Every week candidates ask us the same question: ‘What should I be earning in 2026?’ Here is what we saw across roughly 1,400 offers and salary discussions handled by our team between January and July 2026. Treat every figure as an indicative market observation, not an offer — your number depends on your skills, the company’s stage, and how well you interview.
IT and software
- Software engineer (2–4 years): 8–16 LPA in Bengaluru and Hyderabad; product companies pay at the top of the band.
- Senior engineer (5–8 years): 18–32 LPA, with AI platform and data roles crossing 35 LPA.
- Engineering manager (8–12 years): 35–55 LPA at funded startups; services firms sit 25–30% lower for the same scope.
- QA and application support moved slower: 5–9 LPA at 2–4 years.
BFSI
- Credit analyst (2–5 years): 7–12 LPA in Mumbai; NBFCs pay slightly above banks for identical profiles.
- Relationship manager (3–6 years): 6–10 LPA fixed, with incentives adding 2–4 LPA in a good year.
- Risk and compliance (5–8 years): 14–24 LPA — up nearly 18% over 2025, the sharpest jump we tracked anywhere.
Sales and business development
- Inside sales (1–3 years): 4.5–8 LPA plus variable.
- Field sales manager (4–7 years): 9–15 LPA; FMCG and pharma remain the steadiest payers.
- Enterprise SaaS sales (5+ years): 18–30 LPA fixed, with on-target earnings often double that.
Operations and supply chain
- Operations executive (0–2 years): 3–5 LPA.
- Warehouse or supply chain manager (5–8 years): 10–18 LPA, higher around e-commerce hubs.
- Plant-side manufacturing roles (5–8 years): 8–14 LPA, with Pune and Coimbatore the busiest markets.
The Bengaluru vs tier-2 gap is narrowing
In 2024, an engineer in Indore or Coimbatore earned roughly 40% less than the same profile in Bengaluru. In our 2026 data the gap has narrowed to 22–28% for IT roles, driven by remote-first companies hiring on a single national band. For non-IT roles the gap is still wide, around 35% — office-bound functions have not repriced the way tech has.
Two patterns worth acting on
First, switching still pays far more than staying. The median hike on a switch in our data was 28%, against annual increments of 9–10%. Second, candidates able to join within 15–30 days received offers 10–15% higher than identical profiles serving 90-day notice.
How to use these numbers
Benchmark against years of experience, not designation — titles inflate unevenly across companies. If you sit 20% or more below your band, a planned switch is usually worth the disruption. And in any negotiation, quote a range, never a single number.
Markets move. Read this as a mid-2026 snapshot, and check back — we refresh these bands every two quarters.