Real-time pay data by company, level and location, for your AI agents and your comp team.
Works with Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor.
We're hiring a senior software engineer in Chicago. What should we offer?
Checked Levels.fyi data
Offer around
$206K
That's the Chicago median.
Levels.fyi submissionslast 12 months
Trusted by compensation leaders at
Customers
Winning top talent in AI requires real-time, precise compensation data, and Levels.fyi is the most accurate source we've used.
Alesya NaberezhnovaVP, Talent · Inworld
Hiring AI talent beyond the Bay Area.
“Levels.fyi has proven to be invaluable to us for its real-time, on-demand, robust data.”
Michelle NelsonVP, Global Total Rewards · Twilio
“The high data granularity enables us to narrow down the reference set to the competition and effectively close top talent candidates.”
Slavik PermyakovPeople Analytics · Hopper
“The ability to quickly access live compensation data enables us to identify not only competitors in any region but our standing in the market.”
Tom WrightGlobal Team Lead, Engineering Recruitment · Bloomberg
Postmates“After leveraging the platform and rebuilding our compensation bands and leveling framework, we have been able to greatly increase our ability to close top in class technical talent.”
Pete LawsonVP, Talent Acquisition · Postmates (now Uber)
Benchmark
Pick a peer group, compare it with the market and export bands by level.
| Level | p25 | p50 | p75 | p90 | p10 to p90 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| L1Entry | $103K | $144K | $187K | $220K | |
| L2Mid | $146K | $200K | $268K | $324K | |
| L3Senior | $195K | $283K | $395K | $494K | |
| L4Staff | $220K | $350K | $550K | $728K |
Levels.fyi submissions · last 12 months
Pricing
Set pay bands against current market data. No data submission required.
Premium and Enterprise bill annually. Buy online, no sales call needed.
Compare plans Every plan includes the benchmark tool. | Plus | Premium | Highest valueEnterprise |
|---|---|---|---|
Market percentiles for a lean comp or recruiting team. | Custom peer groups, raw data points and competitive intelligence. | MCP and API access, Data Explorer and 15 months of Data Stream history. | |
$800/ mo | $2,000/ mo | $4,000/ mo | |
Billed at $9,600 / yr | Annual commitment | Annual commitment | |
| Includes Interactive Offers, Growth | Includes Interactive Offers, Scale | Includes Interactive Offers, Enterprise | |
Buy now Annual plan only. Switch to annual billing to buy online. | Annual plan only. Switch to annual billing to buy online. | ||
| Benchmarking | |||
| Real-time compensation percentiles by title and location | Included | Included | Included |
| Export percentile data broken down by level | Included | Included | Included |
| View salaries by Levels.fyi's standard leveling framework | Included | Included | Included |
| Custom peer cuts and single-company filters | Not included | Included | Included |
| View salaries by your company's leveling framework | Not included | Included | Included |
| View salaries by other companies' leveling frameworks | Not included | Not included | Included |
| Custom total compensation formulas | Not included | Not included | Included |
| Data access | |||
| Data Stream historic data | Not included | 3 months | 15 months |
| Individual data point granularity | Not included | Included | Included |
| Metadata text search | Not included | Not included | Included |
| MCP / API access to Data Stream | Not included | Not included | Included |
| Data Explorer AI analyst, on the web and in Slack | Not included | Not included | Included |
| Intelligence and support | |||
| Competitive intelligence dossiers on company total rewards practices | Not included | Included | Included |
| Data scientist for custom reports and analysis | Not included | Included | Dedicated |
| Dedicated enterprise-level support | Not included | Not included | Included |
| Early feature access | Not included | Not included | Included |
| Seats | |||
| Licenses | Up to 2 | Up to 8 | Up to 15 |
Market percentiles for a lean comp or recruiting team.
$800/ mo
Billed at $9,600 / yr
Includes Interactive Offers, GrowthAnnual plan only. Switch to annual billing to buy online.
Custom peer groups, raw data points and competitive intelligence.
$2,000/ mo
Annual commitment
Includes Interactive Offers, ScaleMCP and API access, Data Explorer and 15 months of Data Stream history.
$4,000/ mo
Annual commitment
Includes Interactive Offers, EnterpriseAnnual plan only. Switch to annual billing to buy online.
Historical data
The last 6, 12 or 24 months of data points in one spreadsheet. Custom slices go up to 3 years back.
Academic or institutional research? Contact us
Data Explorer
An AI analyst that runs on the same data as the benchmark tool.
Included in Enterprise
Top-paying companies · senior software engineers · US
Netflix$525K
Meta$463K
LinkedIn$440K
Uber$433K
ByteDance$430K
Stripe$427KMedian total comp
Competitive intelligence
Dossiers on how a company pays, from comp philosophy to offer behavior.
Included in Premium and Enterprise
Competitive intelligence dossier
Northwind Labs
Targets p75 for research roles and p60 for go-to-market.[4][9]
Four-year grants, one-year cliff. Refreshers go mostly to top performers.[12]
Matches competing cash offers within about 10%, rarely equity.[21]
Slack
Mention @Levels.fyi and it answers in the thread with the numbers and a chart.
