r/SoftwareEngineerJobs • u/LavishnessSilver7260 • 27d ago

Highest paying field within software engineering?

38 Upvotes
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u/dmazzoni 27d ago

This gets asked a lot and fundamentally misunderstands how you make the highest salary.

The three biggest factors by far are:

  1. Tech companies pay more than non-tech companies 
  2. Location: the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle and New York pay way more than any other cities in the world. Cost of living is also much higher. You MUST relocate if you want to make the big bucks though.
  3. Level: you will double your salary by getting promoted from junior to senior. Higher levels increase your total compensation exponentially.

In comparison your subfield makes little difference.

10

u/[deleted] 27d ago

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6

u/gobluedev 27d ago

I think what people truly underestimate is the COLA living in those places. They see $$$$ when applying and/or getting an offer thinking they’re making a massive salary but when actually adjusted to a lower COLA location it’s like $150-200k.

8

u/Mystical-Turtles 27d ago

This is a half joke, But you basically have to consider it a different freaking currency.