[skrause]

I've always thought that people in very expensive cities would generally earn much more so that after substracting the cost of living you would end up with more or less the same.

I live in an economically weak city in the western region of Germany and make around $55k (pre-tax) as an average programmer in a small company in my third year after graduation. However, since the region has had a population decline for many years, the housing market is quite cheap and I can live alone in a comfortable 62 m² (670 square foot) apartment for around $500 a month.

Even though I earn just around average, I'm currently not very interested in moving to an economically strong region because my feeling is that the cost of living would probably just eat up whatever I would earn more.

[throwaway1979]

I think that is very wise. I grew up in Toronto, where programmer salaries were low and cost of living was middle-to-high. There used to be a wall around 60-80K per year. I moved to the US to regions where salaries go north of 100K easily. In the grand scheme of things, this was not an improvement. My cost of living increased drastically (paying 2700 in rent for an apartment). I always imagined having a house and kids at this stage in life. Financially, both seem like stretching it.

[danmaz74]

On the other hand, in an economically strong region you would then find many more opportunities to move upwards - if you're interested in that.