Included in Enterprise
AI answers can be inaccurate, so treat them as a starting point.
@Levels.fyi where does a $330K offer land for a senior engineer in Seattle?
Senior software engineers · Seattle · last 12 months
A $330K offer lands around the 46th percentile, just under the $345K median.
Open in Data ExplorerPerfect. Sending this to the hiring manager.
Agents and API
Connect the Levels.fyi MCP server to Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or your own agent.
Included in Enterprise
{
"mcpServers": {
"levels-fyi": {
"type": "http",
"url": "https://mcp.levels.fyi/comp-benchmark"
}
}
}
Tools your agent gets 40
get-salary-percentilesget-new-salary-submission-percentilesget-new-salary-submission-equityget-company-comparisonget-company-pay-ladderget-company-levelsPlus 34 more.
REST API and CLI access are available on request.
Top-paying companies · senior software engineers · US
Netflix$525KMeta$463KLinkedIn$440KUber$433KByteDance$430KStripe$427KMedian total comp
Competitive intelligence dossier
Northwind Labs
Targets p75 for research roles and p60 for go-to-market.[4][9]
Four-year grants, one-year cliff. Refreshers go mostly to top performers.[12]
Matches competing cash offers within about 10%, rarely equity.[21]
{
"mcpServers": {
"levels-fyi": {
"type": "http",
"url": "https://mcp.levels.fyi/comp-benchmark"
}
}
}
Tools your agent gets 40
get-salary-percentilesget-new-salary-submission-percentilesget-new-salary-submission-equityget-company-comparisonget-company-pay-ladderget-company-levelsPlus 34 more.
REST API and CLI access are available on request.
Visualizations
Build them in the benchmark tool or ask Data Explorer.
Set bands
US software engineers, 10th to 90th percentile
Median total comp rises from $144K at L1 to $350K at L4, and the range widens at every level.
Price an offer
Senior software engineers in Seattle
The Seattle median is $345K, and an illustrative $330K offer lands near the 46th percentile.
Place a hire
US software engineers. Each year is a different group.
Median pay rises from $138K with 1 year of experience to $292K with 12.
Track competitors
US senior software engineers, median pay
Netflix pays the most at a $525K median, and Stripe is sixth at $427K.
Set geo tiers
Senior engineers, median pay against the US
The SF Bay Area pays 30% above the $283K US median, and Chicago 27% below it.
Design the mix
US software engineers, yearly average
Average total comp is $152K at L1 and $504K at L5, and stock grows from 12% to 46% of pay.
Real Levels.fyi data for the 12 months to September 2026. Hover or tab into a chart to read each value.Tap a chart to read each value.
Why Levels.fyi
New data points every day, so percentiles stay current.
Cut pay by company, level, location, skills and company size.
We don't collect pay data from employers, and we have never accepted payment to adjust leveling or salary numbers.
Methodology
The more proof behind a data point, the more weight it carries.
Tier 1Most weight
We extract the numbers and our team checks them against the submission, field by field.
Tier 2More weight
Accounts show a contributor's history. A verified work email adds weight for that company.
Tier 3Screened
The more data a company, role, level or location has, the tighter the checks.
Verified All 5 submitted fields match the offer letter
Members can flag a published data point. Enough flags send it back for review.
We remove spam and duplicates. Where a company has no mapped ladder, we estimate level from experience.
Sample data
Browse a real extract of the Data Stream, one data point per row.
Comparisons
How Levels.fyi compares with survey providers and benchmarking platforms.
Research
Universities and institutions use Levels.fyi data to study pay and market trends.
FAQ
Talk to our team about your roles, markets and the plan that fits.
Data points backed by offer letters, tax documents or pay stubs carry the most weight, then verified work emails. Anonymous submissions are screened, and our team reviews anything flagged. A good test is to check your own company's data.
The site shows raw data. Subscriptions add the benchmark tool, with data normalized across companies. Premium and Enterprise add the Data Stream, a sheet of individual data points with a Skill Index to compare seniority.
Yes. Enterprise includes MCP and API access to the Data Stream, so Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or your own agents can use the same data as your comp team.
Every plan includes the benchmark tool. Premium and Enterprise add the Data Stream, a shared Google Sheet with 3 or 15 months of history that refreshes daily from your purchase date. It exports to Excel.
Yes. Add the Levels.fyi app and mention @Levels.fyi in a direct message or an invited channel. An admin with Data Explorer access turns it on. AI answers can be inaccurate, so treat them as a starting point.
No. On Premium and Enterprise you can build your own peer groups, filter down to a single company and see the individual data points behind them.
No, you don't have to contribute your data to receive access.
Employers see the same data you see on our site, in the format they need. Data points stay anonymous, and this revenue helps fund Levels.fyi.
Get started
See the data on your own roles and markets in a 30‑minute walkthrough.
A quick note helps us tailor the walkthrough to your roles and markets.
