Tool · report
The 2026 sales engineer salary report
The full-year view of US pre-sales compensation: what employers budgeted, what candidates accepted, and where the two diverged.
Updated July 2026
Median base
$128k
Median OTE
$182k
Top decile OTE
$255k+
Offers analysed
our verified sample
Last 12 months (placeholder)
OTE by seniority
- Associate / Junior SE$118k
- Sales Engineer (mid)$170k
- Senior SE$205k
- Principal / Staff SE$245k
- SE Manager$270k
OTE by sector
- Cybersecurity$210k
- AI / ML$205k
- Cloud / DevOps$190k
- Enterprise SaaS$178k
- Hardware / Networking$165k
OTE by market
- SF Bay Area$215k
- New York$198k
- Seattle$195k
- Austin$178k
- Remote (US)$175k
- National$182k
The summary above is ungated and always will be. The PDF adds percentile tables, equity prevalence, ramp-guarantee norms and the sector deep-dives.
Based on our placement data
What changed this year
Across our verified offers, accepted OTE ran +4% ahead of advertised OTE, with the widest gaps in cybersecurity and AI. Base-heavy 80/20 structures gained share as attainment softened — the clearest signal in the dataset that candidates are pricing risk, not just headline numbers.
Based on our placement data — illustrative placeholder figures.
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Methodology
Figures are medians drawn from placement records, offer letters and employer briefs across the last 12 months, expressed as 25th–75th percentile ranges. Base is fixed cash; OTE is base plus variable at 100% attainment, excluding equity. All numbers currently shown are illustrative placeholders. Read the full methodology.