I know designers in NYC who make a lot of money, but they have to work freelance and hustle. On the other hand, I'm just an average Ruby programmer and have bee

I know designers in NYC who make a lot of money, but they have to work freelance and hustle. On the other hand, I'm just an average Ruby programmer and have been through total softball phone interviews ("what is M-V-C?") where companies wanted to hire me for $120,000 + options. I guess I'm more wondering if companies are really paying designers 6 figs + equity for salaried positions. Or if it's really early stage startup, if the design salaries achieve parity with the programmer salaries.