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Life Science Compensation Benchmarks

Role-by-role salary ranges, bonus targets, and equity benchmarks for biotech and medtech startups. Adjusted for stage, geography, and company size.

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Seniority
Level
Base Salary Range
Median
25th percentile
50th (median)
75th percentile

Total Cash Compensation (median)

Equity Grant
(% fully diluted)
Target Bonus
Cash Comp Range
including target bonus
Equity (4-yr Grant)
Equity by Stage
Geographic Adjustment

How to use this

  • Use p50 (median) as your anchor offer. P75 candidates bring deep domain expertise, rare credentials, or existing networks.
  • At seed stage, cash is typically 18–20% below market. Offset with equity. At Series B, cash is at or above market.
  • Bay Area and Boston roles run 17–22% above the national median. Candidates in these markets will expect it.
  • For fractional hires, expect 2–3× the hourly equivalent of a full-time base. Use the Hire vs. Fractional Calculator to compare true cost.
  • Equity percentages are at-grant, 4-year vesting, 1-year cliff. They compress significantly from seed to Series B.

What moves compensation

  • Domain expertise: candidates with prior biotech/medtech exits or clinical development backgrounds command p75+.
  • Therapeutic area: oncology, rare disease, and gene therapy attract a premium over platform or device roles.
  • Fractional trend: part-time executive roles are growing. The 2025 BioSpace report notes rising part-time leadership across life science startups.
  • Bonus vs. equity shift: average life science bonus values fell 9% in 2024 even as base salaries rose 9% — companies are moving cash to base.

Methodology & Sources

Base salary ranges are aggregated from the BioSpace 2025 U.S. Life Sciences Salary Report, Carta's State of Startup Compensation (H1 2025), Pearl Meyer Biotech Compensation surveys, and public salary data from LinkedIn Salary and ZipRecruiter. Startup-stage adjustments reference Fondo's Biotech Startup Salary data.

Geographic multipliers are derived from BioSpace regional salary analysis and IntuitionLabs Biotech Salary Trends. Bay Area premium: ~22% above national median. Boston/Cambridge: ~17%. NYC Metro: ~12%.

Equity benchmarks reference Index Ventures' Rewarding Talent research and Carta equity grant data. All figures reflect 2024–2025 market conditions. These are estimates for benchmarking purposes — consult a compensation specialist before making binding offers.

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