Airbnb Software Engineer Compensation
IC IC3-IC7, manager M5-Director. RSUs in publicly-traded ABNB; competitive comp post-2023 reset.
Ranges aggregated from publicly-available sources. Treat the median (p50) as roughly representative; quartile bands reflect negotiation range. Have specific data points or corrections? Send them in.
Company-specific notes
Airbnb uses IC-prefixed levels (IC3 entry through IC7 principal) on the IC track. Equity is RSUs in publicly-traded ABNB, vesting 25/25/25/25 with quarterly cliffs. Annual bonus is 10-15% target IC, higher for managers. The 2023 cost reset stabilized comp bands; current data reflects post-reset calibration. Airbnb's pay-transparency postings in CA / NY / WA support tight bands at the senior IC level.
Levels
IC3
Software Engineer (New Grad)| Component | p25 | p50 | p75 | p90 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Base salary | $145K | $165K | $180K | $195K |
| Equity (annualized) | $35K | $50K | $65K | $80K |
| Bonus / sign-on amortized | $12K | $15K | $18K | $22K |
| Total comp | $195K | $225K | $260K | $295K |
Entry-level. Airbnb's new-grad equity has been competitive since the 2020 IPO rebound.
IC4
Software Engineer| Component | p25 | p50 | p75 | p90 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Base salary | $185K | $205K | $225K | $245K |
| Equity (annualized) | $60K | $90K | $130K | $175K |
| Bonus / sign-on amortized | $22K | $28K | $35K | $42K |
| Total comp | $270K | $320K | $380K | $460K |
Mid-level IC. Most-common external hire level. Comparable to Google L4 / Meta E4.
IC5
Senior Software Engineer| Component | p25 | p50 | p75 | p90 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Base salary | $220K | $245K | $270K | $295K |
| Equity (annualized) | $115K | $175K | $250K | $350K |
| Bonus / sign-on amortized | $40K | $50K | $60K | $75K |
| Total comp | $380K | $470K | $580K | $720K |
Senior IC. Airbnb's competitive comp post-2023 reset has stabilized at this level.
IC6
Staff Software Engineer| Component | p25 | p50 | p75 | p90 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Base salary | $270K | $295K | $320K | $350K |
| Equity (annualized) | $200K | $295K | $425K | $600K |
| Bonus / sign-on amortized | $60K | $70K | $85K | $100K |
| Total comp | $530K | $660K | $830K | $1.05M |
Staff IC. Equity dominant; refresh grants typical annually.
IC7
Senior Staff / Principal Engineer| Component | p25 | p50 | p75 | p90 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Base salary | $310K | $340K | $370K | $400K |
| Equity (annualized) | $340K | $510K | $750K | $1.08M |
| Bonus / sign-on amortized | $90K | $100K | $120K | $140K |
| Total comp | $740K | $950K | $1.24M | $1.62M |
Principal IC. Hard promotion gate; external hires very rare.
Primary sources
- ·Levels.fyi (public reports, 250+ Airbnb data points)
- ·CA Pay Transparency postings (Airbnb SF HQ)
- ·NYC Pay Transparency postings (Airbnb NYC)
- ·WA State Pay Transparency postings (Airbnb Seattle)
- ·Public Airbnb career-page postings
- ·Comprehensive.io aggregated data
Cross-referenced against public reporting, state pay-transparency postings, and triangulated where source ranges disagreed. Last refresh: 2026-04-29.
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