Not including stock. Just thinking back to last time I solicited job offers I live in a US metro area with a cost of living about 1/3rd less than SF according to Wolfram Alpha's data and got offers that ranged between 120k and 220k. Anecdotally most of the senior level engineers I know in my area are making between 150 and 200k. Adjusted for cost of living an employer in SF would need to pay something like 200 - 300k to just match their current salaries. Maybe the stock portion of a salary would make up for that difference but I don't see how they are competitive in the wider market if they are paying 150k for senior engineers.
I take it you're not from the Bay Area. Base salaries over 175k are common for senior engineers (10+ years). I would say that's a common base salary for the bigger companies like Google, etc. Netflix pays $400k cash for senior engineers.
> $250-$300k
Probably not the going rate, but to convince a top-notch dev to work in SF proper? Sure. Keep in mind that adjusted for cost of living, that's like $125k-$150k in most parts of the U.S., which isn't crazy for a top-notch systems engineer.
Furthermore, the higher you go, a greater proportion comes as RSUs, not cash - even if it was $400k TC, a good chunk of that is money you literally can't spend for a couple of years.
Salaries in the San Francisco Bay Area are very high compared to the rest of the world due to high housing costs and extreme demand for engineers. $155k is average for 5-10 years of experience at a non-startup. You can certainly go much higher or lower depending on the company, your experience and your negotiation skills.
Base salary of $200K or more is definitely achievable for senior (level 5 or higher) engineers at big name companies in SF. I have friends who recently changed jobs so I know this for certain.
That said, the stock offers were excellent as well, sometimes more than salary.
Here we go again with the "typical" tech worker making 250K. According to Glassdoor [1] and Payscale [2] the median/average base pay for SW engineers in the SF is about 1/2 of that.
I think what he means is: Some SF companies pay very large compensation packages so that their engineers can afford to purchase homes.
I don't think this is true. There are only a handful of companies that pay $500k+ TC for senior+ engineers. The vast majority of companies top out at $250k, be it F500 or startups (not including their worthless "equity").
You can't afford a home, on your own, at $250k in the Bay Area. Realistically you need $500k+.
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