Silicon Valley engineering comp comes in three parts: base salary (cash, paid biweekly), bonus (a target % of base, paid annually), and equity (RSUs at public companies, options at startups, both vesting over 4 years). Total comp at each level scales roughly with the leveling system every major tech company uses — L3 new grad, L4 mid-level, L5 senior, L6 staff, L7 senior staff, L8 principal. State pay-transparency laws now require most US postings to disclose the base range; applinity surfaces this on 87% of catalog postings.
The three components of SV comp
Base salary
Cash, paid biweekly. The component most constrained by pay- transparency laws — California, New York, Washington, Colorado, Illinois, and others now require posting a base range on each listing. The disclosed range is real but wide: a posted "$180–250k" for a senior engineer means most offers land between $200k and $230k, with outliers at the edges for competing-offer scenarios or experience anomalies.
Base is the least negotiable component at large public companies with disclosed bands. It is more negotiable at private companies and at companies in non-disclosure-mandated states.
Bonus
Target bonus is a percentage of base — typically 10–15% for individual contributors at large public companies, up to 25% for senior IC, and significantly higher for executive levels. Actual bonus paid is multiplied by a company-performance factor (often 0.7×–1.3×) and an individual-performance factor.
Some companies (Amazon historically, several others) bundle the target bonus into base rather than paying it separately. Read the offer letter carefully: "all-cash" comp may or may not include a bonus line.
Equity (the biggest line)
At a senior-level role at a top SV public company, equity is often the largest component — sometimes 50–70% of total comp. Two flavors:
- RSUs (public companies). Restricted Stock Units. Granted as a dollar value, converted to a share count at grant date, then vested over 4 years (standard schedule: 1-year cliff → 25% at month 12 → monthly or quarterly thereafter). Once vested, shares are taxed as ordinary income; you can hold or sell. Refresh grants every year augment the original grant.
- Options (private companies / startups). A right to buy shares at a fixed strike price. Vest similarly to RSUs, but you have to exercise (pay the strike) to own the shares, and the shares are illiquid until IPO or acquisition. Common flavors: ISOs (tax-advantaged) and NSOs (immediate tax on the spread). The exact treatment depends heavily on country.
Leveling: L3, L4, L5, L6, L7
Most large SV tech companies use a 5–7 rung engineering ladder. The labels differ (Google uses L, Meta uses E, Amazon uses SDE) but the rungs map across companies:
- L3 / E3 / SDE-I — new grad. 0–2 years of full- time experience. Most new-grad offers land here.
- L4 / E4 / SDE-II — mid-level. Typically 2–5 years. The "first promo" most engineers get.
- L5 / E5 / Senior — senior IC. Typically 5–10 years. The most common terminal level — most engineers stop climbing here and have long, healthy careers.
- L6 / E6 / Staff. 10+ years. Broader scope, multi-team influence, technical leadership. Substantial jump in comp.
- L7 / Senior Staff. Org-wide impact.
- L8 / Principal. Company-wide impact, often single-digit headcount per business unit.
- L9+ / Distinguished / Fellow. Industry-shaping impact. Two-digit headcount across the entire company.
How to read a job posting's salary range
- The disclosed range is base only. Total comp is typically 1.6–2.2× the midpoint of the base range, depending on stock price, bonus structure, and level.
- The range usually spans 30–40%. A posting showing "$200k–$280k" suggests a single level with normal experience variance; "$200k–$400k" is two adjacent levels combined.
- Geography matters. SF Bay Area + NYC postings show the highest end of the band. Equivalent roles in Austin, Seattle, Boston, Chicago typically discount 5–15% off the SF band. Remote-from-Tier-2 cities can discount 10–25%.
- "Up to" framing is suspicious. Postings that show "up to $X" without a floor are likely setting expectations for the rare outlier offer, not the typical one. Treat the stated max as 75th–90th percentile, not median.
