Happy Labor Day and National Payroll Week (imagine creating a system of taxation so complex that no company could pay its workers without the assistance of a contractor who in turn must rely on at least 1 million lines of software).
What does it cost to hire decent people these days? A similar-vintage (i.e., old!) friend in San Francisco recently started a job at a VC-backed AI/robotics company. It would have been rude to ask how much he is getting paid, so of course I did. “About $400,000 per year in cash,” he replied, “plus $500,000 or $600,000 in lottery tickets.” Apparently, the tax value of the lottery tickets is much lower than $500k and, therefore, the current taxes on what might turn out to be worthless aren’t severe.
If you’re wondering why your health insurance bills are so high… A mid-career radiologist friend was offered $1.3 million to work at a community hospital in New Jersey. She turned it down because she doesn’t agree with the progressive politics of the state, a disagreement that would be exacerbated by New Jersey’s high taxes (10.75% for state income, ranked #49 for tax environment by the Tax Foundation; the most recent ranking for tax burden, the percentage of peasant income taxed away by the governing elites, has New Jersey taking 13.2% vs. 15.9% in New York and 7-9% in the most efficient states, such as New Hampshire, Texas, Tennessee, and Florida). As a legacy American (white/Christian) she probably wouldn’t enjoy being represented by her replacement Adam Hamawy, an Egyptian immigrant to the U.S. with an “association with a terrorist Muslim cleric” (Politico) and “an opponent of Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system and a supporter of a complete arms embargo and the right of return for Palestinian refugees” (Forward).
How soon before all of America’s smart people post “Gone to the Klondike” signs on their doors and can’t be hired because they’re doing AI startups?
Anyone else want to contribute some data on real-world recruiting and pay right now? I feel that the BLS data aren’t the full picture. Median pay for a software developer was supposedly around $131,000 in 2024, but does that include people who can’t program and who work 2 hours/week while being paid for 40 at a state government agency or contractor? I’m more interested in a survey of what it costs to hire someone who is capable and productive.
Related:
Do not forget New Jersey real estate taxes… Always wondered how software developers making under $200,000/year managed to pay those in addition to all other cost of living expenses. Has to be both husband and wife working full time in high stress jobs
In quant finance we are trying to only hire the top 1-2 percent from the top 10-20 schools. New graduates can expect 400k-450k in 2026 and the good but not best firms. The very best (eg Jane Street, Citadel, Hudson River) pay 600k-800k.
Pondered traveling to Palo Alto today, but took a pass. Maybe if Greenspun threw in a discovery flight in the SR-20. Friend in Greenspunland means Stanford educated & high level job title. For regulars, it’s 0-$180k. The language models have automated most everything under a senior director. There’s not much mobility unless you’re starting over in an unpaid role or moving sideways from a marketing role. For someone who bounced around as a doer for the last 30 years, close enough to retire, the current gig is going to be the last one.
Here is one piece of news that might appeal to Phil (in his PhD days at least): https://www.foxnews.com/tech/autonomous-excavators-digging-empty-cabs
I have recently heard ads on a serious podcast where they were looking for AI dudes starting at 300-500k + benefits etc.
Senior SWE (AI phD) friend of mine got two offers. One fully remote for 500k total compensation. The other 500k out of DC or NYC. This is for a “consultant” position.
He got a phD in machine learning back in the 90s when it was a dead-end and nobody thought there would be progress since compute was too expensive
Maybe he can work two $500K remote jobs, like the Federal cyber security worker working 33 hours a day for as many as four federal agencies at the same time! Her name – Richeline Anisso Fung.
https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/former-homeland-security-employee-pleads-guilty-250000-fraud-scheme
Phil, in addition to your Wonderful Blog, I Love your salary survey here because it Educates people about the Great Value of a Harvard Education and Great Scholars like me that not only are President, but also Great Professors and Teachers (for those Few who are unfamiliar with me, I am the world’s Singular Greatest Expert Scholar of Black Studies Plagiarism…and so much more!). So, you will be Overjoyed to learn that in the most recent fiscal year Harvard paid me $1.397m in salary plus $150k in “other compensation” (really a special bonus to me…I’m sure you understand!). And, I only had to “teach” for half the year! The other half of the year I was Engaged in Voluminous, Deep and Complex Research Projects (along with the late Jason Arday). While I’m clearly underpaid relative to my Great Contributions to Humanity, I have been assured by Penny Pritzker (the Wonderful Harvard corporation Fellow) that future pay raises are headed way (yay!). I hope that is helpful to you and your Wonderful Readers who are Laboring on Labor Day!
