Typical comp shape
Database engineers usually earn rsu + espp. Common employers include MongoDB, Snowflake, Oracle. Database-vendor ESPPs with 15% discounts are worth maxing, but concentration risk compounds fast against RSU vests.
What District of Columbia changes
In District of Columbia, every RSU vest, NSO exercise, and ESPP purchase carries 10.75% state tax on top of federal. For a senior database engineer with $300k+ of equity income, the state layer routinely adds $25-45k to the annual bill.
Planning cadence
For a database engineer in District of Columbia, the three planning windows are: after each RSU vest (withholding check and sell-vs-hold), before any ISO exercise (AMT model at federal only), and in Q4 (estimated tax top-up to clear the safe harbor).