
Ask HN: Young devs vs. Older devs salaries - Nemant
I&#x27;m 24 living in NYC working for a big tech company making ~$120k&#x2F;year, combining bonuses, stocks and salary.<p>My question, if I&#x27;m making this at age 24, how much are older devs in their 30s&#x2F;40s making?<p>We recently hired somebody who&#x27;s around 40 and is only a level higher than me. The same level that other devs in the company get to by the age of 26-27, making around 10%-15% more than me.<p>My intuition tells me that my overall compensation won&#x27;t increase that much even by the time I reach to Principal Engineer.<p>I feel as if no matter how much more experience you have, your overall compensation is quite similar to that of a graduate, or at least is not significantly higher.<p>Any thoughts?
======
tomglindmeier
$120k/year at the age of 24 is already pretty high. I wouldn't expect a crazy
%-increase at that level.

~~~
xur17
But the 120k/year he quoted includes bonuses, stock, and salary. Especially in
NY, that isn't all that ridiculous. My annual combined salary in Austin, TX is
very close to that at a similar age.

~~~
Nemant
That's pretty good for Texas, right? I've heard it's really really cheap down
there. Hence, relatively speaking you're making more than me. Who do you work
for? Do you think it's possible to get a similar salary in Dallas too? Any
companies down there?

------
davismwfl
You are probably within a 1.5-2x of your total annual comp based upon current
trends. I am in my late 30's and most friends that stayed in dev roles are
making mostly in the < $200k range regardless of location. The way to increase
it is to work on exiting a development role and moving into other roles or
work on becoming a founder. Sadly, engineering is still not as respected in a
financial sense, I think partially because US based companies feel they can
off shore work for fractions of a dollar, thus keeping engineer salaries
artificially capped.

In your early-mid 20's you are doing well and should be proud. In my 20's I
did very similar but found that I hit a ceiling that just couldn't be breached
until I left pure development roles. Not saying you can't do better, just that
it has been a trend in software for a long time.

------
kasey_junk
As an employee your intuition is largely correct. You can expect to max out at
about 2x of that (inflation adjusted). The way to make dramatically more than
that is to be compensated as part of the revenue stream of a business in some
way, and then to increase the amount of revenue that is funneled into that
business.

Owning your own business is the simplest example of this but other options are
available. Startups model this via equity, finance typically does this via
bonus payouts, and consulting does this via bill rate.

Usually this comes with an increased level of risk or less guaranteed income.
It would not be surprising to move from one mode of compensation to another
many times in your career.

------
youngoverpaid
Throwaway account for the purposes of workplace anonymity. I just wanted to
add an anecdotal data point.

I am also a mid-20s year old living in NYC working in tech, although not for a
large company. My cash compensation is currently around $200k/year, salary +
bonus. I also have some options which may or may not ever be worth anything. I
would parrot what a3voices said, and say that I probably got to where I am by
having a slightly-more scarce specialty in tech, and also by being one of the
people with a full grasp of the company stack.

------
briHass
It's going to be highly location/talent dependent, but from a quick glance at
salary sites, NY,NY seems to pay about 20% more than the area I'm used to.
Thus, I could see a reasonable salary of $150k at the Senior (10-12 year
level.) Obviously, there are specialties where you could do much better.

That's a high salary at 24, so you will either grow significantly, or you'll
see that level out quickly.

------
jamesdharper3
I would have to agree with you. The most career/salary growth that
professionals see is between 25-34 years of age. Being 24 years old and make
120K a year, I'd say you're off to a great start.

------
BayAreaSmayArea
Pretty much echo what everyone has said, as an individual contributor if you
double up you're doing good.

------
a3voices
I think the best you can possibly do is 2x your current compensation as an
engineer given ideal circumstances. The older engineers who make a ton are
probably really good at job hopping and/or negotiating, in addition to working
hard consistently and being smart. I also suspect they orchestrate situations
where they work for managers who they have a good relationship with, so the
chances they get promoted are greater. I think another key factor is they
become a scarce resource to the company, i.e. the only person who really knows
the entire stack, which gives them leverage. Another possible factor is day-
to-day they prioritize visible work for which they'd get future recognition.
One highly paid engineer I knew also seemed good at building relationships
with everyone.

The only way to truly beat the system financially is to get early equity in a
startup that becomes very successful.

~~~
bbcbasic
> The only way to truly beat the system financially is to get early equity in
> a startup that becomes very successful.

Or ignore compensation as a route to wealth. Invest in real estate on the
side. The job provides security. The investments create wealth in the more
distant future.

