Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Higher-paid, faster-growing tech jobs are concentrating in 8 US hubs

hiringlab.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

191–200 of 282 posts

Re: Higher-paid, faster-growing tech jobs are concentrating in 8 US hubs

#191

Post by frandroid »

throwanem wrote: post #144
frandroid wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was like, hot damn, cheap housing and good paying jobs, I'm moving to Baltimore!!

You know they censored two-thirds of The Wire because it was too gruesome and horrifying for TV? Those were the parts that accurately depicted what living in my town is like. I personally had half a leg gnawed off by rats in my first week here - and that puts me well ahead of the curve! It's a terrible and terrifying place and you'll be much better off if you stay away. (Seriously, though, hit me up via my HN profile…

I have some friends there, it seems livable :) But I'm in Canada so I'm not seeking U.S. employment "in these turbulent times", if you know what I mean. 8) Thanks for the offer though!

Re: Higher-paid, faster-growing tech jobs are concentrating in 8 US hubs

#192

Post by jly »

maxdemarzi wrote: post #101
rconti wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hot as hell. More humid than hell half the time, oddly dry the other half.

Sure it's hot and humid, thankfully everything is Air Conditioned and I'm in the pool every night. No public transportation means no public transportation that smells like urine. Since housing is so cheap everyone has nice cars.

There is public transportation and hopefully it's on the way to getting better. I personally take the bus to work everyday. Cap Metro is adding bus routes on the mopac express lanes from RR to downtown Austin.

The problem is there is a culture of driving in Austin and not of taking the public options. Most people don't even know what is out there. We could do with quite a few less cars on the road.

Re: Higher-paid, faster-growing tech jobs are concentrating in 8 US hubs

#193

Post by fweespeech »

rifung wrote: post #121
fweespeech wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd be very cautious about Atlanta. Outside of Google, many of the companies there are wanting to pay salaries I'd consider substantially below market (even including COLA) compared to the other hubs. That includes those fortune 500 companies (a couple of whom had internal recruiters bail when I mentioned my current salary + the COLA number). Cutting your real estate costs by $12-15k goes a long way but it doesn't ma…

> I'd be very cautious about Atlanta. Outside of Google, many of the companies there are wanting to pay salaries I'd consider substantially below market (even including COLA) compared to the other hubs. If most companies are paying a certain salary, doesn't that imply that salary IS market rate? I don't think you can directly compare salaries across cities even after factoring in cost of living since it ignores the f…

> If most companies are paying a certain salary, doesn't that imply that salary IS market rate?

In my particular case, the "market rate" at Location A is ~$40k higher (after COLA) than the "market rate" in Atlanta.

So, when I mean "market rate" I mean "My options at Location A + the options in Atlanta."

> I don't think you can directly compare salaries across cities even after factoring in cost of living since it ignores the fact some places are more desirable to live in than others and thus should command "premiums".

To be perfectly honest, I consider Atlanta vs. where I am now a wash in most respects and a $40k premium is simply too steep for the difference. It isn't like I live in the Bay Area where rent is $40k.

Re: Higher-paid, faster-growing tech jobs are concentrating in 8 US hubs

#194

Post by echelon »

ynniv wrote: post #12

I get that you work with what you have (in this case, a corpus of job postings), but a ranking that places Baltimore in the top three tech hubs fails the sniff test. CBRE has a better list here (email registration wall): https://www.cbre.com/research-and-reports/Scoring-Tech-Talen... I'm biased in that it places Atlanta unusually high, but overall it is a better, less surprising ranking: Bay Area Seattle New York Was…

Atlanta is amazing. It has an extremely low cost of living, yet there are tech companies here paying SF wages.

Anecdotally, my rent is $1300/mo for a 900 sqft loft directly on Atlanta's Beltline [1], and my total comp is (edit: decided to remove this since I might get doxed. I'll be happy to talk with anyone seriously considering Atlanta via email).

It's also been really interesting to see Georgia rocket to the #2 location in the US for filmmaking (a personal hobby of mine). The folks I know in the industry say we're poised to overtake LA eventually.

I mention this because Atlanta has a great mix of culture from a variety of different backgrounds. The music and arts scenes are particularly strong.

