[wild_egg]

> of course I would want to earn a US tech salary while living somewhere in the country side

It's not about what you want, it's about knowing your value. If your work is worth a SF salary then that's what you should be getting.

Moving from Idaho to SF doesn't magically make you more productive. The company knows it's still getting more value from you than what you're being paid. They just want to keep more of that value for themselves whenever possible.

Have some respect for yourself and know your worth

[OkayPhysicist]

Being in SF makes the market for your labor more competitive. If I'm living on a ranch in rural Idaho, I would interact with very few people on a given day, and most of them would be the same people I interacted with yesterday. In SF, I'd be interacting with far more people, and far more new people, with a much higher probability of those people working in tech, some subset of whom will be willing to offer me a job.

[Aurornis]

> Moving from Idaho to SF doesn't magically make you more productive.

If your entire world consists of staying home and interacting remotely with a company, then you are correct: Location doesn't change anything.

However, moving to a high-energy city with a high density of experienced engineers and tech companies can increase your rate of learning, career advancement, and experience much more rapidly than living in a smaller city. You have to actually branch out and interact with local companies and people, but it does happen.

But this is all beside the point. Hiring is a labor market. Developers who live in SF have more high-paid job options to choose from than someone living in Idaho. As a result, you need to bid more to get them into your company. Hence, the higher salary.

The discussion about cost of living misses this point. The real reason developers from places like SF get paid more is because if you don't pay them wages that are competitive with their local companies, they're just going to walk away and take any number of higher paying jobs they have access to.

[carbotaniuman]

Or, it could be that being San Francisco has agglomeration effects (granted most startups/companies uterrly fail at this part).

[spacemadness]

I am so confused by this. I demand more in the Bay as Bay area landlords and their Nimby pals are exploitative jerks and California taxes and fees add up quick. Why is that cleanly separated from the discussion? I see it as more “I will demand more here than other places” vs. “I know my worth and it’s exactly X”

[osti]

I'm only worth as much as what people are willing to pay me. There is no inherent value in whatever I'm doing.