[modernyogihippy]

Depending on where he or she is working from, you don't need a ~SF Bay Area to enjoy the same quality (if not better) of life.

[byoung2]

For reference, I live in the suburbs of Los Angeles so prices are lower than in the Bay area. I make $200k and my wife makes $100k working part time as a registered nurse. Flexible schedules mean we can spend lots of time with our daughter and travel quite a bit.

[nickthemagicman]

You make 200k as a developer?

[byoung2]

Senior developer with experience as a former director of engineering, but yeah, $199k last year, tracking for $205k this year.

[nickthemagicman]

Nice job! Good to know it's atleast possible to break the 120k-ish mark.

[SubuSS]

Software engineer starting salaries in companies like Amazon/Google/FB etc are close to 100k or more. So breaking that mark as an engineer is very much possible.

[senatorobama]

he's a contractor, it's different.

[byoung2]

I was at $155k as a W2 software engineer at my last company...that seemed to be a ceiling for engineers in Los Angeles. I had to become a director of engineering to get to $175k.