What do remote jobs pay? This page answers from the pay companies publish in their own listings. Of the 10,381 open remote roles on Ambition Pad, 4,129 (40%) state a salary, and 2,228 state it clearly as a yearly figure in US dollars. Those 2,228 are the basis for every number below.
Pay by role
Design & UX has the highest median, at $219k a year; Healthcare has the lowest of the families shown, at $107k. Half of the listed salaries fall between the 25th and 75th percentile columns, which makes that band a fair picture of the usual range.
| Role family | Salaries | 25th percentile | Median | 75th percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Design & UX | 40 | $184k | $219k | $239k |
| Software engineering | 513 | $160k | $202k | $229k |
| Data, AI & analysis | 313 | $154k | $198k | $239k |
| Security & IT | 83 | $174k | $198k | $225k |
| Legal & compliance | 30 | $133k | $198k | $235k |
| Product & project management | 170 | $156k | $193k | $227k |
| Other roles | 221 | $100k | $145k | $208k |
| Marketing & content | 87 | $93k | $145k | $203k |
| Operations & admin | 71 | $115k | $140k | $178k |
| People & recruiting | 16 | $98k | $133k | $157k |
| Sales & partnerships | 295 | $90k | $130k | $171k |
| Finance & accounting | 39 | $89k | $130k | $181k |
| Customer support & success | 59 | $93k | $115k | $139k |
| Healthcare | 283 | $98k | $107k | $110k |
Families with too few published salaries to give a reliable range are left out rather than shown with misleading precision.
Pay by level
Moving from a senior title to a lead, staff or principal one is worth about $34k at the median ($187k against $221k). Levels come from the job title, so “No level in title” mixes roles of every seniority.
| Level in the job title | Salaries | 25th percentile | Median | 75th percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Junior or entry level | 26 | $70k | $81k | $89k |
| No level in title | 852 | $93k | $110k | $155k |
| Senior | 498 | $153k | $187k | $213k |
| Lead, staff or principal | 417 | $190k | $221k | $259k |
| Manager | 282 | $100k | $135k | $195k |
| Director and above | 153 | $177k | $225k | $275k |
Why these figures lean American
Most published remote salaries come from roles based in the United States. Several US states, including California, Colorado, New York and Washington, require employers to put a pay range in job postings, so US listings state pay far more often than others. We also only count a bare “$” as US dollars when the role is based in the United States, because the same sign is used for Canadian, Australian and other dollars.
So read these as what remote roles pay where pay is published, which mostly means US-based roles. Companies hiring worldwide often set pay by where you live, and many do not publish it at all.
Using the figures in a negotiation
- Compare like with like: the same role family and level, and the same location rules. A US-only role’s range is not what a company will offer an applicant abroad.
- When a company asks for your expectations first, the 25th–75th percentile band for your family and level is a defensible place to start the conversation.
- For contract roles, remember you cover your own tax, equipment, leave and transfer fees. A contract rate needs to sit well above a salary to come out even.
How we count
- A salary counts when it is written in US dollars (“USD” or “US$”), or with “$” for a role based in the United States, and is clearly yearly. Hourly, weekly and monthly rates are left out, as are figures below $15,000 or above $1,000,000 a year, which are almost always typing errors.
- A range counts once, at its midpoint.
- A role family or level needs at least eight published salaries before we show a range.
- Role families and levels are read from job titles; see the overview for how.
Search the board to see the listings behind these figures.