Are there any country outside U.S. that pay more for software job? I've looked before, but I didn't find any, so you'll have to figure out a way to quantify quality of live improvement in dollar figures.
That said, remember that if you're an actual american citizen, they will tax your foreign income and a programmer with a lot of experience can hit revenues where they actually have to remit money to the IRS in addition to the cost of compliance (which can itself be significant.)
In general, there's a scale/tradeoff of this, and California is on one extreme of that scale - there won't be any country that will pay even more, with the possible exception of some Saudi contracts or similar niches.
It cheaper to fly to Los Angeles, buy Adobe Suite ( the old one when discs were still around) and arrive back to Australia rather than buying it in Australia.
If you're looking at maximizing dollars, it's hard. But no amount of salary in the Bay Area will give you decent public transit.
https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/u-s-...
"Your worldwide income is subject to U.S. income tax, regardless of where you reside."
Your best scenario is to work remotely for a US company while living in a low cost of living country.
https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/fore...
Misleading.
You are compelled to file taxes in the US. It's quite unlikely that an American living abroad must actually pauy tax on foreign-earned income.
https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/fore...