Silicon Valley is the only place in the United States where $300K is even close to the "middle" of anything.
I just moved to SV a few months ago from the Midwest (and not a particularly cheap part of it). Telling my coworkers who aren't from the US what a house costs in Wisconsin, you'd have thought I was the one who moved from a foreign country.
As a datapoint, I get paid just under 250k/yr and I'm an above average developer in his very late career, at a midwest company. 300k avg for SV is about right.
The local college and medical administrators are the ones that own the mansions in my city. I have a family, house and mortgage plus my large medical expenses (cardiac) I can handle...until I cant.
Holy moly, $250 in the midwest? Where do I get your job?
For reference, I just left a position in the Midwest for a job in SV that pays a little more than you're getting paid. $250 but with Midwestern rent would be life-changing. Sounds like we're in very different stages of our careers, though.
> Silicon Valley is the only place in the United States where $300K is even close to the "middle" of anything.
It does heavily cluster around SV, for sure, but Seattle/NewYork/Boston/Arlington will all get you there, and Chicago/Austin/etc aren't all that far behind at this point
