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Home / Compensation / Google vs Microsoft
Google pays about 21% more than Microsoft for a mid-level Software Engineer: $410K vs $340K median total comp. Below is the full level-by-level breakdown for every role ladder both companies share, from public-source data.
Public-source estimates (Beta). Figures are annualized USD total compensation (base + equity + bonus).
Google pays about 21% more than Microsoft for a mid-level Software Engineer: $410K vs $340K median total comp. Overall ranges run $175K - $1.4M at Google and $145K - $1.2M at Microsoft across all levels.
| Company | Entry (p50) | Mid (p50) | Senior (p50) |
|---|---|---|---|
| $195K | $410K | $800K | |
| Microsoft | $165K | $340K | $730K |
| Level | Total comp (p25 - p90) |
|---|---|
| L3Software Engineer II (New Grad) | $175K - $235Kmedian $195K |
| L4Software Engineer III | $240K - $400Kmedian $285K |
| L5Senior Software Engineer | $340K - $580Kmedian $410K |
| L6Staff Software Engineer | $470K - $900Kmedian $580K |
| L7Senior Staff Software Engineer | $650K - $1.4Mmedian $800K |
| Level | Total comp (p25 - p90) |
|---|---|
| 59 (SDE)Software Engineer (New Grad) | $145K - $205Kmedian $165K |
| 60-61 (SDE II)Software Engineer II | $195K - $320Kmedian $230K |
| 62-63 (Senior)Senior Software Engineer | $280K - $500Kmedian $340K |
| 64-65 (Principal)Principal Software Engineer | $410K - $800Kmedian $510K |
| 66+ (Partner)Partner Software Engineer | $580K - $1.2Mmedian $730K |
Google pays about 6% more than Microsoft for a mid-level Engineering Manager: $840K vs $790K median total comp. Overall ranges run $360K - $2.1M at Google and $290K - $2.4M at Microsoft across all levels.
| Company | Entry (p50) | Mid (p50) | Senior (p50) |
|---|---|---|---|
| $430K | $840K | $1.2M | |
| Microsoft | $360K | $790K | $1.3M |
| Level | Total comp (p25 - p90) |
|---|---|
| M3Engineering Manager | $360K - $600Kmedian $430K |
| M4Senior Engineering Manager | $490K - $920Kmedian $600K |
| M5Director, Engineering | $680K - $1.4Mmedian $840K |
| M6Senior Director, Engineering | $950K - $2.1Mmedian $1.2M |
| Level | Total comp (p25 - p90) |
|---|---|
| 62-63 (Manager)Software Engineering Manager | $290K - $540Kmedian $360K |
| 64-65 (Principal Mgr)Principal Engineering Manager | $430K - $850Kmedian $540K |
| 66+ (Partner Mgr)Partner Engineering Manager | $620K - $1.3Mmedian $790K |
| 67+ (CVP)Corporate Vice President / Distinguished Manager | $950K - $2.4Mmedian $1.3M |
Google pays about 24% more than Microsoft for a mid-level ML Engineer: $440K vs $355K median total comp. Overall ranges run $180K - $1.6M at Google and $150K - $1.3M at Microsoft across all levels.
| Company | Entry (p50) | Mid (p50) | Senior (p50) |
|---|---|---|---|
| $205K | $440K | $900K | |
| Microsoft | $170K | $355K | $760K |
| Level | Total comp (p25 - p90) |
|---|---|
| L3ML Engineer (New Grad) | $180K - $255Kmedian $205K |
| L4ML Engineer | $255K - $430Kmedian $305K |
| L5Senior ML Engineer | $365K - $640Kmedian $440K |
| L6Staff ML Engineer | $510K - $1Mmedian $640K |
| L7Senior Staff ML Engineer | $720K - $1.6Mmedian $900K |
| Level | Total comp (p25 - p90) |
|---|---|
| 59 (AS)Applied Scientist (New Grad) | $150K - $215Kmedian $170K |
| 60-61 (AS II)Applied Scientist II | $200K - $340Kmedian $240K |
| 62-63 (Sr AS)Senior Applied Scientist | $290K - $530Kmedian $355K |
| 64-65 (Principal AS)Principal Applied Scientist | $425K - $840Kmedian $535K |
| 66+ (Partner AS)Partner Applied Scientist | $600K - $1.3Mmedian $760K |
Google pays about 25% more than Microsoft for a mid-level Product Manager: $400K vs $320K median total comp. Overall ranges run $175K - $1.4M at Google and $140K - $1.1M at Microsoft across all levels.
