Median salary
$231,500
per year · annualized USD
Typical range
$205k – $273.1k
25th–75th percentile
Disclosing pay
82%
1,078 of 1,315 roles
Live roles
1,315
open right now
Salary trend
median · annualized USDSalary distribution
annualized USD · disclosed rolesHighest-paying jobs
Staff Research Engineer, Discovery Team
Staff Software Engineer, Code RL
Staff+ Software Engineer, Developer Productivity
Staff Software Engineer, Claude Code
Staff Software Engineer, Environments Infrastructure
Staff AI Security Engineer
Senior Staff Backline Engineer - Data & AI
Staff Machine Learning Engineer, Ad Serving
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Anduril Industries
|
$222,000 | 79 |
|
Anthropic
|
$402,500 | 67 |
|
Databricks
|
$226,750 | 58 |
Relativity Space
|
$205,000 | 32 |
Crusoe
|
$237,500 | 31 |
Archer
|
$194,400 | 30 |
Perplexity
|
$312,500 | 29 |
Pinterest
|
$280,260 | 20 |
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How much do Staff Engineer roles in California pay?
The median salary for Staff Engineer roles in California is $231,500 per year. Most pay falls between $205,000 (25th percentile) and $273,110 (75th percentile), with the broader 10th–90th percentile band running from $183,500 to $315,000.
These figures are computed live from 1,315 active Staff Engineer roles in California on JobsRadar, of which 1,078 (82%) publish a salary range. Pay is normalized to annualized USD so roles can be compared on equal terms; the highest-paying roles listed above show their original posted currency. Numbers refresh every few hours as new roles are posted and older ones close.
Employers currently hiring well-paid Staff Engineer roles in California include Anthropic, Veeam Software, Databricks and Roku.
Salary transparency varies by employer and region, so the disclosing share above reflects only roles that publish pay — not every open position. Use it as a directional benchmark rather than an exact offer.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the average Staff Engineer salary in California?
- The median is $231,500 per year, with most pay between $205,000 and $273,110 (25th–75th percentile), based on 1,078 live listings that disclose pay on JobsRadar.
- What is the Staff Engineer salary range in California?
- Pay ranges from about $183,500 to $315,000 per year (10th–90th percentile) around a median of $231,500. Figures are annualized USD from live listings, refreshed every few hours.