My impression is that most of the software engineering jobs visible &quot;on the market&quot; right now pay in the range of $100-150k in the US, and amounts roughly commensurate to that elsewhere.<p>I don&#x27;t personally know anyone who makes more (or I don&#x27;t know I know them; people are fairly private about their pay), but I do know that such people exist, and a lot of them are probably on HN.<p>I think most people accepting &quot;market rates&quot; are curious what it takes to go beyond. So, here&#x27;s a poll.<p>For those of you who have a (non-founder, non-managerial) job in tech, making more than $150k <i>just in pure base-pay</i>:<p>1. How much do you make now?<p>2. What first pushed you into this bracket? Taking a job in a particular niche? Good negotiation when you were being hired? A raise? Threatening to quit? Something else?<p>3. what&#x27;s your take-home pay where you live? What is it after  cost-of-living (rent+travel to work+groceries) deductions?<p>4. What is your nominal job title? Is that what you <i>actually</i> do all day?<p>And a last optional set, if you&#x27;re not scared of inviting competition:<p>5. What is the industry&#x2F;vertical&#x2F;niche you&#x27;re employed in? Or your specific employer, if you dare.<p>5a. How meritocratic is your niche? Are all your highly-paid coworkers highly-skilled as well, or is there no correlation?<p>5b. How long would it take a good programmer without previous exposure to your niche to learn what they need to know to get hired to do your job at your level?
Those of you making more than $150k programming for a living: how?