I've been working in Alaska a as consultant for the past 12 years and I make good money here at an interesting and fulfilling job with a team I mesh well with. I've also got a BS in CS.

There are lots of talented programmers in places you wouldn't expect. Many of us have no desire to move to a giant megalopolis where we'd have a higher cost of living, more taxes, a two hour commute, and a poor culture fit in our community.

The only way I'd consider a job working for a tech company down in America is if I could work remote around 75% of the time. It'd also have to be really interesting. There's no way I'd give up summers on the boat with my dad or unparalleled back country snowboarding in the winter.

If you're looking to outsource some work to AK I can list a few resources that will help:

http://akdevalliance.com

and two popular consulting companies up here:

https://www.resourcedata.com/

http://www.wostmann.com/

Disclaimer: I did not list my consulting company.