| Company | Entry (p50) | Mid (p50) | Senior (p50) |
|---|---|---|---|
| $200K | $400K | $770K | |
| Microsoft | $160K | $320K | $690K |
| Level | Total comp (p25 - p90) |
|---|---|
| APMAssociate Product Manager | $175K - $250Kmedian $200K |
| PM IProduct Manager | $230K - $380Kmedian $270K |
| Senior PMSenior Product Manager | $330K - $580Kmedian $400K |
| Staff PMStaff Product Manager | $450K - $880Kmedian $560K |
| Group PMGroup Product Manager | $620K - $1.4Mmedian $770K |
| Level | Total comp (p25 - p90) |
|---|---|
| 59 (PM)Product Manager (New Grad) | $140K - $200Kmedian $160K |
| 60-61 (PM II)Product Manager II | $185K - $305Kmedian $220K |
| 62-63 (Sr PM)Senior Product Manager | $265K - $470Kmedian $320K |
| 64-65 (Principal PM)Principal Product Manager | $380K - $750Kmedian $480K |
| 66+ (Partner PM)Partner Product Manager | $540K - $1.1Mmedian $690K |
Google pays about 21% more than Microsoft for a mid-level SRE / DevOps: $405K vs $335K median total comp. Overall ranges run $170K - $1.4M at Google and $145K - $1.2M at Microsoft across all levels.
| Company | Entry (p50) | Mid (p50) | Senior (p50) |
|---|---|---|---|
| $190K | $405K | $780K | |
| Microsoft | $165K | $335K | $720K |
| Level | Total comp (p25 - p90) |
|---|---|
| L3Site Reliability Engineer (New Grad) | $170K - $230Kmedian $190K |
| L4Site Reliability Engineer | $235K - $395Kmedian $280K |
| L5Senior SRE | $335K - $570Kmedian $405K |
| L6Staff SRE | $460K - $880Kmedian $565K |
| L7Senior Staff SRE | $640K - $1.4Mmedian $780K |
| Level | Total comp (p25 - p90) |
|---|---|
| 59 (SRE)Site Reliability Engineer (New Grad) | $145K - $205Kmedian $165K |
| 60-61 (SRE II)Site Reliability Engineer II | $190K - $315Kmedian $225K |
| 62-63 (Sr SRE)Senior Site Reliability Engineer | $275K - $495Kmedian $335K |
| 64-65 (Principal SRE)Principal Site Reliability Engineer | $405K - $790Kmedian $505K |
| 66+ (Partner SRE)Partner Site Reliability Engineer | $570K - $1.2Mmedian $720K |
Google pays about 23% more than Microsoft for a mid-level Data Engineer: $405K vs $330K median total comp. Overall ranges run $170K - $1.4M at Google and $142K - $1.2M at Microsoft across all levels.
| Company | Entry (p50) | Mid (p50) | Senior (p50) |
|---|---|---|---|
| $190K | $405K | $780K | |
| Microsoft | $162K | $330K | $715K |
| Level | Total comp (p25 - p90) |
|---|---|
| L3Data Engineer (New Grad) | $170K - $230Kmedian $190K |
| L4Data Engineer | $235K - $395Kmedian $280K |
| L5Senior Data Engineer | $335K - $570Kmedian $405K |
| L6Staff Data Engineer | $460K - $880Kmedian $565K |
| L7Senior Staff Data Engineer | $640K - $1.4Mmedian $780K |
| Level | Total comp (p25 - p90) |
|---|---|
| 59 (DE)Data Engineer (New Grad) | $142K - $200Kmedian $162K |
| 60-61 (DE II)Data Engineer II | $188K - $310Kmedian $222K |
| 62-63 (Sr DE)Senior Data Engineer | $270K - $488Kmedian $330K |
| 64-65 (Principal DE)Principal Data Engineer | $400K - $785Kmedian $498K |
| 66+ (Partner DE)Partner Data Engineer | $565K - $1.2Mmedian $715K |
Google pays about 17% more than Microsoft for a mid-level Design: $345K vs $295K median total comp. Overall ranges run $145K - $1.1M at Google and $122K - $1.0M at Microsoft across all levels.
