I would say 90 is much closer to the average for a new grad. There are definitely plenty of places paying lower than that, as well. I wouldn’t worry too much about salary for your first job. Get a few years in doing good work, learn a lot, and the opportunity for the big bucks will be there.
Look for somewhere that has a strong team/leader that will grow you and mentor you. Having 5 YOE in weak teams is less valuable than 2 YOE on a good team with people who know what they’re doing. Don’t worry about the “dream job” right now, and just focus on getting better. Then you’ll be set up for a lot of options in year 3/4.
I think it depends on where you’re coming from and your location. I think new grads with degrees (BA or MS) in product design can make base salary of 120-130k. But on average I’m guessing around 70-110k base depending on location seems about right. Upper end for SF/NY, lower or middle for other locations. I think stock can be a huge range so I’m not so sure about total comp but this is my guess.
It is highly variable on the company, designers in the bay can often make 70k-90k at smaller companies, or companies that don’t pay designers competitively. But larger tech companies or hot startups could be paying a 100k-130k range for entry level.
From what I’ve heard in my network, 110k is a very typical entry level TC in the bay for designers now.
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From what I’ve heard in my network, 110k is a very typical entry level TC in the bay for designers now.