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Home / Compensation / Google / Software Engineer
Total compensation for a Google Software Engineer ranges from about $175K at the entry level to $1.4M+ at the most senior bands, with a typical mid-level package around $410K. Below is the full breakdown by level - base salary, annual equity, and bonus - from public-source data.
Public-source estimates (Beta). Last updated 2026-05. Figures are annualized USD.
| Level | Years | Base (p50) | Equity/yr (p50) | Bonus (p50) | Total (p25-p90) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| L3Software Engineer II (New Grad) | 0-2 YOE | $145K | $35K | $18K | $175K - $235K |
| L4Software Engineer III | 3-5 YOE | $195K | $75K | $32K | $240K - $400K |
| L5Senior Software Engineer | 5-9 YOE | $240K | $130K | $50K | $340K - $580K |
| L6Staff Software Engineer | 8-15 YOE | $280K | $240K | $75K | $470K - $900K |
| L7Senior Staff Software Engineer | 12+ YOE | $320K | $400K | $95K | $650K - $1.4M |
Entry-level. New grad offers cluster around p50. Top-of-band offers go to candidates with strong competing offers from Meta or research backgrounds.
Mid-level. The most-common Google SWE level. Range varies sharply with leveling negotiation - L4 vs L5 calibration debates are routine.
Senior IC. The level where Google's compensation curve gets steep. Strong negotiators can land in the p75-p90 band; default offers cluster around p25-p50.
Staff IC. Equity becomes the dominant component. Stock-price movement creates significant year-to-year variance.
Senior staff. Promotion to L7 is a serious gate; many engineers cap at L6. Comp at L7+ is heavily equity-driven.
7 rounds. 6 of them can be practised here - each one below links the rep that trains it.
Other levels: L3 · L4 · L6 · L7 loops →
Recruiter screen
30 minutes. Background, level calibration (L4 vs L5), team interest. Recruiter often previews the bar shift you'll face vs L4.
Phone screen (technical)
45 minutes, one coding problem. Medium-to-Hard with follow-ups probing depth. Many L5 candidates fail this round by under-pacing.
Free rep: Coding challenges with a real sandbox →Onsite: Coding round 1
45 minutes, one Hard problem or two Mediums. Trees, graphs, dynamic programming, intervals. Pace to leave 5-10 minutes for follow-ups.
Free rep: Coding challenges with a real sandbox →Onsite: Coding round 2
45 minutes, second coding round. Often more design-shaped (rate limiter, LRU cache, scheduler) with code-quality emphasis.
Free rep: Coding challenges with a real sandbox →Onsite: System design
45 minutes. L5 candidates get more open-ended designs: photo sharing service, distributed file system, pub/sub messaging, location-aware ride dispatch. Drive the conversation, defend tradeoffs explicitly.
Free rep: Design walkthrough: Design a URL Shortener (bit.ly) →Onsite: Tech leadership / 2nd design (varies)
45 minutes. Some loops include a second design round, others a tech leadership round (technical decision making, ambiguous system tradeoffs, cross-team coordination).
Free rep: Design walkthrough: Design a News Feed (Twitter / Facebook) →Onsite: Googleyness & leadership
45 minutes. Senior signal expected. Mentoring, leading without authority, navigating disagreement at scale, decisions you'd make differently.
Free rep: STAR answers: Googleyness & Leadership (Google) →The full Google prep pack → what they value, topic emphasis, and the questions candidates ask.
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