Waymo backend engineering salaries

Across 58 open backend engineering postings at Waymo that state a range, the middle half pays $204k–$281k a year, with a median of $238k. The lowest posted floor is $158k and the highest ceiling $431k. This is base pay as posted by Waymo, converted to US dollars; equity and bonus are not included.

From pay ranges in open postingsRebuilt 14 Oct 2026

The range

Lowest floor$158k
25th percentile$204k
Median$238k
75th percentile$281k
Highest ceiling$431k

Postings by the midpoint of the posted range, in steps of $25k

Middle halfMedian bucket

Median by team at Waymo

Engineering leadership$292k
Data science$264k
Backend engineering$238k
Hardware engineering$233k
Mobile engineering$232k
Product management$228k
Industrial engineering$222k

Postings with a stated range: Engineering leadership 6 · Data science 10 · Backend engineering 58 · AI and machine learning 65 · Hardware engineering 8 · Mobile engineering 5 · Product management 14 · Industrial engineering 11

Backend engineering pay by level

LevelPostingsMedianMiddle half
Intern10$140k$140k–$140k
Senior24$238k$232k–$238k
Staff and principal14$281k$281k–$281k
Lead7$281k$281k–$338k

Best-paid open backend engineering roles

$349k–$431kApr 28
$349k–$431kAug 24
Sr. Staff Software Engineer, Fleet Orchestration, TLM
San Francisco · Mountain ViewStaff and principal
$298k–$368kJul 25
Sr. Staff Software Engineer, DUE Experience
New York · San FranciscoStaff and principal
$298k–$368kJul 15
$251k–$319kMar 16
Staff Software Engineer, Simulator Platform
San Francisco · Mountain ViewStaff and principal
$251k–$310kSep 10

66 backend engineering roles open at Waymo now

58 of them show the pay range on the posting.

Questions

How much does Waymo pay for backend engineering roles?

The median of the 58 posted ranges is $238k a year; the middle half sits between $204k and $281k.

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?

Staff and principal roles have the highest median here: $281k a year across 14 postings.

Source: the pay ranges of 58 open postings on Waymo's careers board; the midpoint of each rangeUpdated 14 Oct 2026MethodologyJSONCC BY-SA 4.0