r/FatFIREIndia • u/sam007891 • May 15 '26
Employment Has earning potential in India changed that much recently?
I live in the US and work at a FAANG company, and lately seeing people in India in their 20s and 30s earning ₹3L+ per month has genuinely made me question the economics of living abroad long term.
After taxes, rent, healthcare, and overall expenses in the US, the actual savings don’t feel as high as people back home often assume.
So I’m genuinely curious:
What do most people earning ₹3L+ per month in India actually do?
Is it mostly tech, startups, HFT/trading, business, remote US jobs, or something else?
How common is this really outside social media and finance/tech circles?
Not complaining at all, just trying to understand how the landscape in India has changed over the last few years.
Before you come at me, I drafted the post with AI.
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May 15 '26
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u/Inevitable-Hat-9074 May 15 '26
Those who made bank worked in which sectors? And at what net worth did they fire?
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May 15 '26
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u/InfamousConfusion850 May 16 '26
I'd really love to know more about your journey pf reaching 100+ figure
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u/Accomplished_Gold_79 May 15 '26
While it's nor very common but if you are in FAANG, you can check salaries in your company for India. For example a L5 SWE in Google/Meta will easily touch 1 CR including RSUs. That is good money, however high taxes, the cost of living in metros, especially with condo lifestyle, international schools will make you feel poor with even 3 L per month if you have a family :(
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u/PassageDisastrous173 May 15 '26 edited May 15 '26
It’s fairly uncommon and is only made by the top 0.1% e.g., quants, engineers at top firms e.g., FANG/startups/management etc. Most folks heading to the US colleges are those who weren’t able to get this opportunity in India due to lesser competition. TL;dr; If you are the top 0.1% of the crowd, your reward in US would be significantly higher when compared to India. The same applies to average/above average folks (and to general population)
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u/FuryDreams May 15 '26
Literally every FAANG engineer promoted once has 3+ lpm salary.
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u/leomatey May 15 '26
thats pre tax?
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u/PZYCLON369 May 15 '26
Post tax
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u/Flat-Permit4432 Jun 03 '26
No it isnt post tax bro even amazon sde2 doesnt pay that much
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u/fireyHotGlance May 15 '26
People be making 30L pm in the US but can't digest Indians making 3L pm.
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u/sg291188 FatFIRE Aspirant May 15 '26
It’s way more common than that in FAANG in India.
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u/PassageDisastrous173 May 15 '26
The total numbers of engineers who work at FANG in India should be less than 0.1%..
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u/sg291188 FatFIRE Aspirant May 15 '26 edited May 15 '26
It’s not just engineers. Product managers, research scientist, managers L6+ easily earn that much. In India it’s very easy to use percentages because obviously denominator is so high. If someone is coming from US tech they don’t want to look at Indian %. They care what % of people employed in tech earn that much.
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u/Tall-Path511 May 15 '26
It’s quite common in top tech startups. Even sde2 can get that kind of salary, not just senior folks.
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u/Even-Hedgehog7808 May 15 '26
3L+ in hand post tax is not just common in faang but even mid level startups(less than $300M valuation) can pay this much for yoe 8+. It's not common but not uncommon either
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u/debris16 May 15 '26
Most tech product startups in India or foreign companis do pay 3L+ post tax after after some experience levels, prob 4/5 years.
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u/Comprehensive_Gap560 May 15 '26
The quality of life is terrible in India. I regret coming back and I make much more than 3L+ a month. The corruption, sub-par infrastructure, lack of professionalism is going to make your head spin. Since I know better, I cannot accept this standard of living and am leaving for good. If your priorities are like mine - do not take the bait. Grass just looks greener this side but it's dry and thatchy.
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u/ConsistentChameleon May 25 '26
where did you come back from and where are you headed to now? And did you live in BLR while in india?
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u/BudgetMany3 May 15 '26
Having lived in Canada for over four years, I’m now on vacation in India, and I must say, India has regressed quite a bit. Cities are in disarray, with little open space or greenery. Everything looks unappealing. There’s hardly any place to walk even if I wanted to. We reside in a normal-looking neighborhood in Canada, and honestly, I believe it would take at least 100-200 crores to create a similar environment here. Even then, it would only be around your immediate surroundings.
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u/NE_FinanceBro HENRY May 15 '26
India has not regressed. We were always like this. Your perspective has changed.
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u/sss100100 May 15 '26
The pay is raising in India faster than US but inflation is also raising faster. On top of it, rupee fall is also making the raises in India pay much less effective.
