what's the difference between engineer & developer ?
Cities with High Salary to Cost of Living Ratios for Software Developers
21–30 of 267 posts
Re: Cities with High Salary to Cost of Living Ratios for Software Developers
#22Has anyone done something similar for Europe or other parts of the world?
Re: Cities with High Salary to Cost of Living Ratios for Software Developers
#23I remember once meeting an old high school friend in NYC. He was hanging out at one of those non-descript but unfathomably loud bars. Some of his coworkers stopped by. The conversation switched to the car one of them had bought. A Lexus SC430 convertible. He was complaining about how he never got to get out of The City and drive it enough. They were all super-sharp CS graduates working for one of the most successful hedge funds in the world.
My point with this story is that if you are making way above the median salary in NYC ($200k+ range at the time, this was 10 years ago) - the world is just different. You are making enough money to enjoy one of the top cities in the world. With the $125k-$140k salaries some software developers report making, they are barely getting to "enjoy" living in NYC. Finance has distorted the baseline of what it means to be successful in NYC. I mean, my school friends' coworkers were 2-3 yrs out of Harvard and talking about the travails of $80k car ownership like it was an Accord.
Software salaries outside of Fintech and top-tier companies like Google and Facebook and a handful of others in globally attractive cities are the equivalent of middle class in the burbs. You're doing OK but you're not going to be relatively 'really doing well'. In a city like NYC, there are more than enough free events to overwhelm anyone. However, in San Jose, what do you do? Hang out on the Palo Alto main drag?
Check out the size of the dogs being walked near Central Park. Where do these people live?!
Re: Cities with High Salary to Cost of Living Ratios for Software Developers
#24I'm curious if the salaries include stocks and other compensation - my stocks are a large portion of my compensation package, and I work for a major company, not a startup. It makes me wonder if this might skew more in favor of west coast, where (I think?) those compensation schemes are more common - as where I'm at, those numbers all seem really low compared to what most people I know make.
Stocks are extremely hard to value until you IPO, though.
Re: Cities with High Salary to Cost of Living Ratios for Software Developers
#25I remember once meeting an old high school friend in NYC. He was hanging out at one of those non-descript but unfathomably loud bars. Some of his coworkers stopped by. The conversation switched to the car one of them had bought. A Lexus SC430 convertible. He was complaining about how he never got to get out of The City and drive it enough. They were all super-sharp CS graduates working for one of the most successful…
Meanwhile, living in the 'burbs' is the cultural equivalent of living in Siberia as far as I'm concerned. I spent < $20k last year and had a great time in New York.
Re: Cities with High Salary to Cost of Living Ratios for Software Developers
#26Suggested title change: "American Cities with ...". Not everyone lives in Murica.
Re: Cities with High Salary to Cost of Living Ratios for Software Developers
#27Most of the cost is from rent or housing. If you lower that cost by living more minimally, San Jose may still be the best place overall in terms of discretionary spending.
Re: Cities with High Salary to Cost of Living Ratios for Software Developers
#28Except cities aren't really fungible. If you like big cities, then NYC may be the best place to live regardless of salary. If you like the outdoors, then maybe another city. If you are raising a family, then maybe you want to be in a quieter area with good schools. If you want to be in a tech hub, then you should be in Silicon Valley. And if you have a spouse, that is all adjusted by their needs and the industry they work in.
On a software developer's salary, you'll get by regardless of what city you live in, so you should be choosing the city which suits your personality and your stage of life.
Re: Cities with High Salary to Cost of Living Ratios for Software Developers
#29I think averaged adjustments for cost of living are senseless as this is quite individual. Let's take me as an example: I manage to live modestly but well on around 1000 CHF (1050 USD) in Zurich while making around 6400 CHF (6700 USD) in net-salary. I am a junior software engineer hacking on Python in a SMB. (Full disclosure: My company is hiring; feel free to reach out to me at iwang{at}fastmail.net. Also, my experi…
I remember saving lots of money in Switzerland because it was too expensive to actually buy anything. When that frappechino costs 8CHF, you think hard about getting it (now it's probably even worse!).
Re: Cities with High Salary to Cost of Living Ratios for Software Developers
#30I remember once meeting an old high school friend in NYC. He was hanging out at one of those non-descript but unfathomably loud bars. Some of his coworkers stopped by. The conversation switched to the car one of them had bought. A Lexus SC430 convertible. He was complaining about how he never got to get out of The City and drive it enough. They were all super-sharp CS graduates working for one of the most successful…
San Jose is not hurting for nearby recreation oppurtunities, though you often need a car to access them. On the other hand, try a city with hot/humid southern weather like Atlanta or even Dallas or Huston...there is a reason they have high obesity rates.