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Highest Paying Tech Companies of 2019

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Re: Highest Paying Tech Companies of 2019

#41

Post by geebee »

txcwpalpha wrote: post #33
pascalxus wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

it all depends on your situation. Sure, as a single person 200K is doing well. But, 200K with a family of 4 (2 kids and a wife) is definately scraping by on the penninsula or SF. The only way that's not scraping by is if you bought your house over 20 years ago (or during 2010-2012 housing slump) OR you got yourself a Rent controlled apartment. Other than that, You ARE scraping by. In SF, day care is almost 3K per mon…

>But, 200K with a family of 4 (2 kids and a wife) is definately scraping by on the penninsula or SF. Lol. No, it isn't. It is absolutely mind blowing what the general tech industry thinks "scraping by" means. The median household income in SF is less than 100k. At 200k, you make more than twice that. If you're just "scraping by" with 200k, then I can't even imagine what people making less than the median are doing.

Child care in San Francisco, the kind that goes from 8am to 6pm, runs over $2500 a month. That's not ultraluxe, that's pretty standard fare, and my estimate is probably on the low side. A 3br house in an unfashionable but largely safe part of town is probably well over $4000 in rent. Again, that's not a high estimate. If you have 2 kids in daycare and are paying a mortgage or even just renting, you're looking at $9,000 a month in these expenses alone.

Wealth in San Francisco is more measured by when you got into the housing market than what you make, salary-wise, unless you're quite a ways up.

Now, a two income family with tech jobs is likely going to have at least 300k in family income (though even with the expensive 8am to 6pm day care, expect lots of phone calls coordinating who will scramble over to day care before 6). These families are not "scraping by", and I agree we need to be careful with hyperbole. But the median household income may not reflect the cost structure for new arrivals to the housing market who lack the family structure that would cushion the blow of daycare costs.

Re: Highest Paying Tech Companies of 2019

#42

Post by Zaheer »

doublement wrote: post #40
memn0nis wrote: post #32

These salaries are incredibly high for someone who never worked at a tech company in the valley. What's the general consensus on whether these salaries will increase, decrease, or stay the same in the medium term (i.e., next 5-10 years)?

With nothing to back me up except the general impression I have, these numbers look out-of-whack even for the highest-paying employers in the Bay Area.

We have verified offer letters for several of these companies that users have submitted to us.

Re: Highest Paying Tech Companies of 2019

#43

Post by literallycancer »

pascalxus wrote: post #31
throwawaymath wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can we please stop with the hyperbole? $200k in the bay area is emphatically not scraping by. You can live on your own, without roommates, save money and have a social life if you have a $200k income in SFBA. What people (especially on HN) think "scraping by" looks like is getting a little nuts. Just because you can't have an opulent lifestyle and a cheap five bedroom house doesn't mean you're struggling. $200k in SF…

it all depends on your situation. Sure, as a single person 200K is doing well. But, 200K with a family of 4 (2 kids and a wife) is definately scraping by on the penninsula or SF. The only way that's not scraping by is if you bought your house over 20 years ago (or during 2010-2012 housing slump) OR you got yourself a Rent controlled apartment. Other than that, You ARE scraping by. In SF, day care is almost 3K per mon…

Scraping by with a stay-at-home wife?

Re: Highest Paying Tech Companies of 2019

#44

Post by senordevnyc »

If you're a software engineer in a city where these companies employ folks and you're thinking this doesn't apply to you, I'd encourage you to at least give it a shot. It's not only the absolute best of the best who get these jobs.

I recently decided to do a round of interviews after 10+ years as an independent web / iOS dev, having never had a professional software dev job. I'm also a self-taught developer with a business degree from a no-name state school. Despite all that, I've been really surprised and happy with the market reception here in NYC. I got interest from the bigger guys like Amazon, FB, and Twitter, as well as smaller companies like Dropbox, Stripe, Square, Coinbase, etc. Last week, I got a very good senior / staff offer from one of the smaller public companies for around $400k in first year comp. With bonuses, promotions, refreshers, etc, that could easily average $500k - 600k per year over the next few years. And I had no competing offers. Some of the other companies I'm in the loop with will almost certainly offer quite a bit more, although I love this company that made the offer and I'll probably just drop the other interviews and take it. Comp isn't everything.

