Six-figure sales jobs: which seats, industries and cities post $100,000 or more

Most sales jobs that state their pay offer six figures. On 1 November 2026, 72% of the US sales postings on this board that stated pay had a midpoint of $100,000 a year or more, and 64% started at $100,000 or more at the bottom of their range. Where those seats are is predictable: nearly every sales engineering and leadership posting clears $100,000, as do most seats at drug, AI, cloud and security companies, while fewer than one sales development posting in four does. This guide shows which seats, industries and cities pay six figures, and the ways in for someone who is not there yet.

The count: 20,420 open sales roles on this board were open to US candidates that day, 13,556 of them stated their pay, and 9,816 of those had a midpoint of $100,000 or more; 3,225 had a midpoint of $200,000 or more. Every figure is the midpoint of each posting's own range on a full year's scale, base or on-target earnings as the posting states it; postings that state an "earning potential" rather than a range are left out. Right now the board's account executive roles post a median of $125k/yr, across 18,002 open roles in every country.

Contents

1. Which seats pay six figures
2. Which industries pay six figures
3. Which cities pay six figures
4. Six figures without a closing record
5. Base, on-target and what "six figures" means
6. How these figures were counted
7. Quick answers

1. Which seats pay six figures

Account executives are the largest group and the most varied: the share clearing $100,000 depends on what the company sells, from software seats, most of which do, to field and distribution seats, most of which do not. The guide Account executive salary breaks that seat down by product and segment.

2. Which industries pay six figures

Part of the reason medical devices sit lower: many device postings state the base salary, with commission on top; the guide Medical device sales salary explains how to read them. The tech sales jobs page lists the software seats, where six figures is the norm.

3. Which cities pay six figures

Remote roles cleared the bar more often than office and field roles: 83% of priced remote postings against 69%, because remote seats are concentrated at software companies. Each city's page lists its open roles with the pay they post, for example New York and San Francisco.

4. Six figures without a closing record

Entry seats rarely post six figures: of the 1,276 priced US postings that were sales development roles or had a title saying associate, junior, entry level or early career, 342 (27%) had a midpoint of $100,000 or more. They came mostly from a few employers: Inspire Medical Systems (40), IQVIA (34), RR Donnelley (10) and DoorDash (8). The usual paths to six figures are:

1. Sales development at a software, AI or security company, then a promotion to a closing seat within one to two years; the guide How to get into tech sales covers the route.
2. An associate seat at a drug or device maker, which pays less to start but leads to a territory; see How to get into medical device sales.
3. A move from a technical job into sales engineering, the seat where 95% of postings clear $100,000; see Sales engineer salary.

5. Base, on-target and what "six figures" means

Most of these figures are on-target earnings: the base plus the variable pay a rep earns at 100% of quota. A posting with a $70,000 base and $140,000 on-target clears six figures only if the quota is met, and most sales teams have reps above and below it. Ask what share of the team reached quota last year before counting on the on-target figure; the guide What is OTE explains how it is set.

6. How these figures were counted

• The roles: every open sales role on this board on 1 November 2026 that a US candidate could take, read from each company's own careers system and checked every hour: 20,420 roles, 13,556 of them stating pay.
• The pay: the midpoint of each posting's own range on a full year's scale, against $100,000. Postings stating an "average earning potential" rather than a pay range, and postings whose stated period the board misread, are left out.

7. Quick answers

What sales jobs pay six figures? On this board, 95% of US sales engineering postings and 91% of sales leadership postings that state pay have a midpoint of $100,000 or more, and 63% of account executive postings (1 November 2026).

Can you make six figures in sales without experience? Rarely at the start: 27% of entry and sales development postings with pay reach $100,000; most people get there after a promotion to a closing seat.

Which industries pay salespeople the most? Drug and biotech companies (98% of priced postings at $100,000 or more), AI and data (95%) and cloud (91%).

Is a six-figure sales salary guaranteed? No: most six-figure figures are on-target earnings, paid in full only at quota.

Where can I see sales jobs that pay six figures? The highest-paying sales jobs guide ranks the seats, and the sales pay report shows today's figures.