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What is the salary you can expect if you start working at Microsoft in the US? While exact salaries are always kept confidential, Microsoft recent salary guidelines have leaked online revealing the highest and lowest pay packages Microsoft employees make. According to a report by Business Insider, the salary guidelines at Microsoft are available from early 2023 and this is the same guideline that “hiring managers use to decide as to how much to offer new hires….”

As per the report, salaries for new joinees at Microsoft depend a lot on the field of expertise, role and majorly the location. There isn’t a uniform pay package for employees according to the level. Someone working in a similar role at Microsoft earns more if located in San Francisco compared to other parts of the US. This is mainly to tackle the cost of living across regions in the US.

Considering all these aspects, what’s the highest pay package one can expect? The Level 70 is likely the highest pay rank and comes with a base pay range of from $231,700 and $361,500 annually. As for the joining bonus, it is usually in the range of between $310,000 and $1.2 million.

Microsoft has different ‘Levels’ to rank employees. Someone of the Level 68 is usually a ‘Partner’ at Microsoft and ranks like ‘Senior Principals’ and ‘Principals’ belong to Level 65 and 63 respectively. Larger the number, higher the level.

Another aspect to note is that not all job roles have the ability to go up the Levels. For example, not every job role necessarily will have a Level 70. Also, few job roles may even have a Level 80.

Now, what’s the lowest salary at Microsoft? An annual pay package of $42,500 is considered to be the lowest. These employees do not get the perks of joining bonus or stocks.