 Compensation Analysis

Median advertised base pay for LLM roles is $150,000, with top-tier advertised ranges (P75) reaching $180,000.

LLM salary FAQ

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

Median advertised pay for LLM roles is $150k, based on 45 Hacker News 'Who is Hiring' listings as of October 2026.

What is the salary range for LLM roles?

LLM roles run from $125k (25th percentile) to $180k (75th percentile), with top listings reaching $250k.

Do remote LLM jobs pay more than onsite?

Remote LLM roles show a median of $165k versus $150k onsite in this dataset.

LLM jobs (45 total)

COMPANY	ROLE	SALARY	VIBE	STACK	Actions
Jurisphere.ai	Founding Head of Product	₹5,600,000 - ₹9,800,000 ≈ $67k	[F] CRUNCH	Rag LLM Artificial Intelligence +2	HN Apply
Readif Financial	Senior Full-Stack Contractor	CA$260,000 - CA$360,000 ≈ $190k	[F] zen	PostgreSQL Next.js TypeScript +5	HN Apply
Extend	Senior Software Engineer, ML Engineer, AI Engineer	$250,000 - $350,000	[E] CRUNCH	LLM Document Processing	HN Apply
Anterior	Senior Member of Technical Staff	$230,000 - $300,000	[E] grind	Python Golang TypeScript +5	HN Apply
Project Healthy Minds	Lead Software Engineer	$225,000 - $250,000	[E] grind	Nestjs Next.js PostgreSQL +2	HN Apply
Project Healthy Minds	Principal Engineer	$225,000 - $250,000	[E] grind	Nestjs Next.js LLM +1	HN Apply
ELDRICK.com	Founding AI Engineer	$200,000 +	[F] grind	Artificial Intelligence Machine Learning LLM	HN Apply
Komodo Health	AI Platform Engineer (Senior/Staff)	$200,000 - $298,000	[F] CRUNCH	Artificial Intelligence AI Native LLM +4	HN Apply
Stealth AI Startup	Founding Engineer	$200,000 - $500,000	[F] CRUNCH	LLM Calibration Uncertainty Quantification +3	HN Apply
Falconer	Lead AI engineer	$200,000 - $300,000	[F] CRUNCH	Artificial Intelligence LLM Prompt Caching +3	HN Apply
Komodo Health	Applied AI Engineer	$200,000 - $253,000	[E] CRUNCH	Artificial Intelligence LLM Agentic Systems +1	HN Apply
TensorZero	Founding Member of Technical Staff	$200,000 - $300,000	[F] grind	Rust React LLM +4	HN Apply
GC AI	Member of Technical Staff, Applied AI	$180,000 - $430,000	[E] CRUNCH	TypeScript JavaScript React +2	HN Apply
Olli Health	Senior AI Engineer	$180,000 - $220,000	[F] grind	LLM Python NLP +1	HN Apply
Pathos AI	Senior Software / AI Engineer	$180,000 - $200,000	[F] stable	Python TypeScript JavaScript +7	HN Apply
Hightouch	Multiple Roles	$180,000 - $320,000	[F] zen	Snowflake Databricks LLM +7	HN Apply
Neuralwatt	Founding Engineer	$180,000 - $220,000	[F] grind	Rust Python LLM +1	HN Apply
Ascertain	Senior Engineers (Backend, Frontend, AI)	$180,000 - $280,000	[F] grind	Python FastAPI Kubernetes +8	HN Apply
Extend	Senior/Staff Software Engineer	$175,000 - $250,000	[F] CRUNCH	LLM Document Processing	HN Apply
Yarn	Founding Software Engineer	$160,000 - $200,000	[F] grind	LLM	HN Apply
Koop AI	Senior Software Engineer	$150,000 - $180,000	[E] CRUNCH	Golang TypeScript C++ +1	HN Apply
Prophet Town LLC	Various Software Engineering Roles	$150,000 - $260,000	[F] CRUNCH	TypeScript JavaScript React +6	HN Apply
Mitty	First Engineer	$150,000 +	[F] stable	Machine Learning Artificial Intelligence Video Processing +6	HN Apply
WireScreen	Senior Software Engineer (Frontend) & Machine Learning Engineer	$150,000 - $220,000	@HR grind	React Component Based Design Systems Data Visualization +7	HN Apply
SmarterDx	Multiple roles	$150,000 - $250,000	[F] grind	Artificial Intelligence LLM	HN Apply
MindFort AI	Backend Software Engineer, AI Researcher	$150,000 - $250,000	[F] stable	Python PostgreSQL Docker +7	HN Apply
Nomi.ai	Senior Machine Learning Engineer	$150,000 - $250,000	[F] zen	LLM Rag Machine Learning +3	HN Apply
Agentio	Senior Software Engineer	$150,000 - $225,000	[E] CRUNCH	Artificial Intelligence LLM Real Time Optimization +1	HN Apply
Val Town	Founding Engineer	$150,000 - $150,000	[F] grind	LLM Full Stack Apps	HN Apply
Compass Regulatory	Machine Learning Engineer	$150,000 - $190,000	[E] CRUNCH	Python Docker LLM +1	HN Apply
applyapply	Founding Engineer	$140,000 - $170,000	[F] zen	Chrome Extension LLM API	HN Apply
Promptless	Founding Docs Practice Lead	$140,000 - $200,000	[F] CRUNCH	Artificial Intelligence LLM	HN Apply
Faction	Founding Engineers	$130,000 - $225,000	[E] CRUNCH	Next.js TypeScript Python +5	HN Apply
QumisAI	Founding Full Stack/AI Engineer	$125,000 - $200,000	[F] CRUNCH	TypeScript Ruby on Rails PostgreSQL +3	HN Apply
OmniAI	Full stack Engineer	$125,000 - $175,000	[F] grind	TypeScript PostgreSQL Docker +2	HN Apply
V7	AI Solutions Engineer / Forward Deployed Engineer	£105,000 - £125,000 ≈ $133k	[E] CRUNCH	Python LLM API +7	HN Apply
PrairieLearn	Full-Stack Software Engineer	$100,000 - $180,000	[E] stable	TypeScript PostgreSQL React +3	HN Apply
Tufalabs	AI Research Engineer	CHF 100,000 - CHF 200,000 ≈ $112k	[F] CRUNCH	Arc Agi3 LLM Rl +2	HN Apply
Tufalabs	Senior research/engineers	CHF 100,000 - CHF 200,000 ≈ $112k	[F] CRUNCH	Artificial Intelligence LLM Dgx B200 +1	HN Apply
Tufalabs	COO & Senior research/engineers	CHF 100,000 - CHF 130,000 ≈ $112k	[F] grind	Dgx B200 Nvl72 Gb200 LLM	HN Apply

LLM remote → LLM onsite → All technologies

LLM startup salary data

Median LLM salary over time