V VestedGrant
Frontend engineer · NV

Frontend engineer equity comp in Nevada

How frontend engineers earning rsu, isos at pre-ipo should plan around Nevada's no-income-tax regime.

Typical comp shape

Frontend engineers usually earn rsu, isos at pre-ipo. Common employers include Vercel, Shopify, Airbnb, Figma. Frontend hires at design-forward pre-IPO companies often receive ISOs where AMT exposure drives the exercise timing question.

What Nevada changes

Nevada has no wage income tax, which is structurally favorable for frontend engineers with meaningful RSU comp. The savings vs a CA-resident colleague can be $30-60k per year at senior IC levels. That math is why Austin and Seattle are the two top relocation destinations for Bay Area tech workers.

Planning cadence

For a frontend engineer in Nevada, 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). A move-out question — if you're considering leaving Nevada for a high-tax state, time it around vesting.

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