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Salary & Equity Benchmark Calculator

Salary and equity bands by role, stage, and geography. Use it to set your bands, sanity-check offers, and stop fighting the same negotiation every hire.
Senior Engineer — base salary
$149K – $201K
Equity grant (% fully diluted)
0.25% – 0.6%
What's in this band

Base salary range = ±15% around the median for this role + location. Equity range varies more than salary because conviction and timing matter more.

These bands are 2026 estimates from public data sources (AngelList Talent, Levels.fyi, Pulley benchmarks). Refresh annually.

How to use bandsPublish your bands internally. Most candidates assume your offer is the ceiling — if you're at 50th percentile, say so. Above-band offers should require leadership approval; below-band offers usually mean wrong-fit.

What is the salary & equity benchmark calculator?

A quick lookup of approximate compensation bands for common startup roles, indexed by company stage and candidate location.

Bands include a salary range (±15% of median) and an equity range (which varies more than salary because conviction and timing matter more).

Why this matters for founders & operators

Most founders write the first offer on instinct, get negotiated up, and end up with non-uniform comp across the team. Published bands prevent this — every candidate sees the same structure, and negotiation focuses on whether they fit the band, not on creative special cases.

Refresh annually. Market moves fast — 2024 bands are different from 2026 bands. Update once a year and grandfather existing employees on the old bands at their next review.

How to use this calculator

  1. 1
    Set your bands by role

    Pick the band that fits your role + stage + location. Document it internally.

  2. 2
    Apply consistently

    Every candidate at this role/stage/location gets an offer in this range. Above-band requires leadership approval.

  3. 3
    Update annually

    Comp drifts up; bands need to keep pace. Out-of-date bands = lost candidates.

FAQ

How accurate are these bands?+
Approximate. Real bands vary by company specifics, deal momentum, and candidate competitiveness. Use these as a starting point and refine with public sources (Levels.fyi, AngelList Talent, Pulley benchmarks).
Why do equity ranges vary so much?+
Equity reflects conviction at hire time. A pre-seed engineer in #1 spot might get 2-3%; a Series A engineer in #25 spot might get 0.15%. The ranges capture this.
Should I disclose bands publicly?+
Internal yes; on the careers page, optional but increasingly common (and required by law in some US states). Internal transparency is non-negotiable for fairness.
What about non-US international hires?+
Bands shown are approximate. Adjust by cost-of-living and local talent-market norms. Some companies pay 'global remote' rates everywhere; others adjust by location.