Backend Engineering salary in San Francisco
Employer-stated pay · updated Oct 22, 2026
Live backend engineering jobs in San Francisco All backend engineering ranges AustinBellevueBostonChicagoDenverIrvine
Backend Engineering pay in San Francisco is measured from 119 postings where the employer stated pay. The best-evidenced figure is senior, where 70 postings put the middle half between $208,350 and $254,000, with a median of $228,750.
Pay rises with seniority here: the medians run mid-level $207,800 and senior $228,750. Moving from mid-level to senior is worth roughly 10% more.
Against the 15 other measured markets for backend engineering at senior, this sits highest; Palo Alto leads at $225,000.
114 backend engineering roles are open in San Francisco right now, 114 listing pay.
| Level | Market range | Median | Sample |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mid | $195,000 – $246,875 | $207,800 | 49 |
| Senior | $208,350 – $254,000 | $228,750 | 70 |
Entry is junior titles. Mid is mid-level and manager titles. Senior is senior titles. Lead is director, VP and above.
Ranges span the 25th to 75th percentile of employer-stated base pay for the level. Median is the 50th percentile. Sample is the number of postings measured.
Open backend engineering roles in San Francisco · 114 with stated pay
this job's paywhere most pay sits here, $160,000–$300,000scale $90,000–$420,000
Software Engineer - Backend Happyrobot Inc. · San Francisco $180,000–$250,000 4d ago Senior Software Engineer - Backend Happyrobot Inc. · San Francisco $220,000–$250,000 4d ago 
Member of Technical Staff, Backend LlamaIndex · San Francisco $180,000–$250,000 8d ago 
Backend Software Engineer, Cooperative AI (Evals) OpenAI · San Francisco $266,000–$445,000 2w ago 
Senior Software Engineer — Backend (Files Team) Databricks · San Francisco $166,000–$225,000 3w ago 
Backend Software Engineer (Senior/Staff) Cardless · San Francisco $160,000–$295,000 4w ago 
Backend Software Engineer, Airports Lyft · San Francisco $128,000–$160,000 5w ago 
Senior Software Engineer, Backend (Product Engineering) Brex · San Francisco $192,000–$240,000 5w ago Senior Software Engineer, Backend (Product Engineering) Brex · New York $192,000–$240,000 5w ago Senior Software Engineer, Backend (Product Engineering) Brex · Seattle $192,000–$240,000 5w ago Software Engineer II, Backend Brex · New York $152,000–$190,000 5w ago Software Engineer II, Backend Brex · San Francisco $152,000–$190,000 5w ago Software Engineer - Backend Cogent Security · San Francisco $100,000–$300,000 5w ago Backend Software Engineer, ChatGPT ImageGen OpenAI · San Francisco $185,000–$305,000 6w ago 
Senior Backend Engineer Mintlify · San Francisco $190,000–$265,000 6w ago 
Backend Engineer, IoT Architecture & Migration Fellow · San Francisco $200,000–$230,000 7w ago Backend Engineer, IoT Platform Fellow · San Francisco $200,000–$230,000 7w ago 
Senior Backend Software Engineer - Core Backend, Cloud Customer Experience Crusoe · San Francisco $170,000–$205,000 7w ago 
Software Engineer, Distributed Systems Mixpanel · San Francisco $157,500–$213,000 7w ago 
Staff Software Engineer, Backend Platform Patreon · San Francisco $257,500–$386,000 8w ago 
Senior Backend Software Engineer Regard · New York $175,000–$230,000 2mo ago 
Senior Software Engineer (Backend) CHAOS Industries · San Francisco $140,000–$240,000 2mo ago 
Backend Engineer Scribe · San Francisco $140,000–$165,000 2mo ago 
Staff Software Engineer, Backend Motive · San Francisco $200,000–$235,000 2mo ago Backend Engineer Mintlify · San Francisco $130,000–$200,000 2mo ago 
Backend Software Engineer (YC experience) Pragmatike · San Francisco $200,000–$400,000 2mo ago 
Product Engineer, Backend David AI · San Francisco $165,000–$225,000 2mo ago Backend Software Engineer - Codex for Finance OpenAI · San Francisco $347,000–$385,000 2mo ago 
Senior Backend Software Engineer, Solve Voice Zendesk · Austin $145,000–$217,000 2mo ago Staff Software Engineer - Backend Motive · San Francisco $140,000–$193,000 2mo ago 
Senior Software Engineer (Backend, Infrastructure Focus) Kira · San Francisco $180,000–$250,000 2mo ago 
Backend Software Engineer Outset · San Francisco $160,000–$300,000 2mo ago 
Member of Technical Staff, Backend Mercor · San Francisco $250,000–$500,000 3mo ago 
Backend Engineer Town.com, Inc. · New York $250,000–$300,000 3mo ago Senior Backend Software Engineer CHAOS Industries · San Francisco $140,000–$240,000 3mo ago 
Software Engineer, Distributed Systems - Trust & Safety Gamma · San Francisco $180,000–$310,000 3mo ago Software Engineer, Backend Mercor · San Francisco $200,000–$500,000 3mo ago 
Staff Backend Engineer, Identity Threat Protection Okta · San Francisco $194,000–$267,000 3mo ago 
Senior Backend Engineer Mochi Health · San Francisco $230,000–$280,000 3mo ago Staff Software Engineer, Cloud Monitoring Service (Distributed Systems) Crusoe · San Francisco $215,000–$260,000 3mo ago 
Backend Engineer - Mission Operations Services Loft Orbital Solutions · Golden $140,000–$190,000 3mo ago 
Staff Backend Engineer ATOMS Careers page · San Francisco $224,000–$284,000 4mo ago Staff Backend Engineer Atoms · San Francisco $224,000–$284,000 4mo ago 
Senior Backend Software Engineer Alpaca Health · New York $200,000–$250,000 4mo ago 
Backend Engineer Fable Security · San Francisco $160,000–$250,000 4mo ago 
Senior Software Engineer, Engine & Distributed Systems StackAI · San Francisco $202,000–$230,000 4mo ago 
Software Engineer, Backend (Mid/Senior) Imprint · New York $140,000–$200,000 4mo ago 
Senior Backend Engineer, Agentic AI Airwallex · San Francisco $150,000–$245,000 4mo ago 
Senior Software Engineer, Backend Tubi · San Francisco $186,400–$266,300 4mo ago 
Senior Software Engineer - Backend Sigma Computing · San Francisco $170,000–$240,000 4mo ago Staff Software Engineer - Backend Sigma Computing · San Francisco $240,000–$270,000 4mo ago 
Backend-Leaning Product Engineer Clera · San Francisco Up to $275,000 4mo ago 
Member of Technical Staff (Software Engineer, Backend Platform) Perplexity · San Francisco $220,000–$405,000 4mo ago Software Engineer, Backend Gamma · San Francisco $180,000–$310,000 5mo ago 
Senior/Staff Software Engineer, Distributed Systems Hedra · San Francisco $175,000–$275,000 5mo ago Software Engineer, Distributed Systems - Infra Gamma · San Francisco $180,000–$310,000 5mo ago 
Distributed Systems Engineer Arcade · San Francisco From $230,000 5mo ago 
Software Engineer, Backend, Growth Ramp · New York $200,000–$310,000 5mo ago Backend Software Engineer, Applied Foundations OpenAI · San Francisco $266,000–$445,000 5mo ago 
Staff Software Engineer, Backend Harvey · San Francisco $231,000–$340,000 5mo ago 60 of 114 open roles. All backend engineering jobs