[1] https://beltline.org

Re: Higher-paid, faster-growing tech jobs are concentrating in 8 US hubs

#195

Post by fweespeech »

elif wrote: post #176
fweespeech wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd be very cautious about Atlanta. Outside of Google, many of the companies there are wanting to pay salaries I'd consider substantially below market (even including COLA) compared to the other hubs. That includes those fortune 500 companies (a couple of whom had internal recruiters bail when I mentioned my current salary + the COLA number). Cutting your real estate costs by $12-15k goes a long way but it doesn't ma…

Atlanta here. My house cost less than my post-tax salary… you can magically cover 40k paycuts.. in fact in SF that 40k would probably be rent alone.

Yes, but I don't live or work in the Bay Area.

The difference in rent/real estate is like $10k/year. I've been to Atlanta regularly for quite some time and I can assure you I know the exact difference in COLA as a result. ;)

Re: Higher-paid, faster-growing tech jobs are concentrating in 8 US hubs

#196

Post by sndean »

Bahamut wrote: post #183
bakenator wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The majority of jobs in DC metro are government contracting as you would imagine. That is not to say there are not interesting opportunities available. A few startups and many small contracting shops filling niche spots for the Gov. IMO the cost of living in not good in DC metro. Very high home prices, only below SF, Boston, NYC. Lower salaries than SF/NYC across the board. Upper middle class in DC requires 200k inco…

It should be noted that most people don’t live in DC proper - most commute in from the suburbs. My friends in the area all bought houses in places like Fairfax, Springfield, and between Baltimore and DC. House prices are not cheap, but I’ve heard $600k for a nice house quoted to me. DC proper is just ridiculous. Thankfully you can find more reasonable places just across the river with a short commute time.

And the price difference is similar for apartments. I'm paying $1000 for a ~1000 sqft apartment on the cheap side of the bridge. I have a coworker paying $2500 for a smaller place in DC. The difference in commute time is 5 minutes.

Re: Higher-paid, faster-growing tech jobs are concentrating in 8 US hubs

#197

Post by fweespeech »

cptskippy wrote: post #88
fweespeech wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd be very cautious about Atlanta. Outside of Google, many of the companies there are wanting to pay salaries I'd consider substantially below market (even including COLA) compared to the other hubs. That includes those fortune 500 companies (a couple of whom had internal recruiters bail when I mentioned my current salary + the COLA number). Cutting your real estate costs by $12-15k goes a long way but it doesn't ma…

What companies did you look at and what do you consider market rate? You might consider Silly Valley salaries to be market rate but they're not. In fact those rates are what the top 1% of coders make if they're lucky. I would expect Amazon, Microsoft, Facebook, and other competitive technology companies to pay those rates but market rate is going to be 60-180k. There are tons and tons of jobs paying in that range fro…

> You might consider Silly Valley salaries to be market rate but they're not.

I don't work in the Bay Area, NYC, or a similar location. I'm comparing my current location to Atlanta.

This is now the third time I've repeated this ITT, including the OP.

Re: Higher-paid, faster-growing tech jobs are concentrating in 8 US hubs

#198

Post by echelon »

theWatcher37 wrote: post #47
fweespeech wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd be very cautious about Atlanta. Outside of Google, many of the companies there are wanting to pay salaries I'd consider substantially below market (even including COLA) compared to the other hubs. That includes those fortune 500 companies (a couple of whom had internal recruiters bail when I mentioned my current salary + the COLA number). Cutting your real estate costs by $12-15k goes a long way but it doesn't ma…

I can assure you there are plenty of engineers making north of $100k in midtown

This is absolutely true. Check Glassdoor.

Re: Higher-paid, faster-growing tech jobs are concentrating in 8 US hubs

#199

Post by echelon »

godelmachine wrote: post #130
theWatcher37 wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can assure you there are plenty of engineers making north of $100k in midtown

Which midtown? Atlanta's midtow?

Atlanta's Midtown, which borders Georgia Tech and is a mixed business / residential district.

Re: Higher-paid, faster-growing tech jobs are concentrating in 8 US hubs

#200

Post by throwanem »

frandroid wrote: post #191
throwanem wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You know they censored two-thirds of The Wire because it was too gruesome and horrifying for TV? Those were the parts that accurately depicted what living in my town is like. I personally had half a leg gnawed off by rats in my first week here - and that puts me well ahead of the curve! It's a terrible and terrifying place and you'll be much better off if you stay away. (Seriously, though, hit me up via my HN profile…

I have some friends there, it seems livable :) But I'm in Canada so I'm not seeking U.S. employment "in these turbulent times", if you know what I mean. 8) Thanks for the offer though!

Hey, you do you. And, sure, any time!
Post reply on HN