[ornornor]

Exactly. I live in a HCOL area (not SV, not US). Local salaries are very competitive with SV and I need to know that the salary offered for that remote position makes sense compared to a local job.

But companies get cagey when asked directly and usually says something like “we don’t discuss comp before you take our code challenge/first round of interviews”

Well I’m not sinking 5–10h into your process only to find out you’re offering 1/3 of what I can make working 5 minutes away from home, wasting everyone’s time.