Databricks' median filed base salary is $160,805. That is the midpoint of 809 certified labor condition applications filed by Databricks, Inc. and decided between October 2, 2024 and June 30, 2026, as of the FY2026 Q3 disclosure file. It is the lowest median of the 11 AI companies tracked here, $39,195 below the pooled median of $200,000.
Key takeaways
- 809 certified H-1B filings, median filed base $160,805, p25 to p75 of $140,100 to $187,741 (Visionary Talks analysis of DOL LCA disclosure data, FY2026 Q3).
- Databricks files a salary band on 99.8% of filings and anchors the bottom at the legal prevailing wage on 54.5% of them, so the base figure is heavily a floor. The median top of its filed ranges is $210,100.
- The title mix, not stinginess, explains the gap. 247 of 809 filings are plain Software Engineer at a $140,100 median, and another 133 are customer-facing Solutions Architect or Solutions Engineer roles.
- Staff Software Engineer is the top-paying title at a $224,571 median across 32 filings.
- It is the least California-concentrated company in the database: 56.0% CA, 18.0% Washington, 10.9% Texas, 6.1% New York.
This article is based on primary sources: the US Department of Labor Office of Foreign Labor Certification LCA disclosure files for FY2025 Q1 through Q4 and FY2026 Q3, which we processed in full. Every salary figure below is computed from those workbooks. Full source list at the bottom.
Databricks Is Not A Frontier Lab, And Its Payroll Knows It
Put Databricks in a list with OpenAI and Anthropic and it looks underpaid. Put it in a list with enterprise software companies and it looks normal. The second list is the right one.
Of 809 certified filings, 247 carry the plain title Software Engineer at a $140,100 median. Another 133 are Solutions Architects and Solutions Engineers of various grades, the people who deploy the product inside customer environments. That is 47% of the company's sponsored hiring in implementation and delivery roles, which are paid against a different market than frontier research.
The frontier labs do not have these jobs at all. OpenAI's 311 filings contain no solutions architects. Databricks sells a platform to enterprises, and enterprises need people on site.
The geography follows the same logic. Databricks is the only company in the AI Salary Database with meaningful hiring outside the coastal AI corridor: 10.9% of filings are Texas worksites and 2.2% are Illinois, against 85.2% California at OpenAI and 100% at Thinking Machines Lab. Prevailing wages in Dallas are not prevailing wages in San Francisco County, and since Databricks anchors more than half its filings to the prevailing wage, that mix pulls the median down mechanically.
Roles And What Each One Filed
| Job title | Filings | Median base | Range within title |
|---|---|---|---|
| Software Engineer | 247 | $140,100 | $111,550 to $199,534 |
| Sr. Software Engineer | 100 | $190,000 | $157,000 to $226,138 |
| Solutions Architect | 40 | $139,443 | $106,558 to $169,770 |
| Staff Software Engineer | 32 | $224,571 | $190,486 to $264,514 |
| Sr. Solutions Architect | 23 | $163,550 | $142,667 to $187,574 |
| Resident Solutions Architect | 19 | $163,550 | $144,310 to $199,534 |
| Delivery Solutions Architect | 14 | $147,046 | $129,100 to $166,899 |
| Sr. Solutions Engineer | 14 | $125,112 | $106,700 to $130,707 |
| Sr. Technical Solutions Engineer | 12 | $144,310 | $139,152 to $156,998 |
| Specialist Solutions Architect | 11 | $163,550 | $136,136 to $189,592 |
Unlike OpenAI and Anthropic, Databricks uses a legible ladder. Software Engineer to Sr. Software Engineer is a $49,900 step in median filed base. Sr. Software Engineer to Staff Software Engineer is another $34,571. That is a company with a real levelling system, disclosed by accident through its visa paperwork.
The ladder also shows where the ceiling is. Staff Software Engineer tops out at $264,514 of filed base. Nobody at Databricks filed above $325,000 in 21 months. At OpenAI, 83 of 311 filings exceeded that.
What Changed Year Over Year
Databricks' median filed base went from $166,962 in FY2025 (376 filings) to $156,998 in FY2026 (433 filings), a fall of 6.0%.
This one is measurable. Databricks' filing style barely changed between the two years, with the share of banded filings moving 0.5 points, so the comparison is like for like. A 6.0% decline in median filed base alongside a 15% increase in filing volume is consistent with hiring more junior and more geographically dispersed, not with cutting pay.
Where Databricks Sits In The AI Money Map
Databricks is unusual in this database in one respect: it is not only an employer here, it is an investor in another company here. Databricks Ventures appears among the institutional backers of Perplexity AI, alongside IVP, NEA, Accel, Bessemer, SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and NVIDIA, as documented in our piece on who owns Perplexity.
That is the shape of the company. Databricks sits in the infrastructure layer underneath the model companies, sells to enterprises, invests in the application layer, and pays accordingly. Its Perplexity portfolio company posts a median filed base $45,510 higher than Databricks' own, on 26 filings against 809.
Paying less and filing thirty times more is not a weakness. It is a different business.
FAQ
What is the average salary at Databricks?
The median filed base is $160,805 across 809 certified filings decided between October 2024 and June 2026, with the middle half between $140,100 and $187,741. The median top of Databricks' filed salary ranges is $210,100. Base only, no equity.
Why is Databricks lower than OpenAI and Anthropic?
Title mix and geography. Nearly half of Databricks' sponsored roles are entry-level software engineering or customer-facing solutions work, and 44% of its filings are outside California. It also anchors 54.5% of filings at the legal prevailing wage, which pulls the filed base toward a floor rather than an offer.
What does a software engineer earn at Databricks?
The 247 plain Software Engineer filings have a $140,100 median, rising to $190,000 at Sr. Software Engineer (100 filings) and $224,571 at Staff Software Engineer (32 filings), as of the FY2026 Q3 file.
Is this total compensation?
No. Labor condition applications disclose base wage only. Databricks equity is not in this data.
Sources
1. LCA Disclosure Data, FY2026 Q3, US Department of Labor OFLC: dol.gov performance data. Decisions from October 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026.
2. LCA Disclosure Data, FY2025 Q1 to Q4, US Department of Labor OFLC: dol.gov performance data. Decisions from October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2025.
3. Visionary Talks, Who Owns Perplexity: who owns Perplexity. Establishes Databricks Ventures among Perplexity's institutional backers, cited above.