All this to say, if you're interested in making more $$ and these companies are hiring where you live, don't pass it up because you think it's only for hotshot 22-year-olds coming out of Stanford.

Re: Highest Paying Tech Companies of 2019

#45

Post by electricslpnsld »

crw5996 wrote: post #12
hotdogs wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Huh, it's been about a decade since I last visited Pittsburgh, I had no idea. Thanks for sharing.

Pretty much all the big tech companies have a presence here. From what I can remember, Microsoft (Azure Storage), Amazon (ML Alexa Teams), Google, Uber (ATG), Argo AI, Aurora, Facebook (Oculus), Duolingo, and Apple are all have offices in the city. In the suburbs I think Netapp and Oracle have offices.

Facebook also has a FAIR office in addition to Oculus in Pittsburgh.

Re: Highest Paying Tech Companies of 2019

#46

Post by rcpt »

fizixer wrote: post #39
throwawaymath wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can we please stop with the hyperbole? $200k in the bay area is emphatically not scraping by. You can live on your own, without roommates, save money and have a social life if you have a $200k income in SFBA. What people (especially on HN) think "scraping by" looks like is getting a little nuts. Just because you can't have an opulent lifestyle and a cheap five bedroom house doesn't mean you're struggling. $200k in SF…

I agree. Whenever someone points out high cost of living, they mention high rents. Is $3000 per month a good estimate for bay area? or am I underestimating. This is about $2000 a month higher than reasonable rent. This means, your annual cost of living increased by $24,000. $24,000 per annum is the difference between a small town, and bay area. Am I missing something? Do you pay for apples $20 a lb instead of $2-5 a…

> What else is expensive in Bay Area other than rent?

Childcare, income taxes, transportation.

edit: I don't understand why I'm getting downvotes these things are all expensive.

Re: Highest Paying Tech Companies of 2019

#47

Post by rcpt »

whalesalad wrote: post #37
grammarxcore wrote: post #8

I feel like this list is skewed by cost of living. The top four cities are also very expensive cities to live in and around. 200k in the bay area is scraping by whereas 100k in the Austin area gets you a house in a reasonable amount of time. Are there any plans to provide adjustments like that?

> I feel like this list is skewed by cost of living. The top four cities are also very expensive cities to live in and around. This... is how the world works.

Is it? Shouldn't salaries be higher in Vancouver or Hong Kong?

Re: Highest Paying Tech Companies of 2019

#49

Post by doublement »

Zaheer wrote: post #42
doublement wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With nothing to back me up except the general impression I have, these numbers look out-of-whack even for the highest-paying employers in the Bay Area.

We have verified offer letters for several of these companies that users have submitted to us.

It would probably be an interesting article to delve into what accounts for the difference between the Bay Area's $227,000 median (which sounds about right) and the $400K-$500K that 5 years of experience gets at the top of your list. The difference is striking, essentially paying double the median amount for moderately experienced employees.

Re: Highest Paying Tech Companies of 2019

#50

Post by senordevnyc »

doublement wrote: post #40
memn0nis wrote: post #32

These salaries are incredibly high for someone who never worked at a tech company in the valley. What's the general consensus on whether these salaries will increase, decrease, or stay the same in the medium term (i.e., next 5-10 years)?

With nothing to back me up except the general impression I have, these numbers look out-of-whack even for the highest-paying employers in the Bay Area.

I know I'm just a random internet commenter and thus you could be forgiven for thinking I'm making things up, but I just got an offer from a smaller public tech company for a senior / staff level position making almost $400k in first year comp. I'm pretty confident that after negotiation we'll land a little over $400k. And recruiters at several other tech companies where I'm interviewing have told me they can match or exceed this offer. I think FB or Snap would pay more than $600k at this level, but I don't want to work for either of them :)

To be fair, I have 12 years of experience, 9 of that in mobile dev, but all of it is self-employment experience. Comp is just insane at the top companies.

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