Most software engineers dream of working at one of the Big 5 tech companies: Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, and Microsoft. But if the maximum possible salary also plays a role in those dreams, which company should an engineer strive for? Thanks to data compiled by tech industry careers site Blind, we now have a good idea.
Blind looked at the salaries across various software engineer levels at Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, and Microsoft, which were submitted by Blind users. It then looked at the average annual starting salary for engineers based on their career level: entry, professional, senior, staff, or principal. For the entry-level positions, it found that Google paid the most in average total compensation by tenure, followed by Meta, Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft.
Here are the average total compensations for entry-level positions:
- Google: $184,000
- Meta: $179,000
- Amazon: $159,000
- Apple: $142,000
- Microsoft: $141,000
Total compensation in these rankings includes salary, equity, and any bonuses.
As for the highest average total compensation paid to the highest level engineers (principal engineers), Blind found that Meta ($780,000) paid the most, followed by Amazon ($691,000), Google ($655,000), Apple and Microsoft (both $500,000).
Blind also gleaned some other insights from its data. For example, though Amazon is one of the top-paying companies, compensation may vary a lot from engineer to engineer because the company has so many pay bands. While Apple may pay less than most of the other companies, its pay bands are both consistent and fair. And Meta software engineers seem to be able to level up the fastest.
To come to its conclusions, Blind used data that was self-reported by verified professionals between January 2022 and August 2023.
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