I think another big reason for lower compensation is because a lot of companies working at a low level tend to be companies making physical electronic products.

I think another big reason for lower compensation is because a lot of companies working at a low level tend to be companies making physical electronic products. Profits for physical profits don't scale as exponentially as they do with software only products, so companies don't have endless amounts of cash to throw around at engineers. If you're after good compensation and want to work at a low level, then go for companies that sell both hardware and software. FAANGs are an obvious choice but B2B companies (usually IoT-ish) that have have both a software and hardware subscription component are another option worth looking at.