We pulled 312 verified job offers landed by ALIENs talent between Jan and Mar 2026. All numbers are gross monthly USD, normalized across EoR, contractor, and direct-employee arrangements.
Median offer
$4,820
+6.4%
Top quartile
$7,200
+11%
Bottom quartile
$2,650
-3%
EoR share
47%
+9pp
Pay by seniority
| Level | Median | P25 | P75 | Sample |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Junior | $2,400 | $1,900 | $3,100 | 58 |
| Mid | $4,200 | $3,400 | $5,200 | 121 |
| Senior | $6,500 | $5,200 | $8,100 | 92 |
| Lead | $8,900 | $7,300 | $11,200 | 28 |
| Director | $12,400 | $10,100 | $15,800 | 13 |
Pay by function
Median monthly USD by function
Engineering and Data hold the highest medians — and were the only two functions where the top quartile crossed $8K this quarter.
Pay by employment type
| Type | Median | Common benefits |
|---|---|---|
| Direct employee | $5,100 | Health, equity, PTO |
| EoR | $4,600 | Health, PTO, social insurance |
| Contractor | $4,900 | None standard |
Contractor pay overtook EoR for the first time since we started tracking, driven by US-headquartered scale-ups closing $5–7K offers on 1099-equivalent terms for senior engineers in Egypt, Jordan, and Morocco.
Where the offers came from
Offer origin by HQ region
MENA-headquartered companies still pay 18–24% below US/EU peers at the senior level. The gap closes at junior.
What to negotiate for
- USD-denominated base (vs local currency conversion)
- Equity refresh in writing for senior+ roles
- Health insurance covering dependents (only 38% offered)
- Yearly USD COL adjustment clause
- Equipment stipend OR provided laptop
"We started anchoring asks at the P75 number from this report. Three out of four senior offers came in within $400 of it."
Methodology
Offers self-reported by verified ALIENs members and cross-checked against the JD on file. We excluded offers below $1,000/mo (likely freelance gigs) and above $25,000/mo (rare outliers, mostly fractional CTO).