4 ms·

Are you working at the companies that show that level of pay? Are you located geographically the same as those offers? levels.fyi does not say everyone makes $

Are you working at the companies that show that level of pay? Are you located geographically the same as those offers? levels.fyi does not say everyone makes $300k+ - it says people at specific companies in a specific region make that much. It makes that quite obvious from how you have to select the companies, the level, and then you see where those offers are geographically and with how much experience/tenure.

MuffinFlavored 7y ago
Is there a map that shows the data geographically? It's hard to tell given the list of salaries + cities to find data the compares to my city.
- Zaheer 7y ago
  Not yet - in the works! :)
- jldugger 7y ago
  I expect to see the high wages are highly concentrated in SV. My employer has a clear policy that leaving the bay area comes with a pay cut. Some folks think it's worth it. Time will tell.
- radres 7y ago
  Why don't you try https://www.levels.fyi/comp.html?track=Software%20Engineer https://www.levels.fyi/comp.html?track=Software%20Engineer search for a city and see if it compares in any way to your salary?
  - MuffinFlavored 7y ago
    You can't search for cities to my knowledge.
ryandrake 7y ago
A lot of people forget that. They see a few people at a FAANG company making $400k and conclude that everyone at that level makes about that much. People also disregard the infamous “4 year cliff”: At most of these companies, your initial stock offer fully vests in 4 years, so your 5th year, your take-home comp nose-dives. Even if you get modest raises and “refresh” stock grants (which not all companies do), you’re likely taking a huge hit in year 5. I’d be interested in a levels.fyi filtering out people’s first four years.
- twblalock 7y ago
  At most big companies the refresher grants are large enough to prevent a cliff.
  - valleyjo 7y ago
    Most maybe... but not all. Amazon and Microsoft to name at least two.
- esoterica 7y ago
  No company is stupid enough to make their employees take a >50% paycut in year 5, unless they are intentionally signaling that the employee is not desired and should leave. If they did everyone would quit on their 4th anniversary. Refreshers typically exceed or match the initial grant. Even if they DID make you take a paycut you could jump ship every four years anyway, so why would you care about comp past year 4?
  - joshuamorton 7y ago
    There are no companies where refreshers exceed or match the initial grant. At Google, they're between 25 and 50%, depending on a lot of stuff. My initial grant was ~150k, my first refresher was ~40k, and it's a wash if my 4th year refresh will match my first year, that will likely come down to if I make L5 or not.
    - twblalock 7y ago

MuffinFlavored 7y ago

Is there a map that shows the data geographically? It's hard to tell given the list of salaries + cities to find data the compares to my city.

Zaheer 7y ago
Not yet - in the works! :)
jldugger 7y ago
I expect to see the high wages are highly concentrated in SV. My employer has a clear policy that leaving the bay area comes with a pay cut. Some folks think it's worth it. Time will tell.
radres 7y ago
Why don't you try https://www.levels.fyi/comp.html?track=Software%20Engineer https://www.levels.fyi/comp.html?track=Software%20Engineer search for a city and see if it compares in any way to your salary?
- MuffinFlavored 7y ago
  You can't search for cities to my knowledge.

ryandrake 7y ago

A lot of people forget that. They see a few people at a FAANG company making $400k and conclude that everyone at that level makes about that much. People also disregard the infamous “4 year cliff”: At most of these companies, your initial stock offer fully vests in 4 years, so your 5th year, your take-home comp nose-dives. Even if you get modest raises and “refresh” stock grants (which not all companies do), you’re likely taking a huge hit in year 5. I’d be interested in a levels.fyi filtering out people’s first four years.

twblalock 7y ago
At most big companies the refresher grants are large enough to prevent a cliff.
- valleyjo 7y ago
  Most maybe... but not all. Amazon and Microsoft to name at least two.
esoterica 7y ago
No company is stupid enough to make their employees take a >50% paycut in year 5, unless they are intentionally signaling that the employee is not desired and should leave. If they did everyone would quit on their 4th anniversary. Refreshers typically exceed or match the initial grant. Even if they DID make you take a paycut you could jump ship every four years anyway, so why would you care about comp past year 4?
- joshuamorton 7y ago
  There are no companies where refreshers exceed or match the initial grant. At Google, they're between 25 and 50%, depending on a lot of stuff. My initial grant was ~150k, my first refresher was ~40k, and it's a wash if my 4th year refresh will match my first year, that will likely come down to if I make L5 or not.
  - twblalock 7y ago