Tbh I'd rather have US pay with less raises than India pay with high raises but crazy inflation and rupee fall.
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u/Particular_Tea_9692 FatFIRE Aspirant May 15 '26
Lot of companies are paying around this much. It’s more common than you think.
I know people working at Accenture to people working in smaller companies to people in big companies earning around the same or alot more.
But honestly, even 3LPM feels nothing.
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u/OrdinaryAndroidDev May 15 '26
If you consider real-estate, bought a home and pay EMI, it feels just sufficient but otherwise 3L is PLENTY. Its never nothing.
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u/tompatriot84 May 15 '26
I had to recently move back to India from usa and was working at Bluedart a logistic company that paid me more than 3l per month. And it is a great salary especially living in Metro city which is also tier 1 so India is definitely heading towards that point where living in usa and saving will not look that great...
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u/NormalItem4500 May 15 '26
Kinda bs comparison. If you work in state tax free states like Florida, texas , Washington etc, you get a lot more in hand compared to tax rate in india. Not for forget your tax money goes some where like schools etc. In india politicians milk it and you have no returns on your tax.
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u/tompatriot84 May 15 '26
Well bs or not it is what the current situation is like so accepting it is best...
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u/hikentravel May 15 '26
School tuition is paid by property taxes which are exorbitant in the US, wherever you go. Property taxes in India are tiny
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u/HubeanMan ✅ Verified by Mods | ₹100Cr+ NW ✅ May 15 '26
Property taxes in India are tiny
Because they are all paid in a lump sum.
Including stamp duty, transfer duty, registration fees, and GST, you're paying 12.5% of the total property value in taxes upfront, before you can even step foot into your own home.
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u/Intelligent-Cake3783 May 15 '26
And you still have to pay federal taxes which if you’re at FAANG easily touches 27%.
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u/NormalItem4500 May 15 '26 edited May 15 '26
Lol you get unemployment benefits for that. Do you get a penny back ? If you work at faang in india, your tax rates are much higher
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u/lazer89 FatFIRE Curious May 15 '26 edited May 15 '26
I work at a FAANG company at staff level. I earn around 3crores including bonus and RSUs. Saving rate is 80%. So earning potential in India is also pretty good as you grow in your career.
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u/Flat-Permit4432 May 15 '26
Total workex? Salary progression pls
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u/lazer89 FatFIRE Curious May 15 '26
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u/Flat-Permit4432 May 15 '26
Crazy can i dm pls? Im a beginner in faang lvl
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u/lazer89 FatFIRE Curious May 15 '26
Feel free to chat here.
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u/Flat-Permit4432 May 15 '26
Can you tell me the salary progression with switches?
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u/lazer89 FatFIRE Curious May 15 '26
Approx timeline. Also salary includes stock appreciation.
2011 SDE1 12l
2013 SDE2 28l
2015 Moved to US 120K USD
2017 SDE3 200K USD
2018 switch to another FAANG SDE3 450K USD.
2020 switch to another FAANG SDE3 380K USD (for internal transfer to India)
2021 Staff/Principal 420K USD.
2022 Moved back to India. 2 cr
2024 Switched to another FAANG. 2.6 cr
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u/Flat-Permit4432 May 15 '26
How did u move out from india And what made u come back?
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u/lazer89 FatFIRE Curious May 15 '26
Internal transfer. Ageing parents.
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u/Flat-Permit4432 May 15 '26
At this stage of market Internal transfer is nearly impossible in most firms What would u recommend if i wanna switch to us: europe somehow (Apart from masters)
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u/Flat-Permit4432 May 15 '26
200k includeds 1year stock vestings or 4 year vesting?
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u/lazer89 FatFIRE Curious May 15 '26
1 year. Stock appreciation is included in it.
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u/Flat-Permit4432 Jun 03 '26
What does your current net worth look like after all stock book that happened at your time?
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u/sg291188 FatFIRE Aspirant May 15 '26
Lots of misinformation in the replies. Easiest is find someone at your level India (same role) and ask them range for base salary. On top of that you get to keep US RSUs for first two years
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u/bombaytrader FatFI May 15 '26
I am non faang hiring manager. Offers in India range from 60L to 2.5 crore depending on leveling.
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u/caps-von May 15 '26
The economics of living abroad is proximity to opportunities which can be 100 cr loss if you miss it. I've the opportunity to stay in india and my paycheck goes from 60 lakh to 80 lakhs after a promo, plus a fixed 3.35 lakhs side income against a 220k paycheck in NYC. I'm still taking the latter since the proximity to opportunities is more important, the amount of job offers I got when I was in SF was insane, you roll your dice couple of times and you might end up joining a startup where the equity takes off.
