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IC ladder L3 through L6. Base near big-tech levels; private equity with one large liquidity event so far - Meta's 2025 investment valued Scale at over $29B.
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.
Scale AI is private. In June 2025 Meta made a large investment that Scale said values the company at over $29 billion; reporting put it at $14.3 billion for a 49% stake with no voting power. Scale said part of the proceeds would be distributed to shareholders and vested equity holders, who kept their equity - a one-time liquidity event, not a recurring tender programme. Founder Alexandr Wang joined Meta and stayed on Scale's board. Equity here is paper value: it realizes only on a later sale, tender, or IPO, and nothing public says when. Postings say equity is granted subject to board approval and that your recruiter will confirm eligibility, so get the grant size, vesting schedule, and strike or share price in writing. Work spans the GenAI data engine (data and evaluation for frontier labs), enterprise AI agents, and a public-sector business, with SF, New York, Seattle, Washington DC, and St. Louis offices; public-sector roles often post higher bases.
Scale's postings say each range 'may be inclusive of several career levels', so posted ranges are used as a cross-check on base, not as level bands. Equity is private stock, granted subject to board approval and shown as annualized grant value. Levels.fyi reports a small cash bonus ($3K-$8K median by level), which is folded into total comp rather than shown as its own column.
| Component | p25 | p50 | p75 | p90 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Base salary | $135K | $155K | $165K | $180K |
| Equity (annualized) | $40K | $60K | $85K | $115K |
| Total comp | $185K | $220K | $260K | $305K |
Entry level. Levels.fyi L3 figure $223K total ($158K base, $60K stock); posted new-grad base is $124K-$162K in SF. Equity is illiquid paper value.
| Component | p25 | p50 | p75 | p90 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Base salary | $195K | $220K | $235K | $250K |
| Equity (annualized) | $110K | $155K | $210K | $280K |
| Total comp | $320K | $380K | $450K | $530K |
Mid-level IC and a common external hire. Levels.fyi L4 figure $384K total ($225K base, $156K stock); posted SF/NY base $179K-$225K.
| Component | p25 | p50 | p75 | p90 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Base salary | $225K | $242K | $258K | $270K |
| Equity (annualized) | $160K | $225K | $300K | $400K |
| Total comp | $400K | $475K | $560K | $670K |
Senior IC. Levels.fyi L5 figure $476K total ($242K base, $227K stock); posted senior base $216K-$270K. Equity is roughly half of total comp at this level.
| Component | p25 | p50 | p75 | p90 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Base salary | $260K | $284K | $305K | $325K |
| Equity (annualized) | $250K | $350K | $470K | $620K |
| Total comp | $530K | $640K | $770K | $930K |
Staff IC. Sparse public data - directional. Levels.fyi L6 figure $642K total ($284K base, $350K stock); posted staff base $252K-$315K. Equity is the larger part, so private-market risk is highest here.
Cross-referenced against public reporting, state pay-transparency postings, and triangulated where source ranges disagreed. Last refresh: October 2026.
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