| Company | Entry (p50) | Mid (p50) | Senior (p50) |
|---|---|---|---|
| $165K | $345K | $670K | |
| Microsoft | $140K | $295K | $635K |
| Level | Total comp (p25 - p90) |
|---|---|
| L3Product Designer (New Grad) | $145K - $205Kmedian $165K |
| L4Product Designer | $200K - $335Kmedian $240K |
| L5Senior Product Designer | $285K - $495Kmedian $345K |
| L6Staff Product Designer | $395K - $760Kmedian $490K |
| L7Senior Staff Product Designer | $540K - $1.1Mmedian $670K |
| Level | Total comp (p25 - p90) |
|---|---|
| 59 (Designer)Designer (New Grad) | $122K - $175Kmedian $140K |
| 60-61 (Designer II)Designer II | $165K - $275Kmedian $195K |
| 62-63 (Senior Designer)Senior Designer | $240K - $440Kmedian $295K |
| 64-65 (Principal Designer)Principal Designer | $350K - $700Kmedian $440K |
| 66+ (Partner Designer)Partner Designer | $500K - $1.0Mmedian $635K |
Google pays about 22% more than Microsoft for a mid-level Security Engineer: $420K vs $343K median total comp. Overall ranges run $175K - $1.4M at Google and $147K - $1.2M at Microsoft across all levels.
| Company | Entry (p50) | Mid (p50) | Senior (p50) |
|---|---|---|---|
| $195K | $420K | $810K | |
| Microsoft | $167K | $343K | $745K |
| Level | Total comp (p25 - p90) |
|---|---|
| L3Security Engineer (New Grad) | $175K - $235Kmedian $195K |
| L4Security Engineer | $245K - $405Kmedian $290K |
| L5Senior Security Engineer | $350K - $590Kmedian $420K |
| L6Staff Security Engineer | $480K - $910Kmedian $590K |
| L7Senior Staff Security Engineer | $660K - $1.4Mmedian $810K |
| Level | Total comp (p25 - p90) |
|---|---|
| 59 (Sec Eng)Security Engineer (New Grad) | $147K - $207Kmedian $167K |
| 60-61 (Sec Eng II)Security Engineer II | $198K - $322Kmedian $233K |
| 62-63 (Senior Sec)Senior Security Engineer | $282K - $505Kmedian $343K |
| 64-65 (Principal Sec)Principal Security Engineer | $415K - $810Kmedian $515K |
| 66+ (Partner Sec)Partner Security Engineer | $590K - $1.2Mmedian $745K |
Neither pays the bigger median bonus at every level (Google vs Microsoft, Software Engineer: entry $18K vs $15K, mid $50K vs $38K, top level $95K vs $95K). Bonus is 12% of the median mid-level package at Google and 11% at Microsoft.
| Level | Google bonus (p50) | Microsoft bonus (p50) | Google bonus share | Microsoft bonus share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entry (L3 / 59 (SDE)) | $18K | $15K | 9% | 9% |
| Mid (L5 / 62-63 (Senior)) | $50K | $38K | 12% | 11% |
| Top (L7 / 66+ (Partner)) | $95K | $95K | 12% | 13% |
Neither pays the bigger median bonus at every level (Google vs Microsoft, Software Engineer: entry $18K vs $15K, mid $50K vs $38K, top level $95K vs $95K). Bonus is 12% of the median mid-level package at Google and 11% at Microsoft. At both companies equity is the bigger lever than bonus: Google's RSU grants front-load the first years, while Microsoft's stock comp has historically been less generous than its FAANG peers, with stock price gains offsetting that, according to the dataset's notes.
Neither pays the bigger median bonus at every level (Google vs Microsoft, Software Engineer: entry $18K vs $15K, mid $50K vs $38K, top level $95K vs $95K). Bonus is 12% of the median mid-level package at Google and 11% at Microsoft. Google's bonus target steps up from L5; Microsoft's IC target is lower than its manager target and rises again at Partner and above.
Google grants RSUs in publicly traded GOOG/GOOGL on a front-loaded vesting schedule, and refresh grants are typical after one to two years of tenure. Microsoft's RSUs vest evenly each year with no cliff. This dataset's Microsoft notes say nothing about refresh grants, so it gives no refresher comparison.
Google's L4 loop is two onsite coding rounds, a bounded system design round and a structured Googleyness and leadership round, with an AI-assisted code comprehension round piloting on some teams. Microsoft's SDE II loop is two coding rounds, a bounded system design round and a hiring-manager as-app round, with Growth Mindset questions in every round. Each company has its own prep pack.
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