Google L5 Software Engineer Salary in Greater San Diego Area | $255K-$403K+ | Levels.fyi (2024)

FAQs

How much does a Google engineer L5 make? ›

How much does a Google L5 Engineer make? As of Apr 15, 2024, the average annual pay for a Google L5 Engineer in the United States is $87,220 a year. Just in case you need a simple salary calculator, that works out to be approximately $41.93 an hour. This is the equivalent of $1,677/week or $7,268/month.

L5- Senior Software Engineer: 6-9 years of industry experience. This is the level most engineers are at internally within Google. You're expected to be able to operate with little direction and handle complex tasks on your own.

L5 Engineer Experience: Varies, but typically 8+ years. L5 Engineer Responsibilities: Make critical decisions on architecture, design, and technology choices.

The estimated total pay range for a L5 Software Development Engineer at Amazon is $173K–$244K per year, which includes base salary and additional pay. The average L5 Software Development Engineer base salary at Amazon is $139K per year.

The estimated total pay range for a Software Engineer V at Google is $309K–$444K per year, which includes base salary and additional pay. The average Software Engineer V base salary at Google is $211K per year.

Senior engineer (L5) is the first level that big tech recognizes as a “terminal” level across all companies. This means there is no pressure to continue to grow past this point. Aside from the fancy title and higher pay (extra ~$120k), you also get to take on more impactful work.

Here is a quick breakdown of the levels based on years of experience: L3 – Very little experience, from fresh out of college to up to 3 years. L4 – 3-10 years experience or completed PhD program. L5 – 5-10+ years experience in a relevant position.

Average 2 years at lower levels, increases as your level does. If you work at google, there's an internal dashboard that gives averages.

Minimum qualifications:

5+ years experience in multimedia software development, with excellent debugging and problem solving skills. BS in Computer Science/Electrical Engineering or equivalent. MS or PhD a plus.

How much does a Level 5 software engineer make at Meta? ›

The average Software Engineer V base salary at Meta is $204K per year. The average additional pay is $128K per year, which could include cash bonus, stock, commission, profit sharing or tips.

L5 / "Senior Software Engineer" expectations are such that you have to have "influence beyond yourself", own some area of work, set technical direction for some other engineers. You're either a team lead or an "exceptionally strong individual contributor".

To expand a little bit, you usually start at L3 as a fresh graduate, and then are expected to be promoted to L4 within ~2-3 years, and then L5 after another 2-3 years (although it could be shorter).

L4 - Owns the project management of a medium-to-large feature. L5 - Drives team planning, and builds a roadmap of several medium-to-large features.

For example, what does L5 mean? - Quora. L5 means senior software developer. At Google, most employees will never reach above L5 simply because that's the highest level you can reach w/o leading a significant and complicated project. In other companies, senior just indicates you have been there longer than some people.

Promotions from L3 to L4 and L4 to L5 (Senior Software Engineer) generally seem to take between 1.5 and 3 years.

Create an anonymous post and get feedback on your pay from other professionals. The estimated total pay range for a Staff Software Engineer L6 at Google is $378K–$551K per year, which includes base salary and additional pay. The average Staff Software Engineer L6 base salary at Google is $239K per year.