The 25 Highest-Paying Tech Companies

Matt Lynley

Jul 13, 2012, 2:17 AM

Photo: Facebook

We’ve already determined which companies have the best workplaces this year. Now let’s get down to business: which of them pay the best? Well, it’s really not surprising that some of the most popular software companies among engineers and developers also pay the best.

With help from Glassdoor.com, we’ve put together a list of the 25 highest-paying companies in technology. We compiled the average salary from an average of the most-reported salaries at each company.

A quick note: given the nature of Glassdoor, these salaries likely skew toward the technical side of the job, but we have included some sales and support staff salaries.

In addition, many of the highest-listed jobs on Glassdoor are in the $150,000 to $200,000 range — when the highest salaries are likely much higher. So these numbers are intended to be directional, not precise.

25. Rackspace has a fantastic workplace, but the average salary does seem quite low.

Average salary: $72,946

Highest-paying job: Director ($117,250)

Lowest-paying job: Account Manager ($50,047)

24. Groupon is run by a fleet of salespeople, so they are paid a little less than engineers.

Average salary: $72,949

Highest-paying job: Member of Technical Staff ($115,140)

Lowest-paying job: Account manager ($37,040)

23. Intel loves its researchers, but the average salary is still pretty low.

Average salary: $91,681

Highest-paying job: Research scientist ($113,857)

Lowest-paying job: Manufacturing Technician ($56,770)

22. Research in Motion is in deep trouble, and that's probably partly because they don't pay as well as the industry.

Average salary: $92,427

Highest-paying job: Senior Product Manager ($125,667)

Lowest-paying job: Hardware Designer ($68,333)

21. QUALCOMM pays its hardware engineers well, but the average is still low.

Average salary: $95,019

Highest-paying job: Staff Hardware Engineer ($121,543)

Lowest-paying job: Systems Test Engineer ($76,823)

20. Citrix Systems is a top place to work — so that probably comes at a slight cost.

Average salary: $99,026

Highest-paying job: Senior Software Development Engineer ($110,069)

Lowest-paying job: Quality Assurance Engineer ($73,378)

19. Microsoft still pays its employees an average of six figures, despite being enormous.

Average salary: $100,236

Highest-paying job: Researcher ($124,126)

Lowest-paying job: Technical Account Manager ($80,186)

18. Facebook is a product used by hundreds of millions of people. We're sure the engineers won't miss a few thousand dollars.

Average salary: $101,843

Highest-paying job: Product Manager ($133,571)

Lowest-paying job: User Operations Analyst ($43,518)

17. LinkedIn is one of the best places to work in the world — in exchange for a slightly-smaller salary.

Average salary: $102,359

Highest-paying job: Principal Software Engineer ($148,125)

Lowest-paying job: Sales development specialist ($53,667)

16. Apple doesn't pay its specialists too well, but it does pay its engineers competitively.

Average salary: $103,965

Highest-paying job: Product Design Engineer ($117,185)

Lowest-paying job: Mac Specialist ($26,561)

15. Amazon is one of the most important companies in the world, so employees are probably willing to take a bit of a pay cut.

Average salary: $104,854

Highest-paying job: Software Development Manager ($132,442)

Lowest-paying job: $62,397

14. NVIDIA spends a lot of money on pro hardware engineers.

Average salary: $104,858

Highest-paying job: Senior Hardware Engineer ($122,477)

Lowest-paying job: Product Engineer ($85,382)

13. Salesforce.com doesn't hire jerks, and pays its employees well.

Average salary: $105,354

Highest-paying job: Lead Member of Technical Staff ($149,385)

Lowest-paying job: Sales Engineer ($79,351)

12. Google is... well, Google.

Average Salary: $106,104

Highest paying job: Senior Software Engineer ($140,481)

Lowest-paying job: Account strategist ($60,909)

11. Larry Ellison still shells out a lot of money to hold onto his staff.

Average salary: $106,350

Highest-paying job: Consulting Member of Technical Staff ($150,973)

Lowest-paying job: Programmer Analyst ($62,975)

10. IBM pays its researchers extremely well.

Average salary: $107,242

Highest-paying job: Research Staff Member ($153,420)

Lowest-paying job: Computer Programmer ($67,103)

9. MITRE processes a ton of information, so it has to hire expensive engineers.

Average salary: $107,795

Highest-paying job: Principal Information Systems Engineer ($153,606)

Lowest-paying job: Software Systems Engineer ($72,288)

8. SAP America is a big, global company — so it can afford to pay its employees well.

Average salary: $108,932

Highest-paying job: Senior Director ($165,974)

Lowest-paying job: Technical Consultant ($89,737)

7. Adobe, the designer behind Photoshop, has a lot of money to give to its employees.

Average salary: $109,241

Highest-paying job: Senior Computer Scientist ($142,076)

Lowest-paying job: Financial Analyst ($65,600)

6. Intuit is an older company, but it does its best to pay its employees well.

Average salary: $110,575

Highest-paying job: Senior Product Manager ($134,525)

Lowest-paying job: Rotational Development Associate ($61,161)

5. Zynga might not be a fun place to work, but the salary is great.

Average salary: $111,004

Highest-paying job: Studio General Manager ($158,976)

Lowest-paying job: Game Designer ($77,767)

4. Twitter is one of the highest-paying startups in the batch.

Average salary: $116,324

Highest-paying job: Systems Software Engineer ($130,000)

Lowest-paying job: Product Designer ($98,222)

3. Guidewire, one of the best companies to work for, also pays very well.

Average salary: $117,515

Highest-paying job: Senior Integration Architect ($132,250)

Lowest-paying job: Quality Assurance Engineer ($95,625)

2. Yahoo is still paying a lot to hold onto its engineers.

Average salary: $118,290

Highest-paying job: Product Management Director ($154,330)

Lowest-paying job: Account Manager ($64,333)

1. Cisco Systems actually pays the best!

Average salary: $122,314

Highest-paying job: Senior Director ($208,679)

Lowest-paying job: Customer Support Engineer ($69,683)

Want to work at one of these companies?

Check out the top 25 workplaces in technology >

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