Forward Deployed Engineer salary, in real numbers
Across 135 US FDE postings analyzed in mid-2026, the median base salary is about $190k, with most roles landing between $160k and $220k — and essentially none carrying a sales quota. The spread across programs is enormous: posted bands start near $89k (Salesforce’s typical-US floor) and reach $405k (Perplexity), while estimated total compensation at the frontier labs runs $350k–$550k. Every band below comes from an official posting, levels.fyi, or a dated public source.
18 programs tracked · Last verified September 2, 2026 · See the full FDE List →
Every posted FDE salary band
Ordered by ranking. Click through to any company for the full band, sourcing, and interview guide.
| # | Company | Base salary (posted) | Total comp (est.) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | OpenAI | $153k–$325k | $350k–$550k |
| 2 | Palantir | $135k–$200k | $155k–$295k |
| 3 | Anthropic | $280k–$320k | $350k–$550k |
| 4 | $174k–$364k | — | |
| 5 | Databricks | $153k–$250k | $216k–$522k |
| 6 | Sierra | $180k–$390k | — |
| 7 | AWS | $144k–$298k | — |
| 8 | Salesforce | $89k–$317k | $200k–$400k |
| 9 | Microsoft | $120k–$261k | — |
| 10 | Perplexity | $220k–$405k | — |
| 11 | Ramp | $189k–$330k | — |
| 12 | Scale AI | $179k–$293k | — |
| 13 | Cursor | — | — |
| 14 | Cohere | $140k–$325k | — |
| 15 | Mistral | — | — |
| 16 | Snowflake | $126k–$339k | — |
| 17 | C3.ai | $120k–$230k | $125k–$244k |
| 18 | IBM | — | — |
Posted base bands, compared
Cursor, Mistral, IBM don’t post salary ranges and are omitted from the chart.
Common questions
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