Typical comp shape
Staff / principal engineers usually earn large rsu grants, often refreshed annually. Common employers include Alphabet, Meta, Netflix. At IC7+ RSU grants often exceed cash comp.
What North Carolina changes
In North Carolina, every RSU vest, NSO exercise, and ESPP purchase carries 4.25% state tax on top of federal. For a senior staff / principal engineer with $300k+ of equity income, the state layer routinely adds $25-45k to the annual bill.
Planning cadence
For a staff / principal engineer in North Carolina, 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).