How applinity surfaces comp
Every posting in the catalog that discloses a salary range has it parsed into structured fields (min, max, currency). The browse feed sorts and filters on those fields, so you can:
- Filter by comp floor — "show me roles with comp ≥ $250k base"
- See the comp percentile on every Pro listing — "this role's range is in the 73rd percentile of senior-engineer postings across the catalog"
- Sort by comp descending to see the highest-paying roles in any family / location combination
Free users see disclosed ranges on every posting. Pro users additionally see the percentile context and can filter on a minimum comp floor across the whole catalog.
Negotiation, briefly
- Get the band first, then negotiate within it. Ask the recruiter for the band before sharing comp expectations. With pay-transparency laws, the band is on the posting — bring it up explicitly.
- Equity is the most negotiable component. Base is often capped within the disclosed range. Equity bumps of 10–25% in response to competing offers are common.
- Competing offers are the strongest lever. Real, written offers from comparable companies move the needle. Verbal indications and "I've heard X" claims don't.
- Signing bonuses are for bridging. Use them to close small gaps. They don't compound across future refreshes.
Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between base, bonus, and equity at a SV tech company?
Base is your cash salary (paid biweekly). Bonus is a target-percentage cash payout, typically tied to company + individual performance, paid annually (range: 10–25% of base for individual contributors, higher for executives). Equity is RSUs (restricted stock units) at public companies or options at startups, vesting over 4 years.
What's an RSU and how does vesting work?
An RSU is a promise to deliver one share of company stock at a future vesting date. Standard SV vesting is 4 years with a 1-year cliff: nothing for the first 12 months, then 25% lands, then monthly or quarterly for the next 3 years. Some companies (Amazon historically, several startups) use back-loaded schedules where year 1 + 2 are smaller and year 3 + 4 are larger.
What are L3, L4, L5, L6, L7 levels?
Leveling at most large SV tech companies follows a numeric ladder. Roughly: L3 / E3 / SDE-I = new grad; L4 / E4 / SDE-II = mid-level (2–5 yrs); L5 / E5 / Senior = senior IC (5–10 yrs, the most common terminal level); L6 / E6 / Staff = staff IC (10+ yrs); L7 / Senior Staff; L8 / Principal. The exact letters vary (Google uses L, Meta uses E, Amazon uses SDE) but the rungs map across companies.
Why are SV comp bands so wide?
Bands intentionally span a 30–40% range so the same job title can house engineers with very different scope, experience, and impact. Within a band, you're paid based on level + tenure + last performance rating. Pay transparency laws in California, New York, Washington, and Colorado require posting the band but don't constrain where in the band an individual lands.
Where does levels.fyi data come from?
Levels.fyi is community-submitted, self-reported. Most data points are accurate enough to band into bins (e.g. 'L5 at Google in 2024 = $400–500k total comp') but individual entries vary. Use it as a directional guide, not a precise quote. State-mandated salary disclosures on job postings are the most authoritative public source.
How do I read salary ranges on job postings?
California, New York, Washington, Colorado, and a growing list of states require posted salary ranges. These are base only — they exclude bonus and equity. The actual offer typically lands in the middle to upper third of the disclosed range, with outliers in both directions based on experience and competing offers. applinity surfaces the disclosed range on 87% of catalog postings.
Are startup options worth less than RSUs?
Almost always, yes — early-stage options are illiquid (you can't sell until IPO or acquisition), have an exercise price you pay out of pocket, and dilute over future funding rounds. The expected value of a Series B option grant is far below the face value of an equivalent public-company RSU grant of the same nominal dollar amount.
Can I negotiate equity higher than the offer letter shows?
Yes — equity is the most-negotiable lever at most companies. Base ranges are usually tighter (especially at companies disclosing under pay-transparency laws); equity bumps of 10–25% in response to competing offers are common. Signing bonuses are the least-elastic lever and tend to be used to bridge a small gap rather than to make a big jump.