You want to really feel bad about yourself? I have a friend that makes $75k base + $75k in bonus each year. He also has stock that nets around $450k every 3 years. So all in comp per year he makes roughly $300,000. Did I mention he's 23 with no experience (BS degree to boot)?
I guess the shitty part is that he has to live in SV and work for Facebook. I'd be tempted to take an offer for $300k, but having to work at Facebook makes it almost not worth it. So I guess the comp matches the job.
It's just strange how much of gap there is for SEs and developers (or anyone in tech for that matter). You could be making $75k in the midwest working on something important and living pretty comfortably (if you have a spouse with income). Or you could be making $300k with less experience working at Facebook on some feature that'll never see the light of day. You're barely scraping by because the $2mm mortgage on your 1200 sqft house is killing you.
If it makes you feel any better, the rationalization I apply to those Google/FB salaries (total comp.) is that I'm fairly confident that I will never be able to work at either of those companies. And I am at peace with that since working in this technology industry bubble, allows me to work with my mind and with talented people with diverse interests and appreciate how fortunate I am to have the ability to have what I do have - not what I don't have.
The amount of money BS graduates make at Google is giving me a complex.