Well, yeah - if you control for performance ratings, then pay is normally similar. The pay bands are wide due to pay for performance. Within a given level, empl

Well, yeah - if you control for performance ratings, then pay is normally similar. The pay bands are wide due to pay for performance. Within a given level, employees with really high performance will be paid much more than those with average performance. At the FAANG company I'm familiar with, there are definitely "Senior SDEs" making ~double the average "Senior SDE" comp, because they consistently get really high performance ratings.