4 ms·

If I'm being cynical, TripleByte left this out on purpose. From what I've heard, they're mainly linking developers up with startup roles that don't pay much mor

by freyir 8y ago

If I'm being cynical, TripleByte left this out on purpose. From what I've heard, they're mainly linking developers up with startup roles that don't pay much more than this (except perhaps in monopoly-money equity). Of course, you'd be better off going to FANG or a (soon-to-IPO) unicorn where you'd make double these amounts with RSUs factored in. But if you can get in there, you probably don't need to go through TripleByte. Then again, TripleByte also created https://www.levels.fyi/comp.html https://www.levels.fyi/comp.html so maybe I am just being cynical.

scarface74 8y ago
But even $250K in total comp wouldn’t allow my family to live the lifestyle that we can live in many major metropolitan areas in the US that have a much lower cost of living where just your commodity full stack developer with a few years of experience can make $135K - $160K.
- freyir 8y ago
  Wouldn't it? What major metropolitan areas are you talking about specifically? $250K is FANG compensation for an engineer with a few years of experience. According to NerdWallet cost of living calculator, equivalents are: Manhattan: $314K Los Angeles: $191K Boston: $196K Chicago: $157K Miami: $152K Denver: $149K Philadelphia: $146K Minneapolis: $139K Atlanta: $134K Des Moines: $117K So $250K in San Francisco should afford similar lifestyle as in other major cities paying $135K-$160K. But a senior-level position in FANG should be closer to $350K and above. I think that becomes much harder to match as a commodity developer outside the Bay Area (it'd be $205K in Philly, for instance). And even if you did match it, and you're able to sock away X% of your income a year in both cities, the FANG salary leaves you with many more dollars in your bank account in a few years. You could always leave the Bay Area at some point, and spend those dollars in a low CoL area. I'm not saying it's worth it. The Bay Area has a lot of downsides. San Francisco has become a crime-ridden cess pool in recent years. Commutes are horrendous if you don't live near work. And many tech companies in the Bay Area pay much less than FANG compensation (and I know from experience), which really makes it hard to stomach. But from a purely financial standpoint, it seems like the FANG developers are doing pretty well.
  - scarface74 8y ago
    I have a house in the burbs in Atlanta - 5 bedroom/3.5 bath, 3000 square feet, new build. It’s in a top rated school district, 30 minutes away from where I work and we paid $335K for it back in 2016. Now, it would probably be around $385K. How much would a similar setup cost in San Francisco? We bought it with the 5% down that the builder required to start, but we ended up even getting some of that back when we used an FHA loan that required only 3.5% down.
    - freyir 8y ago
      Yes, the housing supply in SF and the peninsula is not good. If you want a new build or lots of space, it is not the place to be.

by freyir 8y ago

scarface74 8y ago

But even $250K in total comp wouldn’t allow my family to live the lifestyle that we can live in many major metropolitan areas in the US that have a much lower cost of living where just your commodity full stack developer with a few years of experience can make $135K - $160K.

freyir 8y ago
Wouldn't it? What major metropolitan areas are you talking about specifically? $250K is FANG compensation for an engineer with a few years of experience. According to NerdWallet cost of living calculator, equivalents are: Manhattan: $314K Los Angeles: $191K Boston: $196K Chicago: $157K Miami: $152K Denver: $149K Philadelphia: $146K Minneapolis: $139K Atlanta: $134K Des Moines: $117K So $250K in San Francisco should afford similar lifestyle as in other major cities paying $135K-$160K. But a senior-level position in FANG should be closer to $350K and above. I think that becomes much harder to match as a commodity developer outside the Bay Area (it'd be $205K in Philly, for instance). And even if you did match it, and you're able to sock away X% of your income a year in both cities, the FANG salary leaves you with many more dollars in your bank account in a few years. You could always leave the Bay Area at some point, and spend those dollars in a low CoL area. I'm not saying it's worth it. The Bay Area has a lot of downsides. San Francisco has become a crime-ridden cess pool in recent years. Commutes are horrendous if you don't live near work. And many tech companies in the Bay Area pay much less than FANG compensation (and I know from experience), which really makes it hard to stomach. But from a purely financial standpoint, it seems like the FANG developers are doing pretty well.
- scarface74 8y ago
  I have a house in the burbs in Atlanta - 5 bedroom/3.5 bath, 3000 square feet, new build. It’s in a top rated school district, 30 minutes away from where I work and we paid $335K for it back in 2016. Now, it would probably be around $385K. How much would a similar setup cost in San Francisco? We bought it with the 5% down that the builder required to start, but we ended up even getting some of that back when we used an FHA loan that required only 3.5% down.
  - freyir 8y ago
    Yes, the housing supply in SF and the peninsula is not good. If you want a new build or lots of space, it is not the place to be.