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 Wyoming changes
Wyoming has no wage income tax, which is structurally favorable for staff / principal 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 staff / principal engineer in Wyoming, 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 Wyoming for a high-tax state, time it around vesting.