I'll use myself as an example. I live in NYC, my rent is $4300 / month (2 bedroom apartment in nice doorman building on Upper West Side), and I just accepted an offer at a public tech company. My first 12 months should pay me $420,000, assuming the stock price is stable. I'll ignore the possibility of any raises, promotions, bonuses, stock price increase, and refreshers. I'll also ignore the 401k match (max is about $5k / year) and the ESPP.

I'm married with a kid, so here are my numbers:

  Gross: $420,000
  401k: $19,500 (max for 2020)
  Taxes: $143,485 (federal, state, local, and FICA)
  Rent: $51,600
  Net: $205,415

I'm already really happy with that number, but my wife has her own income, I have a profitable side business, I'll do a mega backdoor Roth and the ESPP, and I expect refreshers, stock price increase, and a promotion over the next few years.

It's a very good time to be a software engineer in a tech hub.