Got my Amazon SDE 1 offer last month and obsessively researched comps beforehand, so here's the actual breakdown with context. This is for a 2025 grad, offer located in Seattle (they also gave me a NYC option at the same base but slightly different signing).
My offer: Base: $161,250 (this is the standard SDE 1 base in Seattle as of early 2026, it moves slightly but not a lot) RSU: $100,000 over 4 years with the backloaded vest schedule (5/15/40/40). Year 1 you actually vest $5k in equity, which... yeah. Signing bonus: $32,000 in year 1, $16,000 in year 2. Total $48k. This is to offset the back-heavy vest. AIP: 10% target. Year 1 total cash estimate: roughly $210k-$215k if AIP pays at target. Which is decent for a new grad but don't confuse it with the out-year picture.
I tried to negotiate. Recruiter said base was fixed at SDE 1 level (this is true, they won't move it). She offered to bump the year 1 signing by $5k, which she said was the max flexibility. RSU also didn't move because I didn't have a competing offer. If you have a competing offer from another FAANG or Databricks/Stripe level company, I've heard RSUs are more negotiable even for new grads, but I didn't have that leverage.
For the interview itself at SDE 1 level: two coding rounds (medium leetcode, one array problem one graph problem), one system design (they called it 'object-oriented design' not distributed system design, much more manageable), and two behavioral rounds heavy on LP. The bar for LP at SDE 1 is lower than senior but they still want real examples, not 'I would do X in a hypothetical.'
Honestly the offer is solid relative to most non-FAANG options. The tricky part is the year 1 and year 2 cash is fine but if you stay to year 3-4 you're cliffing into much higher equity comp. People who leave at 18-24 months essentially worked for base + signing. Something to be aware of going in.