Guide · 6 minutes
Enterprise account executive salary: OTE against base, by industry, city and employer
Written by Yuma Heymans, Founder & CEO of SalesJobs.Now.
Yuma runs SalesJobs.Now out of San Francisco. Recruiting is familiar ground: Yuma also co-founded HeroHunt.ai, a platform that uses AI to find and reach candidates.
A US enterprise account executive posting on this board typically pays $246,875 a year, with the middle half of postings between $150,891 and $315,000. That wide range is mostly one question: whether the posting states on-target earnings or a base salary. Enterprise AE postings that label their range as on-target earnings (OTE) post a median of $309,250; those that do not post $160,000, most of it likely base pay, to which commission is added. This guide breaks enterprise AE pay down by what the posting states, what the company sells, the city and the employer.
On 2 November 2026 this board had 1,687 open roles titled enterprise or strategic account executive, 911 of them open to US candidates, and 78% of those stated their pay. Every figure below is the midpoint of each posting's own range on a full year's scale, one per posting after repeats of the same title at the same company are merged, and the median across the US postings. The enterprise account executive jobs page lists every open seat.
Contents
- The short answer
- OTE or base: why the range is so wide
- Pay by what the company sells
- Pay by city
- The companies posting the most
- What to ask before accepting
- How these figures were counted
- Quick answers
1. The short answer
| Measure, US enterprise AE roles, 2 Nov 2026 | Posted pay per year |
|---|---|
| Median | $246,875 |
| Middle half of postings | $150,891 to $315,000 |
| Bottom tenth below | $126,557 |
| Top tenth above | $350,000 |
| Titled strategic account executive (median) | $275,000 |
| Posted as remote | 47% (427 of 911) |
2. OTE or base: why the range is so wide
| What the posting states | US postings with pay | Median | Middle half |
|---|---|---|---|
| A range labelled on-target earnings (OTE) | 200 | $309,250 | $280,000 to $326,250 |
| A range with no OTE label | 400 | $160,000 | $140,000 to $263,813 |
An enterprise AE package is usually split between base salary and variable pay, often near 50:50, so a $160,000 base and a $320,000 OTE can describe the same seat. Many postings with no label state the base alone. When comparing two offers, compare base with base and OTE with OTE; the guide What is OTE explains the parts.
3. Pay by what the company sells
| What the company sells | US open roles | Postings with pay | Median | Middle half |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AI and data | 210 | 143 | $297,500 | $160,000 to $325,000 |
| Cybersecurity | 173 | 120 | $260,000 | $155,000 to $311,750 |
| Fintech | 37 | 20 | $234,375 | $159,375 to $281,050 |
| Industry software | 137 | 81 | $225,000 | $134,306 to $275,000 |
| Cloud and developer tools | 105 | 66 | $214,500 | $149,800 to $325,000 |
| Business software | 202 | 148 | $203,950 | $157,156 to $285,625 |
AI and cybersecurity companies post the highest medians. The guide Tech sales salary compares the markets across every seat.
4. Pay by city
| Where the seat is | US postings with pay | Median |
|---|---|---|
| New York | 123 | $254,000 |
| Remote | 230 | $250,200 |
| San Francisco Bay Area | 101 | $233,100 |
| Chicago | 32 | $191,975 |
| Washington DC | 30 | $175,000 |
| Boston | 24 | $163,750 |
Remote enterprise seats post nearly the same median as New York: the seat is priced by the deals it carries more than by the city.
5. The companies posting the most
Among the employers with the most US postings that state pay, the medians on 2 November 2026 were:
| Employer | US postings with pay | Median |
|---|---|---|
| Anthropic | 13 | $415,000 |
| Okta | 11 | $366,000 |
| Kong | 10 | $360,000 |
| LangChain | 12 | $350,000 |
| Horizon3.ai | 16 | $325,000 |
| Databricks | 13 | $323,000 |
| Glean | 15 | $297,500 |
| Verkada | 13 | $270,000 |
| Samsara | 11 | $250,200 |
| Salesforce | 13 | $160,575 |
| Harness | 11 | $151,250 |
| Axon | 9 | $128,934 |
| Elastic | 9 | $121,900 |
| Qualtrics | 10 | $113,250 |
The lower figures here are likely base salaries rather than smaller packages; ask each company which it posts. Salesforce had the most open enterprise and strategic AE roles in every country (65), then Databricks (42), Datadog (39), MongoDB (38) and Anthropic (36).
6. What to ask before accepting
- Is the posted figure base or OTE, and what is the split?
- What is the quota, how was it set, and what share of the team reached it last year?
- What is the average deal size and sales cycle, and do you own named accounts or a territory?
- How is commission paid on multi-year contracts: on the first year's value, the total, or annual value as it bills?
- Are there accelerators above quota, a cap, or clawbacks if a customer cancels?
7. How these figures were counted
- The roles: every open role on this board on 2 November 2026 whose title names an enterprise or strategic account executive, read from each company's own careers system and checked every hour: 1,687 roles, 911 of them open to US candidates.
- OTE or not: a posting counts as OTE when its stated pay says so ("OTE" or "on-target").
- The pay: the midpoint of each posting's own range on a full year's scale, one per posting after repeats of the same title at the same company are merged, and the median across the US postings. "Up to" figures are left out.
These figures describe one day; the enterprise account executive jobs page always shows the current roles and pay.
8. Quick answers
How much does an enterprise account executive make? On this board, US enterprise AE postings state a median of $246,875 a year, with the middle half between $150,891 and $315,000 (2 November 2026).
What is a typical enterprise AE OTE? Postings that state OTE show a median of $309,250, with the middle half between $280,000 and $326,250.
What is a typical enterprise AE base salary? Postings without an OTE label, many of them a base, show a median of $160,000.
Which companies pay enterprise AEs the most? Among the employers with the most priced US postings, Anthropic ($415,000), Okta ($366,000), Kong ($360,000) and LangChain ($350,000) posted the highest medians on 2 November 2026.
Where can I see enterprise account executive jobs? The enterprise account executive jobs page lists every open seat with the pay it posts.