// COMPENSATION INTELLIGENCE · ROBOTICS · 12 ROLES · 4 LEVELS · 5 LOCATIONS

Robotics compensation

Median total compensation by role and level, derived from 1,247 self-reported and employer-disclosed offers across 218 robotics companies. Updated monthly. No averages, only medians, because high earners distort the mean.

// METHODOLOGYM-04
01Self-reported offers verified against L1+ filings
02Employer-disclosed bands when available
03Outliers removed (>3σ)
04Quarterly cadence
[ DATA POINTS ]
1,247
[ COMPANIES ]
218
[ UPDATED ]
2026.06.01
[ MEDIAN SR ]
$215K
[ ROLE ]
All Roles
[ LEVEL ]
All Levels
[ LOCATION ]
United States
[ REMOTE ]
All
[ STAGE ]
Series A → Public
[ SEARCH ]
[ SENIOR ROBOTICS ENGINEER · UNITED STATES · ALL STAGES ]
$195,000USD · MEDIAN
P10$145KP25$172KP75$228KP90$265K
YoY 2024 → 2026↑ 8.0% YoY · TRENDING
§ 02MEDIAN BY LEVELHORIZONTAL BAR · SENIOR · 12 ROLES
// MEDIAN SENIOR BY ROLEC-01
[ MEDIAN SENIOR · USD · 2026.Q2 · MAX $245K · BARS PROPORTIONAL ]
$0K$50K$100K$150K$200K$250KROBOTICS ENGINEER$195KRELIABILITY ENGINEER$185KSLAM ENGINEER$215KCONTROLS ENGINEER$190KPERCEPTION ENGINEER$210KML RESEARCH ENGINEER$230KEMBEDDED SW ENGINEER$185KHARDWARE ENGINEER$180KMECHANICAL DESIGN$170KAUTONOMY ENGINEER$220KTEST ENGINEER$155KRESEARCH SCIENTIST$245K
§ 03COMPENSATION CURVE BY LEVELMULTI-LINE · 8 COMPANIES · 4 LEVELS
// COMP CURVE BY LEVELC-02
$100K$200K$300K$400KMIDSENIORSTAFFPRINCIPALABSA1SSW
A ANDURIL · B BOSTON DYNAMICS · S SKYDIO · A APPTRONIK · 1 1X · S SHIELD AI · S SARONIC · W WING
§ 04LOCATION DELTAvs SF BAY AREA = 100 · 8 METROS
// LOCATION DELTA INDEXC-03
8090100110100SF92SEA90BOS91NYC82AUS88SD81PIT85LA
[ INDEX 100 = SF BAY AREA SR MEDIAN $225K · NEGATIVE = COMP DISCOUNT vs SF ]
§ 05YoY TREND24 MONTHS · MEDIAN SENIOR · USD
// SENIOR MEDIAN · MONTHLYC-04
$180K$200K$220K202520262024.07 · $175K2026.06 · $215K
[ START 2024.07 $175K · END 2026.06 $215K ]+23% YoY
§ 06BY ROLE12 ROLES · 4 LEVELS · USD MEDIAN
ROLEMIDSENIORSTAFFPRINCIPALDATA POINTS
Robotics Engineer$145K$195K$245K$310K187
Reliability Engineer$135K$185K$235K$295K92
SLAM Engineer$160K$215K$275K$345K78
Controls Engineer$140K$190K$245K$310K104
Perception Engineer$155K$210K$265K$335K121
ML Research Engineer$170K$230K$295K$375K156
Embedded SW Engineer$140K$185K$230K$290K168
Hardware Engineer$135K$180K$225K$285K113
Mechanical Design$125K$170K$215K$270K87
Autonomy Engineer$165K$220K$280K$355K99
Test Engineer$115K$155K$200K$250K64
Research Scientist$175K$245K$315K$400K78
§ 07BY COMPANY10 EMPLOYERS · SENIOR + UP
COMPANYSENIORSTAFFPRINCIPALSTAGE
Anduril[ CLEARANCE REQ'D ]$210K$270K$340KLATE / PRIVATE
Boston Dynamics$200K$255K$315KHYUNDAI / SUB
Skydio[ CLEARANCE REQ'D ]$195K$250K$305KSERIES E
Apptronik$210K$270K$340KSERIES B
1X$185K$240K$300KSERIES B
Shield AI[ CLEARANCE REQ'D ]$215K$280K$345KSERIES F
Saronic[ CLEARANCE REQ'D ]$200K$260K$325KSERIES B
Wing$185K$240K$295KALPHABET / SUB
Zoox$220K$285K$350KAMAZON / SUB
Waabi$215K$275K$340KSERIES B
§ 08BY LOCATION8 METROS · SR MEDIAN · DELTA vs SF
LOCATIONLIVE ROLESMEDIAN SRDELTA vs SFREMOTE %
SF Bay Area[ BASELINE ]487$225K+0%18%
Seattle156$207K-8%22%
Boston142$203K-10%14%
NYC98$205K-9%26%
Austin112$185K-18%31%
San Diego89$198K-12%11%
Pittsburgh67$182K-19%8%
LA96$192K-15%19%
// TREND · ROBOTICS SENIOR COMPN=1,247σ=$8,200UPDATED 2026.06.01

Senior robotics compensation up 12% over 24 months.

+12%YoY · 2026
24M TRAJECTORY2024.072026.06
COHORTSenior ICL5+ · n=1,247
DRIVERHumanoid + Autonomy+18% · +14%
LAGGINGDefense · Public+4% · +6%
PEAK SENIORResearch Scientist$245K
GREAT ROBOTS · COMPENSATION INTELLIGENCE© 2026 · LAST DATA REFRESH 2026.06.01