[cornstalks]

Read the chart again. It says the median starting salary is $110,000. $172,000 is the median total annual compensation, which includes bonuses (and stock typically won't vest during the first year, which means total compensation for the first year is actually closer to $123,000).

[MacsHeadroom]

>which means total compensation for the first year is actually closer to $123,000

No, $172,000 is the median for year 1. Even $200k+ total comp at year 1 is typical for Google in the bay.

The significant increases in bonus pay for higher levels reflect stock vesting for year 2/3/4/5 employees.

Edit: "Google" in the bay

[ryandrake]

This "fact" keeps getting repeated here. While it may be typical for Google, it is in no way typical for "the bay". Median salary is around $110K for sw developers, and I highly doubt people are getting 100% of their salary in RSUs and bonuses their first year.

[Bahamut]

Huh? $110k is low. $90k is the starting salary at a lot of companies in the Bay Area for an entry level software engineer.

Myself, I make $160k base salary at a small company in Palo Alto (was offered that at 2.5 years of experience), and know I could've gotten a lot more elsewhere.

[MacsHeadroom]

Typical for _Google_ in the bay, is what I meant.

At any rate, I've received more than my fair share of $200k+ 1st year total comp offers for _start ups_ in SF for positions that only wanted 2-3 years experience. So, I wouldn't be so surprised.