US Salary Guide 2026: Tech-Heavy Pay Ranges
Searching for US pay numbers and finding figures that do not match your own offers? Here is the first thing to know. The JobRise US sample is mostly tech and startup job boards, so its numbers sit far above what a typical US job pays. The median below is the median of tech-heavy ads, not the average US wage.
This guide shows what those open US ads advertised as of November 5, 2026. The median is $150,000 a year, and the middle half runs from $105,000 to $200,000.
Read this first: a tech-heavy sample, not the US average#
The sample comes from job boards that are mostly tech and startup sources: Himalayas (31,233 ads), Ashby (14,595), Lever (1,618), Recruitee (297) and Breezy (197). Because the ads come from tech and startup sources, the numbers here run high compared with a typical US job.
Do not read the $150,000 median as what a typical American earns. It is the median of ads from this kind of employer that state a pay range. If you work in retail, admin, teaching, skilled trades or healthcare, the field and role tables below are more useful than the headline numbers. Look at the rows closest to your job, and do not compare yourself to the top of the table.
JobRise's US hiring report, dated November 2, 2026, counts 379,511 open jobs across all fields. That is a separate count, a few days older than this salary file, and it covers far more than this tech-heavy pay sample.
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US salary guide 2026: how these numbers work#
These numbers come from open job ads that state a pay range. JobRise tracks those ads from employer career pages and public job boards, and repeat ads from the same employer count once.
Each number is the midpoint of the posted range, turned into yearly pay (hourly x 2,080 hours, monthly x 12). "Middle half" means half of the ads fall inside that range.
This is what employers advertise, not what people are paid after they negotiate. It is not a salary survey.
The sample has 48,083 distinct ads with a clear dollar amount and pay period, taken from 51,446 open US jobs that show a salary field.
US salary guide 2026: the overall numbers#
- Median: $150,000 a year
- Middle half: $105,000 to $200,000 a year
- Monthly median: $12,500
- Hourly median: $72.12
The gap between the bottom and top of the middle half is large. Seniority, the company and the level of the role move the number a lot, so a single median rarely fits one job.
Use the midpoint as a question, not an answer. Ask yourself whether the ad you are reading sits in the bottom, middle or top of the range for its field and role, and what in your experience would justify each step up.
US salary by field#
These are JobRise's field categories, from job titles and departments. Only fields with 50 or more jobs are shown. The top five by median are:
| Field | Jobs | Median yearly | Middle half yearly |
|---|---|---|---|
| Backend | 360 | $200,000 | $175,000 to $237,400 |
| Frontend | 160 | $193,200 | $145,000 to $228,900 |
| Product | 1,244 | $189,600 | $153,000 to $225,000 |
| Software Dev | 3,726 | $187,500 | $141,800 to $235,000 |
| Fullstack | 425 | $185,000 | $150,000 to $225,000 |
The bottom five are:
| Field | Jobs | Median yearly | Middle half yearly |
|---|---|---|---|
| Internship | 291 | $67,500 | $48,900 to $104,000 |
| Retail | 113 | $71,000 | $53,200 to $117,000 |
| Skilled Trades | 375 | $73,800 | $52,000 to $90,500 |
| Education | 461 | $83,200 | $60,000 to $118,800 |
| Admin | 555 | $102,500 | $54,000 to $135,000 |
Even the bottom five are tech-heavy samples, so the warning at the top applies to them too. Use the bottom five to see which fields pay less in this data, and check your own field's row before you compare.
