Does anybody else think the salaries are a little high? Perhaps the sample size is skewed? I'm somewhat senior in software engineering, but I literally don't know a single person making over 200k. Nada. Not one. I also don't know any college grads who started making 150k. That seems absurd, unless you're only looking at certain companies and top performers or something.
I do know two people making over 200 k$/yr in base salary as pure programmers. They're very good at their jobs (Interestingly, as far as I can tell, neither of them are "brilliant" technically, merely "good". They just combine that with incredible work efficacy and solid communication skills.)
That said, I know bunches who will make over 200 k$ in total liquid comp this year. And before you pooh-pooh the equity part, if you've been at a public company for more than a year, equity's pretty much the same as cash (albeit a slightly unpredictable quantity thereof.)
Where do you live? The numbers you are mentioning sound sound very realistic in the Bay Area, if you are talking about total compensation (salary + bonus + equity).
I'm going to be pretty upset if these salaries aren't at least a little high, because I'm nowhere near that even after 25 years experience and a master's degree.
