Levels.fyi API: List top paying companies
Lists the companies on the Levels.fyi leaderboard for a job role and location, ranked by median yearly total pay (all levels). The public leaderboard shows up to 50 companies per selection.
Unofficial. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Levels.fyi.
Inputs
Values from the run on Oct 31, 2026, shown under Output.
- Role, required
role Job family in words, for example software engineer.
software engineer
- Location optional
location Country or leaderboard location, for example United States or Canada.
United States (default)
- Max Results optional
max_results Maximum companies to return, for example 25. The public leaderboard shows at most 50.
100
Whole number from 1 to 100. Default
25.
Input as JSON
{ "role": "software engineer", "max_results": 100}Output
{ "role": "Software Engineer", "currency": "USD", "location": "United States", "companies": [ { "rank": 1, "company": "Cursor", "company_link": "https://www.levels.fyi/company/cursor/salaries/" , "median_total_pay_per_year": 1000000 }, { "rank": 2, "company": "Anthropic", "company_link": "https://www.levels.fyi/company/anthropic/salaries/" , "median_total_pay_per_year": 882500 }, { "rank": 3, "company": "OpenAI", "company_link": "https://www.levels.fyi/company/openai/salaries/" , "median_total_pay_per_year": 880000 } ]}Code
curl https://api.fous.com/v1/runs \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $FOUS_API_KEY" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{"method":"levels.fyi/list_top_paying_companies","input":{"role":"software engineer","max_results":100}}' # Save as fous.py, then run: python3 fous.pyimport json, os, timefrom urllib.error import HTTPErrorfrom urllib.request import Request, urlopenAPI = "https://api.fous.com/v1/runs" KEY = os.environ["FOUS_API_KEY"]HEADERS = { "Authorization": f"Bearer {KEY}", "Content-Type": "application/json" ,}def call(url, body=None): data = json.dumps(body).encode() if body else None request = Request(url, data, HEADERS) try: with urlopen(request, timeout=120) as r: return r.status, json.load(r) except HTTPError as error: message = json.load(error)["error"]["message"] raise RuntimeError(message) from errorstatus, run = call(API, { "method": "levels.fyi/list_top_paying_companies" , "input": { "role": "software engineer", "max_results": 100 }})# 202: still going after 30 s. Ask again until it ends.while status == 202: time.sleep(2) status, run = call(f"{API}/{run['id']}")print(json.dumps(run["data"], indent=2))// Save as fous.mjs, then run: node fous.mjsconst api = "https://api.fous.com/v1/runs" ;const headers = { Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.FOUS_API_KEY}`, "Content-Type": "application/json" ,};let response = await fetch(api, { method: "POST", headers, body: JSON.stringify({ "method": "levels.fyi/list_top_paying_companies" , "input": { "role": "software engineer", "max_results": 100 } }), signal: AbortSignal.timeout(120_000),});let run = await response.json();// 202: still going after 30 s. Ask again until it ends.while (response.status === 202) { await new Promise((done) => setTimeout(done, 2_000)); response = await fetch(`${api}/${run.id}`, { headers }); run = await response.json();}if (!response.ok) throw new Error(run.error.message);console.log(run.data);# Connect your agent to Fous once, over MCP (Streamable HTTP):# https://api.fous.com/mcp# Set FOUS_API_KEY first: create a key at https://app.fous.com/keys.# Claude Codeclaude mcp add \ --scope user \ --transport http fous https://api.fous.com/mcp \ --header "Authorization: Bearer ${FOUS_API_KEY:?Set FOUS_API_KEY to your Fous API key}"# Codexcodex mcp add fous \ --url https://api.fous.com/mcp \ --bearer-token-env-var FOUS_API_KEY# Cursor, VS Code, Windsurf, Cline and morenpx -y add-mcp https://api.fous.com/mcp -g -n fous \ --header "Authorization: Bearer ${FOUS_API_KEY:?Set FOUS_API_KEY to your Fous API key}"# Then ask your agent:# "Use Fous to run levels.fyi/list_top_paying_companies# with {"role":"software engineer","max_results":100}"Over HTTP, the answer’s data holds the output. A run still going after 30 seconds answers 202 with its id: ask GET /v1/runs/{id} until it ends.
Schema
Input schema
{ "type": "object", "required": [ "role" ], "properties": { "role": { "type": "string", "minLength": 1, "description": "Job family in words, for example software engineer." }, "location": { "type": "string", "default": "United States", "description": "Country or leaderboard location, for example United States or Canada." }, "max_results": { "type": "integer", "default": 25, "maximum": 100, "minimum": 1, "description": "Maximum companies to return, for example 25. The public leaderboard shows at most 50." } }}Output schema
{ "type": "object", "required": [ "role", "location", "currency", "companies" ], "properties": { "role": { "type": "string", "description": "Selected job family." }, "currency": { "type": "string", "description": "Three-letter currency code for the yearly pay amounts." }, "location": { "type": "string", "description": "Selected country or location." }, "companies": { "type": "array", "items": { "type": "object", "required": [ "rank", "company", "median_total_pay_per_year", "company_link" ], "properties": { "rank": { "type": "integer" }, "company": { "type": "string" }, "company_link": { "type": "string" }, "median_total_pay_per_year": { "type": "number" } }, "additionalProperties": false } } }, "additionalProperties": false}- Price
- 1 credit per completed run (1¢ with pay as you go); failed runs are free.
- Method
levels.fyi/list_top_paying_companies- Returns
- role, location, currency, companies (rank, company, median total pay per year, company link)
Use it from your agent
Give your agent this line. It reads SKILL.md, gets a Fous API key and connects the Fous MCP server. Its run then takes the method levels.fyi/list_top_paying_companies with the inputs above.
Ask your agent
- Which companies pay software engineers the most in the United States? Give me the top 20 by median total compensation.
- Show me the Levels.fyi leaderboard of highest-paying companies for product managers in Canada, top 10.
- I'm a data scientist considering a move to the UK — rank the top 30 employers by median yearly total pay there.
- Pull the top 50 companies on levels.fyi for hardware engineer pay in the US, ranked by median total comp.
- What are the 15 best paying companies for product designers in Germany, with their median annual total compensation?
See more
All Levels.fyi methodsCompares Levels.fyi's published median yearly pay (total, base, stock, bonus) for one role across 2 to 10 companies in a location, ranked by median total pay. Components are null where the site does not publish them; companies with no data come last with a note.
levels.fyi/compare_company_payReturns Levels.fyi's published 50th-percentile annual pay (total, base, stock, bonus) for each career level at a company and role, optionally in a location, in the location's currency.
levels.fyi/get_company_salariesLists open jobs on a company's Lever job board, with optional team, location and workplace filters.
jobs.lever.co/list_company_jobsSearches Remote OK jobs by role or skill. Results can be filtered by listed region and by minimum annual USD salary.
remoteok.com/search_jobsShows an employer's average annual base salary and its common jobs, with salary ranges, from PayScale public research pages.
payscale.com/get_company_payLists up to 50 top Chess.com players for a time control, in rank order, with ratings, game records and profile links. Puzzles rankings use puzzle scores.
chess.com/list_top_playersGets typical pay for a job title from PayScale research pages. You can narrow it to a country and a city.
payscale.com/get_salaryGets annual salaries by role at an Indian company from AmbitionBox, ordered by number of reports, plus annual averages by experience band when a job title is supplied.
ambitionbox.com/get_company_salaries