What is a typical equity range for early-stage engineers in 2026 startups?

The most recent data, from Carta's December 2025 analysis of its cap table platform, puts the median equity grant for a startup's first engineer at 1.54%, with the middle 50% of grants falling between 0.61% and 4.13%. A four-year vesting schedule with a one-year cliff remains the near-universal standard, according to the same report.

How does the equity range change with seniority?

Seniority and market change the number meaningfully. Pave's compensation data for senior software engineers (five to eight years of experience) hired as the first technical employee in top US markets (San Francisco, New York, and Seattle) puts the median equity grant at 0.33%, the 75th percentile at 0.62%, and the 90th percentile at 1.24%.

That's lower than Carta's broader median because Pave's sample is narrowed to senior individual contributors rather than the full mix of founding-adjacent hires Carta tracks.

How does equity drop off after the first hire?

Equity concentration falls off quickly after the first engineer. Carta's data shows the median grant dropping from 1.54% for the first engineering hire to roughly 0.61% by the second or third technical hire, as risk declines and less unallocated ownership remains to distribute.

Engineers still make up most of a startup's earliest hires: Carta found that about 70% of first hires are engineers, and engineering accounts for at least 45% of the first five hires overall.

What should founders and candidates actually discuss?

Beyond the headline percentage, a specific offer should spell out the vesting schedule, whether the grant is structured as options or restricted stock, and how the number was set relative to cash pay.

Carta's Peter Walker notes that some early-stage companies grant restricted stock awards instead of incentive stock options specifically to allow early exercise and better tax treatment, since the percentage alone says little about actual value.

A written vesting schedule and clarity on how later funding rounds will dilute the grant matter as much as the initial number itself.

Published at: August 2026.