There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to compensation. How much you’re paid depends on a variety of factors – among them, the type of company you work for and where that company is located.
With the tech sector booming, Comparably explored 15 of the most popular job titles in tech and what they pay according to gender, city, company size, and company status (whether a company is public or private – and if private, how much money it has raised). The results come from an analysis of more than 100,000 anonymous salary records for employees at small, mid-size and large public and private U.S. tech companies. The data was collected between March 2016 and February 2018.
Note: Compensation depicted below represents average total compensation unless otherwise noted. Compensation charts are shaded dark green (high compensation) to light green (low compensation). Full methodology below.
Public companies vs. private companies
^ KEY TAKEAWAYS:
PUBLIC BEATS PRIVATE
On average, people can earn more at public companies than private.
THE SALARY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE CAN BE STARK
For example, a senior developer at a private company with little funding earns about $73,000 while a senior developer at a public company earns about $130,000 on average.
ACROSS THE BOARD WINNERS
Architects and senior product Managers generally command the highest salaries of the group.
Large companies vs. small companies
^ KEY TAKEAWAYS:
THE BIGGER THE BETTER
For every job title, compensation increased with company size.
DATA SCIENTISTS START BIG AT SMALL COMPANIES
Whereas many job titles show dramatic increases with company size, data scientists at smaller companies earn only slightly less at smaller companies than they do at large companies.
IT MANAGERS BENEFIT MOST BY WORKING AT BIG COMPANIES
IT Managers showed some of the most dramatic disparities in pay by company size. For companies with 1-200 employees, the average compensation was $90,000. For companies with 10,000+ employees, the compensation was $139,000.
By city: How average compensation compares by city (LA, NYC, SF)
^ KEY TAKEAWAYS:
PUBLIC COMPANIES IN SAN FRANCISCO PAY TOP DOLLAR
For every job title, compensation was highest at public companies in San Francisco
THE LOWEST PAID JOBS IN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE COs. ARE JUNIOR DEVELOPERS AND MARKETING MANAGERS. SALES MANAGERS AND LEAD ENGINEERS IN ALL THREE CITIES DO WELL, ESPECIALLY THOSE WHO WORK AT PUBLIC COMPANIES
What men and women make at public companies vs. private companies
Note: “Private” here is an aggregate of private companies at every funding stage.
^ KEY TAKEAWAYS:
SALES MANAGERS, REPS SHOW THE BIGGEST GAPS.
- Male sales managers at public companies make 30% more on average than female sales managers at public companies ($151,000 vs. $115,000).
JUNIOR DEVELOPERS HAVE MOST SIMILAR SALARIES ACROSS GENDER AND PUBLIC/PRIVATE STATUS.
- The salary was little changed between men and women, and public vs. private.
What women make: Large companies vs. small companies
^ KEY TAKEAWAYS:
FEMALE SENIOR PRODUCT MANAGERS MAKE THE MOST.
- The average salary for a female senior product manager at a company with 10,000+ employees is $154,000 the highest of all job roles and company sizes.
HIGHEST COMPENSATION FOR WOMEN AT SMALL COMPANIES:
- Women who work as senior product managers, senior developers and lead engineers.
HIGHEST COMPENSATION FOR WOMEN AT LARGE COMPANIES:
- Women who work as senior product managers, architects, and senior developers.
What men make: Large companies vs. small companies
MALE SENIOR PRODUCT MANAGERS MAKE THE MOST.
- Like women, the average salary for a male senior product manager at a company with 10,000+ employees is higher than any other — $169,000.
HIGHEST COMPENSATION FOR MEN AT SMALL COMPANIES:
- Men who work as lead engineers make the most at smaller companies.
HIGHEST COMPENSATION FOR MEN AT LARGE COMPANIES:
- Men who work as senior product managers, senior developers, sales managers and lead engineers.
Methodology
- The results were compiled from 118,275 Comparably users in job titles that have at least 2,000 overall employee compensation records on Comparably. People of all ages, educational backgrounds, ethnicities and experience levels were included.
- Salaries reflect average total compensation (base salaries plus bonus).
- Employees hail from small, mid-size, and large tech companies (VC-funded, privately-held, and public) to household brands like Amazon, Apple, Google, Facebook, Uber, etc.
- Data was collected between March 2016 and February 2018.
About Comparably
Comparably is one of the fastest growing compensation, culture, and career monitoring sites in the U.S. With the most comprehensive and uniquely structured data — segmented by gender, ethnicity, age, location, tenure, company size, equity, title/department, and education — the platform gives employees a more accurate picture of their worth and allows them to anonymously rate their workplace experiences and match with their dream jobs. Since its launch in 2016, Comparably has accumulated more than 3 million ratings from employees across 30,000 U.S. businesses and over 5,000 companies who use its employer branding and jobs tools. For more information on Comparably, go to www.comparably.com. For highly-cited workplace culture and compensation studies, including Comparably’s annual Best Places to Work and Best CEOs lists, log onto www.comparably.com/blog.
