Salesforce Software Engineer Salary

Salesforce is a global leader in cloud-based software solutions and recruits hundreds of software engineers across various levels and specialties. With a reputation for offering great compensation, benefits, and perks, Salesforce stands out for paying its software engineers competitively among the leading names in the tech industry. However, the Salesforce software engineer salary will vary depending on role, level, location, and many other factors. So, how much does a software engineer at Salesforce make? Our salary negotiation team is here to help you figure that out.

With extensive experience negotiating hundreds of tech job offers, we provide insights based on real-world Salesforce salary negotiations and compensation research. In this guide, you'll find detailed information on Salesforce software engineer levels, the key components of a Salesforce software engineer salary, and a breakdown of average Salesforce SWE salary and total compensation packages by level and location.

Want to Negotiate Your Offer? Get offer-specific guidance from an Salesforce Salary Negotiation Coach. We help software engineers negotiate competitive job offers.

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Understanding the Salesforce software engineer levels are important before interviewing with and accepting a job offer with Salesforce, as they influence your software engineering responsibilities, total compensation, and career trajectory within Salesforce. Salesforce determines the Salesforce software engineer levels based on a combination of factors, including years of experience, the scope of responsibilities, software engineering focus, and the overall impact of the role.

Salesforce organizes its software engineering roles within a tiered structure just like most competing big tech companies. However, unlike others that use numerical level designations, Salesforce uses descriptive role titles. For individual contributors, these are categorized under the Member of Technical Staff (MTS) framework.

This section provides an overview of the Salesforce software engineer levels to help you navigate their role levels. As a software engineer at Salesforce, you can pursue the MTS track as an individual contributor or the Engineering Manager (EM) track for leadership roles. Below are the Salesforce software engineer levels for the MTS track:

• Salesforce Associate Member of Technical Staff (AMTS)

• Salesforce Member of Technical Staff (MTS)

• Salesforce Senior Member of Technical Staff (SMTS)

• Salesforce Lead Member of Technical Staff (LMTS)

• Salesforce Principal Member of Technical Staff (PMTS)

• Salesforce Architect Software Engineer

We focus on the Salesforce software engineering levels for the MTS track on this page, but for reference here are the Salesforce Engineering Manager levels for the management track:

• Salesforce Engineering Manager

• Salesforce Senior Engineering Manager

• Salesforce Engineering Director

• Salesforce Senior Engineering Director

• Salesforce Engineering Vice President

In a Salesforce software engineer salary package, you’ll find a few core compensation components. Below is a quick overview of what to expect before we cover the average compensation for Salesforce software engineer salary.

Salesforce Base Salary

This is the fixed amount you’ll receive in each paycheck for your Salesforce SWE salary. There are set base salary ranges for each Salesforce software engineer level and location.

Salesforce Bonus

The Salesforce performance bonus is a percentage of your base salary, determined by both individual and company performance. The performance bonus percentage will be a set target based on your Salesforce SWE level which typically ranges between 10-20%. 

Salesforce Equity Package

Upon joining Salesforce as a software engineer, you'll receive an initial grant of Salesforce Restricted Stock Units (RSUs). This Salesforce software engineer salary perk will vest over a four-year period in equal increments, meaning you'll receive 25% of your RSUs each year at Salesforce.

Salesforce Sign-on Bonuses

Salesforce typically offers software engineers a sign-on bonus in the first year. This one-time bonus serves as an incentive to join Salesforce or to compensate for any benefits or perks you may lose when leaving your current engineering position.

Salesforce Stock Refreshers

These are annual Salesforce RSU equity grants that you may receive based on your annual engineering review at Salesforce. The size of these will differ in size depending on performance and the Salesforce engineering levels.

For more in-depth details from us on Salesforce’s compensation structure for software engineers, you can check out our Salesforce Salary Negotiation and Software Engineer Salary Negotiation articles.

Salesforce has a set base salary and total compensation range for each of the Salesforce software engineer levels. While Salesforce typically aims to pay new hire software engineers within the lower to mid-range of these pay bands, we’ve successfully negotiated Salesforce software engineer salaries closer to the top end of each Salesforce SWE salary range. 

Below, we’ve listed the average compensation for Salesforce software engineers across the Salesforce software engineer levels. Note that these figures are Salesforce software engineer salary averages based on our research and negotiation experience, and not the top end of the Salesforce SDE salary bands. To identify and reach the top end of the pay range and secure a competitive Salesforce software engineer salary, we recommend working with a Salesforce Salary Negotiation Coach.

Salesforce AMTS Salary (Associate Software Engineer)

Here is the average compensation we’ve seen for a Salesforce AMTS salary.

Salesforce MTS Salary (Software Engineer)

Here is the average compensation we’ve seen for a Salesforce MTS salary.

Salesforce SMTS Salary (Senior Software Engineer)

Here is the average compensation we’ve seen for a Salesforce SMTS salary.

Salesforce LMTS Salary (Lead Software Engineer)

Here is the average compensation we’ve seen for a Salesforce LMTS salary.

Salesforce PMTS Salary (Principal Software Engineer)

Here is the average compensation we’ve seen for a Salesforce PMTS salary.

Salesforce offers leading pay for its software engineers, but Salesforce SWE salary can vary significantly depending on the location. For example, a Salesforce software engineer salary in Seattle won't be the same as a Salesforce software engineer salary in San Francisco, and a Salesforce software engineer salary in Canada will be different compensation than those in the US. Just like other companies that hire tech professionals in different geographies, Salesforce does monitor cost-of-living differences when setting their base salary and total compensation ranges for software engineers.

Below, we’ve listed the average compensation for software engineers in some of Salesforce's key hiring locations for software engineers at the Salesforce senior software engineer salary level (SMTS). These figures are based on our research and negotiation experience and represent averages, not the top end of the Salesforce SWE salary bands. To identify and reach the top end of the Salesforce engineer salary range and secure a competitive offer at Salesforce in your specific location, we recommend working with a Salesforce Salary Negotiation Coach.

Salesforce Software Engineer Salary New York

Here is the average compensation we’ve seen for a Salesforce Software Engineer Salary New York.

Salesforce Software Engineer Salary San Francisco

Here is the average compensation we’ve seen for a Salesforce Software Engineer Salary San Francisco.

Salesforce Software Engineer Salary Seattle

Here is the average compensation we’ve seen for a Salesforce Software Engineer Salary Seattle.

Salesforce software engineer salaries vary significantly across countries and non-US locations will have different Salesforce engineer salary pay rates. For example, a Salesforce software engineer salary in Canada won't be the same as a Salesforce software engineer salary in the UK. It will also be lower than what Salesforce pays software engineers in the US.

Below, we’ve listed the average compensation for software engineers in some of Salesforce's key international hiring locations for software engineers at the Salesforce lead software engineer salary level (LMTS). These figures are based on our research and negotiation experience and represent averages, not the top end of the Salesforce engineer salary bands. To identify and reach the top end of the Salesforce SDE salary range and secure a competitive offer at Salesforce in Canada, we recommend working with a Salesforce Salary Negotiation Coach. 

Salesforce Software Engineer Salary Canada

Here is the average compensation we’ve seen for a Salesforce Software Engineer Salary Canada.

Increasing the pay in your job offer at Salesforce requires a deep understanding of their compensation philosophy and the right salary negotiation strategy. Our expert Salesforce Salary Negotiation Coaching will help you navigate the negotiation process and secure the top end of Salesforce’s pay band.