I'd look into companies that are going to pay the most, which is why looking only at base could be bad. For example, a senior software engineering manager a co

I'd look into companies that are going to pay the most, which is why looking only at base could be bad. For example, a senior software engineering manager a couple years ago might see something like Amazon,FB, and Google base salaries of $160k/$250k/$250k respectively. That's only a fraction of the potential pay, though as both Facebook and Google have a 25% annual bonus. Amazon's package would likely include something like a $275k bonus for the first two years. Now, add in stock. Both FB and Google would offer $1.4M+ worth of stock, vesting over four years. Amazon might be closer to $700k/800k at that time. Finally, there are joining bonuses. I'm not sure about Google or Amazon, but FB can (could?) go up to $100k. Regardless of the actual numbers, the point is that the "base" is less than 50% of your compensation in many cases. It's certainly an important data point as one thinks about possible future stock values, etc, but it sometimes only tells part of the story.