Depending where you're based this isn't true. At my country in Europe I could earn 1000€ / month cleaning offices and common Programmer salaries' are 1200 - 1500€ / month
Programmers in Europe are underpaid as a group. I moved from London to New York and literally doubled my salary (almost exactly 2x). And London is at the high end for Europe.
Corollary, toilet cleaners in America are underpaid as a group. I don't want to get into a heated political debate, I just want to suggest an alternative view point that I find compelling when discussing American vs. European software salaries. Don't toilet cleaners in Germany have better lives than toiler cleaners in Kentucky?
My point is that if those are your options, start being “based” on the internet instead of wherever you consider yourself “based” now, because good programmers on the internet are paid €10k+ per month.
If you have a lot of experience and a good network, you can easily double that (€20k/mo, €125/hr) as well. Triple that is not out of the question, either.
High end specialty researchers are billed at >=$400/hr by large firms.
So don’t mention where you are? As long as you don’t have a window in frame, work the same timezone hours, and have decent internet, I think you can sidestep this issue.
That said, I don’t think this is as big a blocker as you seem to think. It’s a different issue in the sales process.