[gabbo]

Your point is 100% correct, but IMO that link understates Seattle earnings potential. Probably doesn't include equity/cash bonus, which will happen a lot in Seattle and not so much in Vancouver.

Big tech company jobs in Seattle are extremely common, and a big tech company job in Seattle will pay you much more than $126k/year USD when you include stock/cash bonus.

Especially a few years into your career. If you're willing/able to be a dev at a big tech company, $200k-$300k/year is absolutely normal 10 years into your career (often much sooner). If you're great, $300k-$400k is completely possible.

[cylinder]

The difference is there's a huge tech bubble in the US which has blown up salaries for software professionals far ahead of anywhere else in the world. Think about all the flimsy startups funded by free flowing VC cash who will never make money. Once they burn through the cash they are done. When you have millions / billions thrown at you, who cares about paying developers $140k? The money almost means nothing.

It's the $150k that software engineers make in the US that's abnormal, not the $50k in Canada or EU. That is where salaries in the US will go once the funny money moves on.

Engineer shortage? Not really. This is something that can be learned by studying books, you do not even need a license. Yes, it's hard, technical stuff, but so is Mechanical Engineering yet they don't make these kinds of salaries and they have more barriers to entry.

It's funny to see the bias here: high house prices are certainly a bubble, but high software salaries are definitely 100% earned due to amazing abilities to generate wealth and market fundamentals.

[brilliantcode]

I don't think such salaries are sustainable but you are absolutely right in that Vancouverites are taking not a pay cut but a reduction in quality of life overall.