What should founders pay themselves in 2026?

Are you paying yourself enough?

Pilot just released its 6th annual founder salary report. The report has benchmarks for overall salary averages as well as breakdowns by industry, city, and company size, which can be helpful as you talk to your cofounders and investors about setting a salary that’s right for you and for the business.

At the end of the day, the right salary is ultimately a very personal one. I’ll walk through some of the data and how you should be using it to find the right number for you.

Founder salary has recovered after historic lows

In this year's survey, founders paid themselves an average of $118K. After peaking at $142K in 2024, the average founder salary fell 31% to $98K in 2025. This year's $118K average marks a meaningful recovery but remains 17% below the peak two years ago.

Download the report to see how the average founder salary breaks down by region, industry, and funding.  

But recovery hasn’t been equal

Though the overall salary average has increased, not all founders have recovered. Roughly 1 in 10 founders (9.1%) paid themselves nothing, up from 5.4% in 2025. 

Additionally, nearly half of founders (41%) feel underpaid. Our data also shows that those who feel underpaid earn less than those who feel fairly paid. Only 3% feel they're paid too much.

If you find yourself feeling underpaid, you might be doing both yourself and your business a disservice. If you can afford it, you should pay yourself a salary that lets you focus on making the business successful, rather than worrying about how you’re going to pay rent this month.

Revenue and team size drive salary most

Two of the strongest growth signals for founder pay according to the date are revenue and headcount. As run rate climbs, so does founder salary, until it plateaus around $3M. 

The more people you hire, the more you tend to pay yourself. Founders with fewer than five employees average $75K. At six to ten employees, that jumps to $112K, which is close to the overall average. After 11 employees, salary accelerates further to an average of $156K. 

The more people you hire, the more you tend to pay yourself. Founders with fewer than five employees average $75K. At six to ten employees, that jumps to $112K, which is close to the overall average. After 11 employees, salary accelerates further to an average of $156K. 

Find a salary that doesn’t stress you out

I vividly remember how I felt as a first-time founder at our bootstrapped startup: every single dollar we spent on founder salaries was a dollar that didn't go into growing the business—that didn't go into acquiring new customers, building new features, or growing revenue.

So it felt rational to keep our salaries as low as possible. And it absolutely did allow us to invest more in the business.

The problem was, it was incredibly distracting. I paid myself minimum wage and was constantly agonizing over whether to take the subway or a cab, whether I could afford to eat out with friends, etc.

You end up spending a bunch of time and energy working to minimize personal expenses.  That's all time and energy that could be used to make the business more successful.

The correct amount to pay yourself (company funds permitting) is not a specific dollar amount: it’s enough so that you can focus all of your energy on creating a successful company.

Use the data from this report as a starting point. Do the math to figure out what the right number is for you based on your cost of living and what would allow you and your family to live comfortably. Once you have that number, figure out how to make that possible by looking at your company’s financials.

If you want some help with that process, Pilot offers bookkeeping, tax prep, and consulting services, and we’d be happy to take a look.