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Comment by dirkdk | Hacker News Reader

Europe is not that bad. Yes it is nice to earn $120k in Silicon Valley, but life is extremely expensive with $3500/m rent for a 1br apt. Get a job in my home town Amsterdam, earn $80k and spend only $1000 on an apartment. Uber moved its mobile engineering team there for a reason.

In general, the entrepreneurial scene is much smaller, but if you want to concentrate on SE Europe is fine.

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> nice to earn $120k in Silicon Valley > $3500/m rent for a 1br apt

I think you are a bit off on both :)

Salary:

As a Software Engineer, chances are you can a bit more (especially including bonus + RSU). If you're "senior" you can earn quite a bit more.

Also: There are tons of other small perks that add up (phone/internet reimbursement, free food, public transport pass, free electric car charging, ...)

Rent:

You can currently get a 2 BR, 2 BR in Mountain View for about $3500 (managed newish building 2 minutes from Castro)

(Source: moved to Valley from Europe via Boston)

In San Francisco you need $4,225 for a 1br

http://blog.sfgate.com/ontheblock/2015/06/02/san-franciscos-...

That's not true at all. Check out Craigslist. You can still find one-bedrooms for under $3K.

He talked about the median from Zillow. You are talking about the bottom decile 1-bed being hawked on Craigslist. Ask yourself, as a developer on six figures, would you want to live in the latter?

The bottom decile in SF is more like <$2,000/month. Or even <$1500.

$2500-$3000/month will get you a nice 1-bedroom in some of the more desirable neighborhoods.

I should know, I just spent a month finding one.

Is $80k on the upper level? I mean, not rich, but is it enough to live comfortably? I know in some countries you are making as an SE as much as the baker in the neighborhood bakery!

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