The Culture Report

Compensation

Salary benchmarks, equity, total comp, and how to think about your earning power in 2026.

💰 Compensation

Airbnb Salary 2026: $290K–$876K TC, Public RSUs & Live Anywhere Policy

Airbnb compensation in 2026: $290K-$876K total comp for engineers, with publicly traded RSUs (NASDAQ: ABNB) and the industry-leading 'Live and Work Anywhere' policy. Salary by level, equity vesting, $2K travel credits, and how it compares.

May 8, 2026
💰 Compensation

Coinbase Salary 2026: $188K–$547K TC, COIN RSUs & Post-Layoff Reality

Coinbase compensation in 2026: $188K-$547K total comp for engineers, with publicly traded RSUs (NASDAQ: COIN). Real salary data by IC level, equity vesting, benefits, and how the May 2026 layoffs change the picture.

May 8, 2026
💰 Compensation

Figma Salary 2026: $221K–$909K TC, Post-IPO RSUs & How It Compares

Figma compensation in 2026: $221K-$909K total comp for engineers, with publicly traded RSUs (NYSE: FIG). Real compensation data, salary by level, equity vesting, benefits, and how it compares to Canva, Adobe, Stripe, and OpenAI.

May 8, 2026
💰 Compensation

SF vs Austin for Engineers: The Real Cost of Living Difference in 2026

SF vs Austin cost of living for engineers in 2026: real numbers on rent, taxes, salary adjustments, and quality of life. $250K in SF vs $250K in Austin — a full monthly budget breakdown.

Apr 26, 2026
💰 Compensation

RSU vs Stock Options: What Every Engineer Should Know Before Signing (2026)

RSUs, ISOs, NSOs, and PPUs explained in plain English. Tax implications, vesting schedules, when to exercise, and how to evaluate whether your startup equity is worth anything — a complete 2026 guide for engineers.

Apr 26, 202610 min read
💰 Compensation

No Income Tax States for Tech Workers: Where Your Salary Goes Furthest in 2026

The 9 no-income-tax states ranked for tech workers in 2026. A $200K salary in Washington saves $26K/year vs California. We break down job markets, cost of living, remote work rules, and tax gotchas for engineers.

Apr 26, 2026
💰 Compensation

Vercel Salary 2026: $165K–$316K TC, Equity & How It Compares to Netlify, Cloudflare & Figma

Vercel compensation in 2026: $165K-$316K+ total comp for engineers, with a median of $190K. Real compensation data from verified reports, equity structure, benefits breakdown, and how it compares to Netlify, Cloudflare, Supabase, and Figma.

Apr 22, 2026
💰 Compensation

Stripe Salary 2026: $208K–$860K TC, Pre-IPO Equity & How It Compares

Stripe compensation in 2026: $208K-$860K total comp for engineers, with pre-IPO RSUs at a $159B valuation. Real compensation data from verified reports, RSU vesting, benefits, and how it compares to Plaid, Brex, Airbnb, and OpenAI.

Apr 22, 2026
💰 Compensation

Runway Salary 2026: $240K–$370K TC, Equity & How It Compares to ElevenLabs & Synthesia

Runway ML compensation in 2026: $240K-$370K total comp for engineers, with equity grants at a $5.3B valuation. Real verified compensation reports and Glassdoor data, role breakdowns, and how it compares to ElevenLabs, Synthesia, Pika, and OpenAI Sora.

Apr 22, 2026
💰 Compensation

Plaid Salary 2026: $239K–$978K TC, Pre-IPO Equity & How It Compares to Stripe

Plaid compensation in 2026: $239K-$978K total comp for engineers, with RSU equity at an $8B valuation. Real compensation data from verified reports by level, vesting schedule, and how Plaid compares to Stripe, Brex, Ramp, and Mercury.

Apr 22, 2026
💰 Compensation

OpenAI Salary 2026: $249K–$1.28M TC, PPU Equity & How It Compares

OpenAI compensation in 2026: $249K-$1.28M total comp for engineers, with PPU equity grants worth $500K+/year at senior levels. Real compensation data from verified reports, PPU vesting, and how it compares to Anthropic, DeepMind, and Stripe.

Apr 22, 2026
💰 Compensation

Linear Salary 2026: $160K–$386K TC, Equity & How It Compares to Notion & Figma

Linear compensation in 2026: $160K–$386K total comp for engineers, above-market equity at a $1.25B valuation, and how it compares to Notion, Figma, Vercel, and PostHog. Real compensation data from verified reports for a tiny 100-person team.

Apr 22, 2026
💰 Compensation

Google DeepMind Salary 2026: $300K–$500K TC, Google RSUs & How It Compares

Google DeepMind compensation in 2026: $300K-$500K total comp for engineers, with publicly-traded Google RSUs that are immediately liquid. Real compensation data from verified reports, Google leveling, benefits, and how it compares to OpenAI, Anthropic, and Meta FAIR.

Apr 22, 2026
💰 Compensation

Databricks Salary 2026: $253K–$1.65M TC, Pre-IPO Equity & How It Compares

Databricks compensation in 2026: $253K-$1.65M total comp for engineers at a $134B valuation. Real compensation data from verified reports, RSU vesting, IPO timeline, and how it compares to Snowflake, OpenAI, Google, and Stripe.

Apr 22, 2026
💰 Compensation

Cursor (Anysphere) Salary 2026: $808K–$1.28M TC, Equity & How It Compares

Cursor (Anysphere) compensation in 2026: $808K–$1.28M total comp for engineers, with equity at a $29B+ valuation. Real compensation data from verified reports, equity structure, benefits, and how it compares to Anthropic, OpenAI, Vercel, and Linear.

Apr 22, 2026
💰 Compensation

Anthropic Salary 2026: $300k-$490k TC, Equity & Bonus

Anthropic compensation in 2026: $300k-$490k total comp for engineers, with industry-leading equity and bonus. Real compensation data from verified reports, vesting schedule, and how it compares to OpenAI, DeepMind, and Stripe.

Mar 28, 2026
💰 Compensation

Highest Paying AI Companies in 2026: Full Salary + Equity Breakdown

29 AI companies ranked by total comp (base + equity + bonus). OpenAI pays $350k–$550k, Anthropic $300k–$490k, DeepMind $300k–$500k. See where your offer stacks up.

Mar 16, 20269 min read