[dijit]

Seems like the upper end for my skillset is $168k with an average of around $130k

https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/san-francisco-infrastruct...

software developer is even less paid it seems:

https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/san-francisco-software-de...

[throwaway84742]

Glassdoor estimates are low, and they do not include equity, bonuses, etc, which can easily add up to more than the base. How do you think all those people are paying their insane rent? The best set up is to get Bay Area money without living there. It’s doable. :-)

[dijit]

Every argument you just made goes for the other side too, I have equity and bonus' which are not tied to my salary which double it fairly easily.

So, at the end of the day, it's all about purchasing power. Which is very different depending on what economic band you're in and what place you live.

For instance, there's no question that Bill Gates would be worse off in the Swedish tax system than the US one.. but that's not true of all people.

[throwaway84742]

Purchasing power is also better in the US seeing how we get to keep more of our money, and businesses are taxed less as well. This is reflected in per capita GDP.

[dijit]

That assumes that after tax the systems are equivalent. They're not.

Healthcare is a prime (but not exclusive) example of this.