Claudine, welcome! Penny is part of the prominent Pritzker family, which has much power in Illinois. Will you be as great of a leader to Harvard as Rod Blagojevich was to Illinois?
samue, so Wonderful to hear from you. What a Special day! So, Leadership is in my DNA and it’s something I strive to achieve every day at Harvard, with the Great support of Penny and also her Hugely Supportive brother JB. Rod is of course a legend too!
How can a mid programmer get ones of these jobs and WFH? Asking for a friend.
“interested in a survey of what it costs to hire someone who is capable and productive.”
Phil G. is probably not interested, but my sister is a Sr. Accountant in a mid-size FL city on the east coast. She has 20 years of experience at the employer, not a CPA, and she earns $85K for an easy 40-hr work week, excellent benefits, and expects a $45K annual pension (no COLA) at retirement in ten years.
The employer starts accountants (degreed, no CPA required) at $60K.
The long-time City Manager earns $250K, and is eligible for a $140K annual pension (no COLA) next year at age 57 with 30 years of service.
The organization is always hiring at all levels, white and blue collar.
^ IT Director earns $170K heading up a 30-person department. Systems Analysts are paid $80K – $90K.
Reasonably LCOL. Very decent housing can be had for $300K+ within 3 miles from the beach.
125 K and even 45 K pensions for 30 years means mean multi-million conservatively managed holdings behind them. How are they funded?
Who guarantees them?
Seems like one of better on long term jobs among suggested here.
If the retiree is 57 years old, who pays for his health insurance?
These are municipal workers. The salaries, pensions, and retiree health insurance are funded by local property tax owners (i.e., suckers!).
Senior software developer at one of the biggest AI chip companies. Total compensation is over 2,000,000 with bonus and RSUs. But those RSUs were granted several years ago. A new hire (senior level) would probably be 600K-700K, I would guess.
$1.6M (cash+stock) FAANG exec
Who among you AI experts know this guy? Is this post an accurate representation of what is going on here (i.e. this was a scam by Anthropic)?
https://x.com/ParkerThayer/status/2097759699626328575
https://x.com/hilbertspaess/status/2097476196791709843
Salary info for technical roles: https://www.levels.fyi
Google and Facebook generally hire competent people, and (unlike a startup) they don’t need to pay a risk premium to cover the possibility that they go out of business before stocks vest. An average software engineer is expected to make it to level 5 (“Senior Software Engineer”) within five years, and stay there until he/she/it/they/it/qredliut retires (higher levels are for exceptional workers).
Google L5 average: $430,581
Salary: $229,612
Stock/yr: $173,423
Bonus: $27,546
Facebook E5 average: $433,285
Salary: $227,515
Stock/yr: $180,276
Bonus: $25,494
When you join, you get a grant of stock that vests over four years. Each year, the new stock grant also vests over four years. If the stock goes up over the vesting period, your W2 income will be much higher. An Nvidia employee who joined four years ago with a 800k initial stock grant is getting 1/4 of it released this year. The stock has gone from $16/share to $220/per share, so his income from the 200k that vests this year is ($200k * ($220 / $16)) = $2,750,000 this year.
CL: Thank you for these data. I notice that you use the pronoun “he” for a hypothetical Nvidia employee. I sure hope that Nvidia isn’t hiring technical people who identify as men! That isn’t diversity and, as Intel has demonstrated, a diverse team cannot fail.
> Helena was founded as a gold camp during the Montana gold rush on July 14, 1864, following the discovery of gold at Last Chance Gulch by the Four Georgians. It was formally established on October 30, 1864. Due to the gold rush, Helena became a wealthy city, with approximately 50 millionaires inhabiting the area by 1888. The concentration of wealth contributed to the city’s prominent, elaborate Victorian architecture.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helena%2C_Montana
> Systems Analyst II: Starting salary for this exempt position begins at $80,700 – $100,800 per year.
https://helenachamber.com/job-board/
Median listing price for a house in Helena, MT 8/26/2026: $599K
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEDLISPRI25740