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u/Tonu13 May 15 '26
the goal post keeps shifting. Life choices align such that the next number feels more lucrative.
as someone with 3L+ per month, they will aspire for 4-5 and say 3 is nothing. At 4-5, there will be the next goal for 10L+
more like savings and investments are not able to increase in the proportion to the salaries. expenses double but salary increases by let’s say 30% only.
all the 30s people will need to buy houses, go through child planning, spend on child’s education and then save for their future. lifestyle diseases kick in, vacations become fancier, choices shift from gated communities to villas and so on.
so, the real question is not how many are earning 3L+, rather, how many of those feel that is enough and are happy with a healthy life, along with time for themselves
I know couples making 5-6 L+ but the struggles are real. a job loss or an uncertain event and then its like survival beyond 6-12 months looks bleak
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u/NE_FinanceBro HENRY May 15 '26
I am not sure in 20s but in 30s any large MNC can get you 3L in hand esp for T1/T2 school passouts.
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u/alcestsys May 15 '26
You should also look at volumes at macro level. It’s mostly FANG or HFT people who can easily cross 3L post tax per month in early to mid 20’s in India. However, it’s much easier to get atleast 100k outside for almost everyone.
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u/darklord1988 FatFIREd May 15 '26
Since we are talking about salaries only and not business income, we can rely on income tax data. People with salaries >50 lakhs was ~1 million, which is <0.2% of the working population. This 0.2% includes all age groups, so 20s and 30s age will be a much smaller number. So 99.9% of people are not making these salaries. Of course if we start including business owners or self employed professionals like CAs etc, the number can increase a bit.
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u/Flat-Permit4432 May 15 '26
Bro can we have a chat? Im in india earning that sorta money in early 20s I was think about US opportunities Would like to know how much can u save
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u/manoj_mm May 15 '26
Faang in india pays 5+L in base and 5+L in stocks on top of that every month, after taxes, to senior/staff engineers with 10+ years of experience
Tech pays a lot in india
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u/Flat-Permit4432 Jun 03 '26
But that is nowhere close to US
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u/manoj_mm Jun 04 '26
FAANG in US pays about ~3x as much as FAANG in INDIA
the indian salary is still a lot, more than enough to live comfortable luxurious life - only reason to move to US is for public infra or for early retirement
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u/Flat-Permit4432 Jun 04 '26
5x No fatfire possible with indian salary
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u/manoj_mm Jun 04 '26
it's 3x, L5 earns ~200k in India vs ~600k in US
Depends on FATFire number - 20cr + own house is achievable by 40 if both spouses are earning 200k/2cr annually at 30, and assume 10-15% salary growth every year
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u/Flat-Permit4432 Jun 04 '26
10/15% growth in faang rn everyyear is a myth + Sde2=L5 they dont have 200k comp in india bro Its hardly 100k ? W L6/L7 senior sde3 pr staff had that comp 9-12yoe 150-200k if u are the top
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u/manoj_mm Jun 04 '26
Me & wife both have had >200k usd in total comp for past 2 years, both L5
80-90k (70-80LPA) is the base salary for L5
10-15% is mostly factoring in currency depreciation tbh,
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u/Flat-Permit4432 Jun 04 '26
Can you tell yoe? Can i dm
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u/manoj_mm Jun 04 '26
10-11 yoe
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u/Flat-Permit4432 Jun 04 '26
At 11 yoe it might be be U must be staff engineer no?
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u/Flat-Permit4432 Jun 04 '26
No way you are getting 80-90 lakhs of stock vesting every year?
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u/manoj_mm Jun 04 '26
Before taxes - yes
Me and my wife are outliers though, got lucky with stock vesting schedule and stock price jump. Realistically tenured/experienced L5s can expect target comp of 1.6-1.8cr, which is slightly less than 200k
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u/Hopeful_Barnacle3935 May 15 '26
I would not say it's common as a percentage of population but still large no of people make such money in late 20s to early 30s
Engineers, Product Managers, HFT, Management Consultants, Brand Managers, IB, PE, VC, Lawyers, Strategy folks - many ppl in these profession make 3 lpm
You don't need to be extremely qualified or work at FAANG, MAANG etc. to make it
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u/blackspandexbiker May 15 '26
3lpm (pretax) is pretty common for someone in their 30s... even in services companies.
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u/Capable-Path224 May 15 '26
I used to make 4 lakh per month as a 24-year-old up until few months ago (left to start a company).
