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Cities with High Salary to Cost of Living Ratios for Software Developers

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Re: Cities with High Salary to Cost of Living Ratios for Software Developers

#81

Post by muglug »

wallflower wrote: post #23

I 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…

While the anecdote is interesting, for a couple of years I was happy living in New York while earning around $45K. If I'd played the finance game (I also have degree from a top-ranking CS program) I could have earned five times that. But I also know myself enough to know that route would have left me much less happy.

Re: Cities with High Salary to Cost of Living Ratios for Software Developers

#82

Post by rayiner »

jasonwocky wrote: post #44
wallflower wrote: post #23

I 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…

> Check out the size of the dogs being walked near Central Park. Where do these people live?! True, it's NYC is an expensive place to try and mix in all of the creature comforts of suburban life. The big dog, the fancy car, lots of square footage of living space. And to young kids, just out of college, who've never known anything other than suburban living before moving to NYC, these may seem like "baseline necessiti…

I took his point to be the opposite--that in expensive cities in general, the typical 'burbian metrics of success (big house, big dog, big car) are unattainable, but at least in NYC there is a lot of other things you can enjoy, much more so than in SJ.

Re: Cities with High Salary to Cost of Living Ratios for Software Developers

#83

Post by chiph »

SwellJoe wrote: post #19

I suspect the cost of living data for Austin trails reality by some significant margin. The sources don't indicate the age of the data, but even if it's only a couple of years old, it's going to be wrong by enough to be a factor. I have lived in Austin for a couple of years, and also lived here (and owned a house here) about 8 years ago. The cost of homes here has gone up tremendously since then. I was shopping for a…

I have the same problem in Austin. Prices are going up faster than I can save, even accounting for the downpayment leverage. There's no way that I can compete with the all-cash offers that are $10k and $20k above asking price that are being made by investors and people from California and overseas. Knowing that it's a bubble, I think I'm going to have to wait until it pops, and just keep renting until then. Because commuting from Buda or Georgetown isn't attractive to me.

Re: Cities with High Salary to Cost of Living Ratios for Software Developers

#84

Post by kokey »

notahacker wrote: post #64
ilghiro wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wouldn't be surprised if London came out bottom. Anecdotally, salaries are lower and rent higher as compared with both NY and San Francisco. Taxes are obviously higher as well.

Glassdoor suggests "software developers" or "software engineers" in London earn around $60k, which would put it far below the salaries listed here. In the absence of the COL index for the UK we can use the "London living wage" - supposedly a baseline for a minimum acceptable standard of living[1] which translates to £18k (a little under $30k). The tax paid on the amount earned in excess of this living wage is around…

£18k/year in London, I suppose you didn't live alone, that's the only way to make ends meet on that budget.

Re: Cities with High Salary to Cost of Living Ratios for Software Developers

#85

Post by johnward »

dbenhur wrote: post #13
sgk284 wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a lot of selection bias in the type of people that post on those sites. The salaries are almost always deflated. Software engineers making $200k+ aren't posting on indeed.com.

> The salaries are almost always deflated. Really? Last I looked self-reported numbers tend to be _inflated_ compared to govt collected figures (from tax returns and payroll reports). My intuitive understanding of this is that people being underpaid tend to not want to brag about it, even anonymously.

I agree. The salaries seem inflated compared to talks with co-workers. If I look within my own company and even within my own company+city+job title Glassdoor is way to high. Honestly the most accurate numbers we get are probably from the H1B visas because they are required to be reported by the employer but I don't know how that correlates to pay of national citizens.

I guess the best way to know if you are underpaid is applying for other positions and see what kind of offers you get.

Re: Cities with High Salary to Cost of Living Ratios for Software Developers

#86

Post by iagooar »

paddyzab wrote: post #40
zerr wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Last time I was researching, good enough flat (with 2+ bedrooms) in Zurich costs 4K+ CHF per month.

In Zuerich maybe, I rented 3.5 room apartment in Adliswil for 1.970 CHF last week. Close to nature, and for me close to office since my company in in Binz. Moved away from crowded Berlin, no regrets.

Same here, move from Berlin to Zürich. From time to time I miss some things, but now I can fly there and spend a weekend more intensely than while living there ;)

BTW, I think I saw that appartment in Adliswil. Switzerland is so small ;)

Re: Cities with High Salary to Cost of Living Ratios for Software Developers

#87

Post by dustingetz »

Murkin wrote: post #56

Can someone explain the numbers, I see averages of $100K/year for developers and then keep hearing of freelancers raking $150-$200/hour ($300K/year). How can this be ?

freelancer financials at $200/hr are closer to 200/hr * 30hr/wk * 52wk * 2/3 weeks billed = $208k/yr minus overhead, and an individual with rare enough experience and skill to close a gig at $200 is not the same type of person working average salaried jobs

Re: Cities with High Salary to Cost of Living Ratios for Software Developers

#89

Post by johnward »

jimktrains2 wrote: post #88

No mention of Pittsburgh! We have a fairly low cost-of-living and decent salaries for tech.

I was kind of looking for that too. Cost of living in this area is pretty low and the tech scene is growing. The only downside is you have to live in Pittsburgh and I actually like sunshine so I've been thinking of moving.

Re: Cities with High Salary to Cost of Living Ratios for Software Developers

#90

Post by jimktrains2 »

johnward wrote: post #89
jimktrains2 wrote: post #88

No mention of Pittsburgh! We have a fairly low cost-of-living and decent salaries for tech.

I was kind of looking for that too. Cost of living in this area is pretty low and the tech scene is growing. The only downside is you have to live in Pittsburgh and I actually like sunshine so I've been thinking of moving.

Our city isn't that bad! Though it does rain a good deal, and is cloudy a lot.

That said there are a lot of amenities (museums, shows, groups, &c) and things-to-do, so we're not as isolated and dull as a lot of people I've met feel we are.

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