No. I've been pretty aggressive at getting raises and the fastest increases I've been able to get are from $55k in 2009 to $110k in 2011, to $140k in 2013, to $175k in 2015, to $250k in 2016.
These are base salary figures, no bonuses or options.
These are base salary figures, no bonuses or options.
I've went from $51k starting in end of 2012 to $75k + equity fall 2013 (both in DC) to $135k in mid 2014 to $140k + equity a few months later then $160k + equity in mid 2015 (all in the Valley) - before taking my last job, I turned down a $350k position (but low PTO - about half in equity), all for frontend engineering positions except for my current job (full web stack engineering). High salaries are certainly possible for software engineers, but you're not likely to see the inflated amounts outside of the Bay Area.
I have a friend who managed to do much better than me in less time as well in software engineering in the Bay Area. The caveat is that you have to be good at what you do in addition to having the right negotiation skills/savvy, and a bit of luck.
This is all in Los Angeles, CA
For context, in the UK, an engineer making £60-70k salary can expect about £500/day contracting (£120k annualised at 48 weeks working).
And the contract gigs tend to be 6-12 month contracts anyway.
In July 2009 got a raise to $58k at my company (Internet Brands, formally CarsDirect) so I started looking. I applied to a bunch of places and within a week I had an offer for $65k which my company matched. I told the new company and they increased their offer to $70k. I accepted.
The environment was pretty toxic at the new place so I was looking too leave when one of the other places I applied got back to me. Although I was making $70k, there were bonus opportunities of up to 10%, so I reported total compensation of $80k. The new company matched with an offer of $80k. So 3 months after I made $55k, I was making $80k. This was ClearChannel (now iHeartMedia), and sensing a major reorganization and possible layoffs, I left to work at a small startup in November 2011.
They offered a choice of low salary/high options or high salary/low options. I took the high salary, which was $110k. After 18 months I got a raise to $117k, but wasn't happy. They offered me more options but I wasn't interested. When I discovered a coworker's offer letter on the shared drive stating he made $135k, I started applying. I got an offer for $130k which my company countered at $140k plus a few perks like an extra week of PTO. In December 2014 I got a raise to $155k, and then a promotion to director of engineering at $175k in January 2015. I started consulting on the side in November and found it more lucrative, so I left in December 2015.