How much could you earn at Google?
That’s a pressing question for many tech professionals, given how many desire to work for the search-engine giant. For decades, the company has fostered a reputation as a place for sky-high salaries and extravagant perks, including fantastic in-office cafeterias, top-of-the-line fitness facilities, and state-of-the-art healthcare packages.
Fortunately for anyone who’s curious, Business Insider recently got its hands on an internal spreadsheet breaking down compensation data for 12,000 of Google’s U.S. employees. The publication then converted that data into several visualizations. Here’s a breakdown of Google’s maximum salaries for key roles:
The software engineer making a base salary of $718,000 per year was at level 7; as Insider notes, “most software engineers on the sheet reported making between $100,000 and $375,000.” For comparison’s sake, the most recent Dice Tech Salary Report pins the average software developer salary at $115,569, a -3.9 percent decline from the previous year; the average overall tech salary stands at $111,348.
Of course, pay at a company like Google isn’t just limited to base salary; you also have stock options and bonus, which can send total compensation into the stratosphere. Last year, one veteran manager of the company told Blind, which surveys anonymous-but-verified technologists on a range of issues, that they earned $1.5 million per year. In exchange for that massive sum, this individual managed a team of 150 engineers.
If you want to maximize your own salary, it’s not just about your technical skills; you also have to rely on “soft skills” such as empathy and communication, especially if you’re aiming for a management track. “A good engineer is not the smartest, but the one who uplifts the team, understands what managers want, and is a great peer and report to work with,” that anonymous Googler also told Blind. Take a data-based approach to asking for a raise, highlighting your contributions to the organization’s strategy and revenue—never be afraid to show your worth.
