Also, $115k for a senior engineer? Really great "entry level" (i.e. recently graduated but mostly self taught with lots of internships under belt) is going for $110k... most of the "seniors" I know are running $200k plus.
It's funny how every single time there are discussions of salary on HN, there will be wild differences in opinion. You're saying an entry level engineer is getting $110k while some comments later are saying $115k seems high for a senior engineer.
I think its a bit lower then that if you want to work at a start-up. We're paying Mid-Senior level from $120-150 (Full Stack). I vet hundreds of resumes a month, and we're pretty average / ahead of the game.
My kid brother just graduated CS from Berkeley and got offers ranging from 70-85, plus equity, benefits etc. Still high, but not quite $110k...
What defines "really great"? I'm a student graduating in two years and $110k is almost twice as high as the average CS/SE undergrad starting salary from my midwest University.
> (...) most of the "seniors" I know are running $200k plus.
Guess asking half the market rate was a serious blunder. Makes OP seem unfamiliar with current salaries of senior-level devs -- and so HR drones assumed he doesn't have any recent senior-level experience.
I'd love to know where seniors command a market rate of $200k+. (Possibly if you figure in benefits, bonuses, etc. - but a salary of $200k+ is still not that easy to get)
The absolute top of the senior ladder lists $200k. At one single company, for one job. (And checking the same thing for Mountain View doesn't yield a significant difference)
So I don't think $110k is "half the going rate" :)
You can also look at aggregate U.S. household income statistics. Only 3% of households make $200k+ in total income, even after you count both incomes for married couples, and including investments/bonuses. And, most of those aren't in tech. So you'd have to have a very particular social circle for it to be anywhere near normal for even senior people to make $200k+. Just by aggregate numbers, low 6 figures is fairly common (16% above $100k), but things drop off rapidly above that (6% above $150k, 3% above $200k, 1% above $300k).
Ah wow, I've never made that much. I keep hearing of developers I've worked with going to new companies and making double what I am now. It always astounds how people say what they're being paid, and how I am just no where near it.
The Bay Area is competing with states with no income tax and lower rent (washington, texas, etc). A $90k wage in Seattle, WA can be equivalent to a +$110k wage in San Jose, CA after state income tax, higher rent and more expensive gas.
Salaries in the LA basin and San Diego have been in a ghetto since forever, it's really well known. The theory is that there's a lot of surfers that will take a big salary hit to live near the So.Cal. beaches, so it has a permanent depressing effect on salaries. Maybe that's the reason, maybe not, but the fact is that people in LA with skills can instantly double their salary by moving to the Bay.
Given the cost of living in the area, 70k for a senior developer is a nightmare for everyone, but the fact is there's no shortage of people willing to make the trade so it works for you guys and that is fine. There's a bit of a blowback though, because of the low salaries and beliefs they are normal, it's not the best place to start a company doing anything cutting edge that requires the top tier of talent, and that's why all the really cool stuff is still in the Bay and will probably always be there.
I was told by someone with lots of experience that I worked with for a few years that I should expect $110k when I graduate.
Someone I know just left $200k at a multinational megacorp for the same at a 50-person company.
A team of co-founders I know was acquhired by a different multinational megacorp, and they now make $350k-$500k before bonuses, although they've moved up from pure engineering to running teams and managing other developers.
So $200k is the lowest salary I've heard for people I consider "senior".
