Damn, I'm average. Does the 101K+ crowd care to share what industry/stack/niche you work with? Hints acceptable :)
Poll: How much do you make as a programmer?
181–190 of 245 posts
Re: Poll: How much do you make as a programmer?
#182Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think you grossly underestimate the difference in housing costs. In the Research Triangle area of North Carolina, you can get this 1300sft house for $643/month: http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/211-Barbary-Ct-Cary-NC-275... In Palo Alto you are looking at this 1140sft house for $4922/month: http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/4205-Wilkie-Way-Palo-Alto-... This is not an extreme example. Housing costs in NC are a sma…
So after you subtract housing, assuming purchase, the Raleigh engineer is better off initially. Of course, assuming Palo Alto housing prices don't plummet, the valley engineer is putting equity into the house which he can use if he moves for retirement. And the NC person isn't putting equity in to a house?
The value of the house is about 1 year of salary for the engineer in NC, and about 5 years of a higher salary for the engineer in the Valley. No, its not a better deal for the valley engineer still, but at least they have something to show for all those mortgage payments that are bleeding them dry.
Re: Poll: How much do you make as a programmer?
#183I love being in a profession where the lowest tier on a salary poll is "Less than 60k."
I make just over 50% of that (about US35k, full-stack web developer with one year of professional experience and no degree).
Re: Poll: How much do you make as a programmer?
#184The 0-60k range seems quite large, maybe should of had a 0-30k option too.
Re: Poll: How much do you make as a programmer?
#185Would be interested to see this broken down by country as well, if possible.
I'm not doing too badly even when currency conversion is taken into account, but the number of people on 120-150k is impressive.
Puts it a bit in perspective, our local media keeps harping on how low our salaries are, but in tech, salaries are pretty comparable with salaries outside of SF/NY, much better than Canada/Europe even, though lower than Australia.
(I'm from New Zealand).
Re: Poll: How much do you make as a programmer?
#186This poll is meaningless with an international audience.
Re: Poll: How much do you make as a programmer?
#187Earlier quoted context omitted.
That calculator is making a very common and yet very fundamental error: It assumes that cost of living adjustments should apply linearly across a salary range. It costs more to live in San Francisco that it does to live in Detroit. However, that additional cost is largely static: You'll pay a lot more for housing, you'll probably pay noticeably more for food, and you may pay somewhat more for clothing and other items…
I think you grossly underestimate the difference in housing costs. In the Research Triangle area of North Carolina, you can get this 1300sft house for $643/month: http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/211-Barbary-Ct-Cary-NC-275... In Palo Alto you are looking at this 1140sft house for $4922/month: http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/4205-Wilkie-Way-Palo-Alto-... This is not an extreme example. Housing costs in NC are a sma…
This is partly why lax lending standards did so much damage. Anyone spending 2/3 of a single net income on a mortgage is one minor life event away from being completely screwed, so much so that banks wouldn't even offer you that much rope until a few years ago (when they could sell it off with a bogus rating). Now it's going to be a long and reluctant price adjustment back to what the majority even here can realistically afford. In the meantime, I rent within my means as a single (about a mile away from that house), so the wage difference for being here is huge for me.
Re: Poll: How much do you make as a programmer?
#188Earlier quoted context omitted.
I live in San Francisco and it is probably 138% more expensive than Miami, FL. A cheapo 1br in the city runs around $1200 a month. Nice places cost $1500-2500 a month. I'm paying $2k a month myself but it's a really nice place w a Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, and city view. How much are places in Miami?
That's only "renting" and prices are not too far off in Miami based on your numbers (a place equivalent to yours in Miami I would say cost "maybe" a little less). How about food, clothe, transportation? Are those things also more than twice more expensive? No way. For example, you can live without a car in SF because public transportation there is decent. In Miami you need a car as you need your legs. And I'm not eve…
To be honest, you can usually shop better in large cities than you can in small ones. Flights are cheaper, you have more specialized discount stores, the amount of competition is higher. Big box pricing is also fairly consistent country wide. You'll find 'levi signature' jeans for $10 on clearance in the Mountain View Target and in the Austin Target.
Re: Poll: How much do you make as a programmer?
#189Earlier quoted context omitted.
Too many people confuse SF with the Bay Area. SF is just one city in a much larger populated region. You don't need to live in SF proper even to work there. And housing is cheaper outside of the City than in it (generally).
Tell you what, Mountain View / Palo Alto is getting ridiculous. My 650sqft one-bedroom which cost $1700 2 years ago, is going up to $2600 when I move out. Granted you can still find cheaper in Mountain View, and you can get wayy cheap in the East Bay, but honestly the city is not looking so expensive to me these days.
The $150/month bridge toll tax difference is how you should calculate the rent.
Re: Poll: How much do you make as a programmer?
#190I wish I could compare this curve to comp in finance. It seems like a lot of money until you realize PE firms/hedge funds/banks are offering fresh MBAs +$200K a year. I'm not saying finance is better, it's just a data point to put things in perspective.
I hear the hours can get even more ridiculous in finance, and you have to live with new york weather. How do they get those offers from those firms?