Perplexity AI's median filed base salary is $206,315. That is the midpoint of 26 certified labor condition applications filed by Perplexity AI, Inc. and decided between April 30, 2025 and May 27, 2026, as of the FY2026 Q3 disclosure file. On 88.5% of those filings the figure is the federal prevailing wage, the highest rate of any company in this database.
Key takeaways
- 26 certified H-1B filings, median filed base $206,315, p25 to p75 of $168,626 to $213,512 (Visionary Talks analysis of DOL LCA disclosure data, FY2026 Q3).
- Perplexity files a salary range on 100% of filings and sets the bottom at the legal prevailing wage on 88.5% of them. No company here leans on the government's number more.
- The median top of its filed ranges is $295,000, which is $88,685 above the median base.
- Member of Technical Staff covers 14 of 26 filings at a $209,914 median. The top-paying title is Head of Search at $274,456.
- Median filed base rose 22.6% year over year, from $174,117 to $213,512, though on 10 filings in FY2025 and 16 in FY2026 that is a thin base for a trend.
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.
The Most Floor-Anchored Filer In The Database
Twenty-three of Perplexity's 26 certified filings set the bottom of the salary range at exactly the Department of Labor's prevailing wage for that occupation in that county. That is 88.5%, against 82.1% at Anysphere, 72.7% at Thinking Machines Lab, 54.5% at Databricks and 0.0% at Waymo.
The practical consequence is that Perplexity's $206,315 median filed base is not Perplexity's number. It is the government's, reproduced 23 times.
What Perplexity chose sits at the other end of every one of those ranges. The median top of its filed bands is $295,000, and the middle half of those tops runs $242,500 to $330,000.
So the honest statement about Perplexity pay is a band: a floor around $206,000 that the law sets, and a ceiling around $295,000 that the company sets, with the offer somewhere between. Against the pooled median of $200,000 across the 11 companies in the AI Salary Database, the floor alone is $6,315 higher. The $295,000 ceiling puts Perplexity within $15,000 of OpenAI's filed ceiling of $310,000, on 26 filings against 311.
Roles And What Each One Filed
| Job title | Filings | Median base | Range within title |
|---|---|---|---|
| Member of Technical Staff | 14 | $209,914 | $139,797 to $264,514 |
| Product Manager | 2 | $183,644 | $181,293 to $185,994 |
| Head of Search | 1 | $274,456 | $274,456 to $274,456 |
| AI Engineer, Applied ML | 1 | $264,514 | $264,514 to $264,514 |
| AI Inference Engineer | 1 | $213,512 | $213,512 to $213,512 |
| Science Lead | 1 | $209,082 | $209,082 to $209,082 |
| Growth Product Manager, Conversion | 1 | $164,403 | $164,403 to $164,403 |
| Product Quality & Marketing Associate | 1 | $158,642 | $158,642 to $158,642 |
| Program Manager | 1 | $157,373 | $157,373 to $157,373 |
| Head of Tax | 1 | $141,378 | $141,378 to $141,378 |
Twenty-six filings across twenty-one months is a very small sponsorship programme, and the table shows a company filing one or two of almost everything. Perplexity has adopted the Member of Technical Staff convention used by OpenAI, Anthropic and xAI, which covers 54% of its filings and conceals all seniority information.
The two most interesting rows are at the extremes. Head of Search at $274,456 is the highest-paid filing in the company, which is the correct answer for an answer engine. Head of Tax at $141,378 is the lowest, and both figures are prevailing-wage determinations rather than chosen salaries.
A 22.6% Rise On A Thin Base
Perplexity's median filed base went from $174,117 in FY2025 across 10 filings to $213,512 in FY2026 across 16, a rise of 22.6%.
The measurement is consistent: Perplexity filed a band on 100% of filings in both years, so the comparison is like for like in a way Anthropic's is not. It is the largest year-over-year increase of any company in the database.
It is also built on 26 data points, and we would not put much weight on it. A single senior hire moves a median calculated from ten filings. What can be said with confidence is that the direction is up and the filing method did not change, which is more than can be said for most of the companies here.
The Money Behind The Payroll
Perplexity is a founder-led, venture-backed private company with no controlling shareholder. It is not owned by Google, Microsoft, Amazon or Jeff Bezos, who is one angel investor among dozens. The four co-founders remain in leadership with reported founder-protective voting arrangements. We set out the full picture in who owns Perplexity.
Reported marks put the company around $20 billion or more as of 2026, up from about $520 million in January 2024, on roughly $1.7 billion raised across about eleven rounds, with the chief executive targeting a 2028 IPO.
One of those institutional backers is Databricks Ventures. That makes the pay comparison with its investor unusually direct: Databricks files a median base of $160,805 across 809 filings, $45,510 below Perplexity's, on thirty-one times the volume. The portfolio company pays more per head than the fund's parent, and sponsors almost nobody.
FAQ
What is the average salary at Perplexity?
The median filed base is $206,315 across 26 certified filings decided between April 2025 and May 2026, with the middle half between $168,626 and $213,512. Because 88.5% of those filings sit at the legal prevailing wage, the figure understates pay. The median top of Perplexity's filed ranges is $295,000.
What does a Member of Technical Staff earn at Perplexity?
The 14 filings with that title have a median filed base of $209,914, ranging from $139,797 to $264,514, as of the FY2026 Q3 file. The lower end of that range is a prevailing-wage floor.
Is Perplexity a good payer compared with other AI companies?
On filed base it is mid-table at $206,315. On the top of its filed ranges it reaches $295,000, within $15,000 of OpenAI and $90,000 above Waymo, despite sponsoring a fraction of the people. Its filing style makes the first number look worse than the reality.
Is this total compensation?
No. Base wage only. Equity in a private company reported around a $20 billion valuation is not in this data, and for a startup at that stage it is usually the larger half of an offer.
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 the founder-led ownership structure, the funding history and the Databricks Ventures stake cited above.