Typical comp shape
Infrastructure engineers usually earn rsu + espp. Common employers include Cloudflare, Fastly, HashiCorp. Infra-heavy employers offer generous ESPPs, so disqualifying-disposition math drives the sell-vs-hold decision.
What New Hampshire changes
New Hampshire has no wage income tax, which is structurally favorable for infrastructure 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 infrastructure engineer in New Hampshire, 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 New Hampshire for a high-tax state, time it around vesting.