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Introduction

Ever wondered what an entry-level Software Engineer makes? Almost nothing right? Guess again. Recent statistics show that the ride-sharing tech company "Lyft" pays their Software Engineers with 0-2 years to experience very well, on average $234,000 annually. This is substantially more than what some veteran Software Engineers make.

The Lyft company is now operating in 644+ cities worldwide, and its HQ is based in sunny San Francisco. Last year, the Lyft company went public with many receiving large payouts of up to 1M+ for stock options.

Compensation for Junior Software Engineer is the high end of the market

Uber and Lyft have been locked in a vicious battle for years, competing for the world's top engineering talent. However, it now looks like Stripe, Airbnb, and LinkedIn are their main competitors, paying out gigantic amounts of money to get the juniors on-board.

Here is the specific experience requirements for a Lyft Junior Engineer:

Computer science is the focal point of the skills required. These fundamentals are taught at colleges, boot camps, or even online course providers, such as Udemy. Discrete Math and Algorithms & Data Structures being two topics that are promoted heavily. You can read more about fundamental concepts here.

It doesn't just stop at the junior level though. Those who come into Lyft or Uber with a great deal of experience can make lots more money, their typical staff engineer makes on average, $550,000 per annum. This is 4.6x more than the average engineer in the bay.

The average Software Engineer in the bay area earns $118,274. Source.

Conclusion

It's an exciting time starting out as a software engineer, with the potential to make more money than you can spend in a lifetime. Lyft is now the top paying company for junior talent. Not just that, but it looks like they pay their senior engineers quite well too.

If you're interested in learning to code in languages like Python, Javascript, or Java, check out our Coding Essentials Guidebook for Developers. This book covers core coding concepts and tools for people who have considered learning to code but don't know where to start.