[tetrep]

> Before you tell me to look for another company, I did. All of them know the market rate and all of them set their max salary to it.

Where are you looking for companies? This matters greatly as to whether or not they have the resources/inclination to actually hire above average talent. No company is going to admit that they actually want employees who are "meh" because they don't actually have much money to spend on development and that their projects are uninteresting and that they don't solve hard problems, but that is sometimes the case.

If you look at the American midwest, it's pretty much what you're describing. If you look at Silicon Valley, NYC, Chicago, Austin, Boston, etc. you'll find huge salary ranges, with compensation easily matching talent (and beyond, in some situations).

[smt88]

Data for context: https://www.glassdoor.com/research/real-value-of-salaries/