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Comment by jensvdh | Hacker News Reader

It's all about Cost of Living. A $150k base salary really doesn't get you much more than an average-ish life in San Francisco.

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Sorta true, but most of these bigger companies give you housing in addition to these salaries for their internships

I'm on the west coast, not San Francisco, but average rent for a 1BR here is $1700. I make less than half of 150k.

It's whatever, I'm working to move industries. I just look at these numbers for INTERNS and realize I've almost spent a decade treading water with nothing to show for it...all because I picked the wrong major in college.

Extremely disheartening and shame inducing to realize I can't even compete with a college kid on renting an apartment.

You can do better if you move to the East Bay and cut your rent in half.

but then you have to have a car! car payment + gas + car insurance + daily bart tickets... It can add up!

this equation is often true for non-family people I know: SFRent - EBRent <= OwningCar

for family people renting bigger spaces, the equation then might look like: SFRent - EBRent >= OwningCar

Nothing like a daily BART ride to scare you off of working in the Bay Area. Especially one deep enough into the East Bay (with a long enough bus ride to the station) to cut the rent in half.

An hour each way (20 minutes for first and last mile, 40 minute train ride) will save you maybe 30%.

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