US salary by role#
Roles are matched from job titles. Only roles with 30 or more ads are shown. Again, these are tech-heavy ads, so the big-tech rows will not match a typical job.
| Role | Jobs | Median yearly | Middle half yearly |
|---|---|---|---|
| Doctor / physician | 162 | $204,000 | $110,600 to $271,100 |
| Data scientist / ML engineer | 1,044 | $202,000 | $166,000 to $250,000 |
| Software engineer / developer | 4,252 | $193,500 | $150,000 to $237,500 |
| Product manager | 1,218 | $182,500 | $150,000 to $220,000 |
| Account executive (sales) | 1,852 | $152,500 | $110,000 to $235,300 |
| Nurse | 417 | $135,000 | $104,800 to $147,500 |
| Customer service | 757 | $120,000 | $84,800 to $157,500 |
| Admin / office assistant | 360 | $107,500 | $79,900 to $130,600 |
| Accountant | 249 | $92,500 | $77,500 to $111,500 |
| Technician | 335 | $71,800 | $51,000 to $88,000 |
| Teacher | 106 | $63,100 | $50,000 to $77,100 |
| Cook / chef | 46 | $58,800 | $40,600 to $85,000 |
Which US roles pay most and least
- Most: Doctor / physician, with a median of $204,000 a year across 162 ads. Data scientist / ML engineer ($202,000) and Software engineer / developer ($193,500) follow.
- Least: Cook / chef, with a median of $58,800 a year across 46 ads. Teacher ($63,100) is close behind.
Remember the warning from the top. Two rows with very different sizes, such as 4,252 software engineer ads and 46 cook or chef ads, are not equally solid, so weigh the bigger samples more. The software engineer median of $193,500 comes from tech and startup ads. A cook or teacher in a school or restaurant will see a different market, and the sample has few of those ads. Use those rows as a loose check only.
Employers with the most salaried ads#
These are the employers with 15 or more salaried ads in the sample.
| Employer | Salaried jobs | Median yearly |
|---|---|---|
| Lifelancer | 680 | $159,900 |
| Openai | 631 | $307,500 |
| OptiMindHealth | 572 | $77,500 |
| Shieldai | 536 | $190,000 |
| Boxlunch | 254 | $38,000 |
| NVIDIA | 224 | $270,200 |
| Snowflake | 216 | $216,100 |
| Accenture | 176 | $187,100 |
Many of these names are tech companies, and the spread is wide. Openai has a median of $307,500 and NVIDIA $270,200, while OptiMindHealth ($77,500) and Boxlunch ($38,000) sit far lower.
The file does not say whether each name is the direct employer or a staffing firm. Check the employer line on the ad before you negotiate. If an agency is involved, ask who will employ you before you talk numbers.
How to use these numbers in a salary talk#
- Anchor on the middle half, not the top. For a software engineer role in this data, the middle half is $141,800 to $235,000 for the Software Dev field, and $150,000 to $237,500 for the role. Start there, not at the highest figure you have seen.
- Ask for the range early. Ask the recruiter for the pay range before the first interview. Many US ads in this sample show one, so it is a normal question.
- Check the ad's own range first. A posted range on the job you want beats any median in this guide.
- Use your own offer as the test. Say you are a product manager with an offer in front of you. The role table shows a median of $182,500, and the middle half runs from $150,000 to $220,000 across ads in this tech-heavy sample. Ask where your offer falls in that range and what would move it up, such as scope, level or a sign-on bonus.
- Keep it specific. Name the skills and results that put you near the top of the range for this role, and ask for a figure that fits them.
The salary negotiation helper can help you word the ask for your own offer.
What to do this week#
- Find your rows. Look up your field and your role in the tables above. If you are outside tech, use the closest rows and treat them as a loose check.
- Check the pay line on every ad. Skip the ones with no pay range, or ask the recruiter for one.
- Match the words on the posting. Put the exact terms from the ad into your resume where they are true, then run one ad through the free ATS check. The ATS resume tips for the US job market cover the common formatting problems.
- Look at the skills employers name. The US skills page shows which skills US ads ask for most.
- Browse live listings. Start with the US job board, then check who the real employer is.
- Read the bigger picture. The US job market post and the US hiring report show where the openings are.
What this data cannot tell you#
The data does not show pay after negotiation, bonuses, equity, taxes, or state-by-state differences. It is a snapshot as of November 5, 2026, and it only covers ads that state a pay range, mostly from tech and startup boards. Read each ad for the details that matter to you before you plan a move or turn down a job.
Want to see how your resume matches a US job? Run the free ATS check and see your score. Free, no signup. You can also browse all free tools.
Send this to whoever has the interview this week.