Although I'm not American I can tell you how does it work in UK (at least my observation): - standard engineer (let it be software engineer or any other enginee

Although I'm not American I can tell you how does it work in UK (at least my observation): - standard engineer (let it be software engineer or any other engineer) does not earn much if you look at base however in most cases they are doing overtime - from my observation (and that is definitely not the rule, just my observation) managers in the same company are paid by average 1/3 more than engineers however managers don't get over time. They get bonuses instead (i.e. performance bonus if they reach targets) However most likely going to job search web sites is the best way to find out what your market value is.