[Iftheshoefits]

Or one can choose to believe actual data (see: published Visa related salary info, various government surveys, etc.), which indicates the average salary for these companies is somewhere around $150k (give or take). Sure, throw in bonuses and equity grants and some employees might top $200k regularly. Some very high performers are also going to regularly break $250k. I doubt anybody would debate that.

Let's assume the "big" guys (Google, Facebook, etc.) regularly pay average total compensation around $250k, so that patio11's remark is correct. So what? As many employees as they employ, they represent a small fraction of the number of people who are very well qualified programmers and engineers. Their salaries are by no means common. The market is good, but it's not that good.