Other cities with much better cost of living are gaining reputation in tech / start-ups and attracting talent (or just keeping the talent that went to school there).
These companies need to realize that the market rate for the kinds of engineering and talent they demand is set in the bigger cities, not their little slice of the Midwest. I understand why they're doing it, but for all the issues in the Bay Area the opportunities are still better than almost anywhere else and so is the pay.
Housing costs are eye-watering from my perspective, but cheap for someone from SV or even Seattle.