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Does It Make Sense for Programmers to Move to the Bay Area?

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Re: Does It Make Sense for Programmers to Move to the Bay Area?

#2

Post by ammon »

When people compare salaries / the cost of living in different cities, they often fail to account for the fact that many people don't spend their entire salary in the local economy. If you are trying to save money (or pay for college, donate to a cause, or buy a Ferrari) this costs the same no matter where you live. You should only apply the cost of living adjustment to housing (and maybe food). When you do this, living in the Bay Area starts to make more financial sense.

Re: Does It Make Sense for Programmers to Move to the Bay Area?

#3

Post by 2bluesc »

ammon wrote: post #2

When people compare salaries / the cost of living in different cities, they often fail to account for the fact that many people don't spend their entire salary in the local economy. If you are trying to save money (or pay for college, donate to a cause, or buy a Ferrari) this costs the same no matter where you live. You should only apply the cost of living adjustment to housing (and maybe food). When you do this, liv…

I agree 100%. Right now in SF and get paid relative to SF. If one day I return to the Midwest (or almost anywhere else) what I have in the bank has more buying power.

Re: Does It Make Sense for Programmers to Move to the Bay Area?

#4

Post by rememberlenny »

This point is interesting:

  [3] We find that engineers often under-value startup success
  (growth rate, revenue) when looking for jobs, and instead
  place an emphasis on brand-recognition, or whether they find 
  the subject area exciting. Now, I don't mean to judge anyone 
  for this — working in an areas of passion may be great 
  choice. But if your goal is to maximize your financial 
  outcome, looking at startups more like an investor and 
  picking a company in a big market on a promising trajectory 
  is likely a winning strategy. The Bay Area, with a large 
  number of startups, is probably the best place to do this.

Re: Does It Make Sense for Programmers to Move to the Bay Area?

#5

Post by michaelchisari »

I ended up in Los Angeles because, despite being an expensive city, rents were cheaper than the Bay Area, and the salaries being offered were equivalent. I have a great place in LA that would easily be 50% to double the price in the Bay.

This wasn't the only reason but it was one of the biggest. Another reason being that I wanted to work in tech as it relates to media and content, and there were many more options to choose from here.

Re: Does It Make Sense for Programmers to Move to the Bay Area?

#7

Post by gricardo99 »

ammon wrote: post #2

When people compare salaries / the cost of living in different cities, they often fail to account for the fact that many people don't spend their entire salary in the local economy. If you are trying to save money (or pay for college, donate to a cause, or buy a Ferrari) this costs the same no matter where you live. You should only apply the cost of living adjustment to housing (and maybe food). When you do this, liv…

When people compare salaries/cost of living in different cities, I think they probably look it up online, where the data is already summarized.

The cost of living comparisons I've seen are comparing the "local economy". They compare the cost of: housing, food, transportation, health care.

Re: Does It Make Sense for Programmers to Move to the Bay Area?

#8

Post by rizzom5000 »

ammon wrote: post #2

When people compare salaries / the cost of living in different cities, they often fail to account for the fact that many people don't spend their entire salary in the local economy. If you are trying to save money (or pay for college, donate to a cause, or buy a Ferrari) this costs the same no matter where you live. You should only apply the cost of living adjustment to housing (and maybe food). When you do this, liv…

Don't forget taxes. Your taxes are 25% higher in San Francisco compared to Seattle.

Re: Does It Make Sense for Programmers to Move to the Bay Area?

#10

Post by ammon »

rememberlenny wrote: post #4

This point is interesting: [3] We find that engineers often under-value startup success (growth rate, revenue) when looking for jobs, and instead place an emphasis on brand-recognition, or whether they find the subject area exciting. Now, I don't mean to judge anyone for this — working in an areas of passion may be great choice. But if your goal is to maximize your financial outcome, looking at startups more like an…

You might expect that companies in big markets with great growth would be more competitive (more people would want to work there, and it would be harder to get an interview / offer). But we see that this is often not the case, making it a great strategy.

Our next blog post is going to be about this (how engineers decide between offers, and how they can perhaps do it better)

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