I've not hired as many engineers lately as I'm sure others have, but while I agree with your sentiment, I think you're painting only 1/2 the picture. Yes, peop

I've not hired as many engineers lately as I'm sure others have, but while I agree with your sentiment, I think you're painting only 1/2 the picture. Yes, people routinely under-estimate salaries of engineers in the bay area. And I certainly know people at Google and Apple who have comp packages in the neighborhood you mention. But I'm skeptical of calling that the "norm", and even if it is, it's only the norm for RSU-granting, established tech companies. Half the employment for engineers in the area is for smaller companies with ISO grants with Expected Value well below $300k and salaries 25% below your quote. What's wonderful for engineers in the SFBA is that you have this choice. Take a front row seat at a startup and consistently make $110-130k, go to a huge tech giant like Google and make far more in a more narrowly defined role, or pick some place in the middle. Like Trulia, for example! We're always hiring Android and iOS engineers.