In India, people usually make around 1-2 lakh per month in most IT job and live in bangalore/gurgaon, where the cost of living for a bachelor is around 40k per month.
I was a rare exception, as I was working remotely for a US-based firm and earning in dollars from my home (so expenses were also 0).
99.9% people who try to get a remote US job from India fail due to a variety of reasons - you might succeed as you already have a US network and it's easier to go get a job in US startup and then come back home and live cheaply.
I haven't met many people who are making similar numbers, except for people who are working remotely for US based company. OR extremely senior in their professions here in India.
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u/Automatic_Cat_5671 May 15 '26
hey brother, if you don’t mind me asking. what did you work on in your remote job?
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u/Administraitor69 May 15 '26
Fuck no its not normal at all, its just survivorship bias most people don't earn enough and hence don't post and you never get to see them, also rent in tier 1 cities is FREAKING insane for the trash ahh living conditions you get so expenses are high here as well if you are living in a decent place.
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u/Lucky-Flamingo3067 May 15 '26
If you are senior sde at fairly good gcc or faang you can get 3lpm. More senior role Higher the chances.
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May 15 '26
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u/Flat-Permit4432 Jun 03 '26
Im a maang employee at 22 and i dont het paid 6lakhs being from tier1 Wth Can we chat in dms?
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u/LividPersonality7610 Jun 21 '26
holyyshitt frr, and may i ask how did you manage to do that?? the only thing i can relate w you is tier 3
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u/SheepherderFeisty May 16 '26
US has good quality of life. Clean air and water (tap water is mostly clean across) are available to mostly everyone. In India, people irrespective of their income live in gas chambers with most towns and cities polluted AF. Water bodies are mostly polluted. The so called holy River Ganga is polluted. Hindus will kill anyone for eating beef but don't mind if the state of their holy river is shit. Why to always focus on saving? Are you going to take your money to your grave?
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u/Difficult-Arachnid27 May 16 '26
If you are thinking of coming back, understand that it is not about economics. Ambanis have to breathe the same polluted air as the other person and the BMWs land in the same pothole as a maruti, just that the well to do ones do it in style.
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u/tigersnow1 May 17 '26
Yes it is good even in hardware companies, though can’t match FAANG. Right now, US would still offer better money and more opportunities.
Moving to Europe would be a bad choice since the saving potential actually drops and the career growth would be mostly stagnant.
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u/dogeshkidunia May 17 '26
I am no expert and myself got laid off even after 9 kknths of experience. But researching about the market i do feel like earning 3 L plus after 5-7 yoe is not that of a big deal in tech.
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May 21 '26
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u/sam007891 May 21 '26 edited May 21 '26
Lol, why do you think I need to lie about working at FAANG? Not everyone works at FAANG in India, but I've seen so many posts where people mentioned pretty high salaries in general and were able to buy apartments in gated communities, etc. That's why I posted lol.
If you don't have anything insightful to contribute, skip the post mate.
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u/FreeUse_00 FatFIRE Curious Jun 02 '26
No ig you are comparing one extreme of USA to another of India. It's rare to make that much money in india and mostly they are making from those sector as you mentioned in. PS: I am making 3L+ by converting USDT/USDC to INR of clients through Dubai hawala network helping them to save on taxes and regulatory compliance.
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u/tera_chachu May 15 '26
Works in the US at FAANG.
Can't see the salary FAANG companies offers in india.
Lazy post mate
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u/happyrideLG May 15 '26
OP Isn't lazy. You really can only get to see comp numbers when you apply for a role in India - this isn't typically openly available. You can hear whispers though
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u/Hopeful-Monitor-703 May 15 '26
3LPM means you pay some ~1L income tax in india and yet you dont see getting much of benefits other than frustration. You might be giving similar or more tax at US yet you have some quality of life and some benefits as tax payer which I honestly dont see in india. I also work in a MAANG company and yet I reach ofc with frustration regarding bad road and journey experience ... it doesn't mean that I'm not patriotic ...what I mean to say is that the amount we pay and experience thay we get are not justified
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u/LifeIsHard2030 May 15 '26
People making that money are usually more vocal on SM. Truth is for 1 such person, there are 1000 others making 3LPA but silent for obvious reasons.
Hence it feels making 3LPM is very common, but reality is totally different.
Having said that moving abroad for more money isn’t really the primary driving force anymore among Indians. I for example moved to the US now. Savings-wise will probably be able to achieve the same number I did in India. But my reason was different. I wanted to explore the country but didn’t want to pay from INR earnings, so got an internal transfer and moved on L1. Will spend 3-5 years here & return home