Snap backend engineering salaries

Across 20 open backend engineering postings at Snap that state a range, the middle half pays $245k–$301k a year, with a median of $261k. The lowest posted floor is $69k and the highest ceiling $500k. This is base pay as posted by Snap, converted to US dollars; equity and bonus are not included.

From pay ranges in open postingsRebuilt 18 Oct 2026

The range

Lowest floor$69k
25th percentile$245k
Median$261k
75th percentile$301k
Highest ceiling$500k

Postings by the midpoint of the posted range, in steps of $50k

Middle halfMedian bucket

Median by team at Snap

Legal$314k
Management$286k
AI and machine learning$261k
Security$261k
Backend engineering$261k
Product management$237k
Hardware engineering$216k
Industrial engineering$196k

Postings with a stated range: Legal 5 · Management 9 · AI and machine learning 15 · Security 5 · Backend engineering 20 · Product management 9 · Hardware engineering 10 · Industrial engineering 11

Backend engineering pay by level

LevelPostingsMedianMiddle half
Senior8$261k$245k–$261k
Staff and principal4$286k$286k–$286k
Lead5$345k$345k–$345k

Best-paid open backend engineering roles

$334k–$500kOct 7
Principal Software Engineer, Ads Format
New York · San FranciscoLead
$276k–$414kSep 25
$276k–$414kSep 25
Principal Software Engineer
New York · San FranciscoLead
$276k–$414kSep 25
Principal Software Engineer, Ads Platform
New York · San FranciscoLead
$276k–$414kSep 30
Staff Software Engineer, Backend, Level 6
Santa MonicaStaff and principal
$229k–$343kSep 25

24 backend engineering roles open at Snap now

20 of them show the pay range on the posting.

Questions

How much does Snap pay for backend engineering roles?

The median of the 20 posted ranges is $261k a year; the middle half sits between $245k and $301k.

Is this base salary or total compensation?

Base salary as written in the posting. Many US employers post ranges under state pay transparency laws (California, New York, Washington, Colorado and others); equity and bonus are not part of these figures.

Why posted ranges and not self-reported salaries?

A posted range is what the employer commits to for a role it has open today. It is fresher than a survey and cannot be inflated by respondents. Each posting counts once, at the midpoint of its range.

Which level pays most?

Lead roles have the highest median here: $345k a year across 5 postings.

Source: the pay ranges of 20 open postings on Snap's careers board; the midpoint of each rangeUpdated 18 Oct 2026MethodologyJSONCC BY-SA 4.0