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Well you have to compete on skill, niche and reputation. High skill workers in poor countries still can make $$$ online if they have the appropriate skills and especially if somewhat specialized. Doubly so if they have a strong reputation for doing a good job.

Yet, Americans still compete at the high end of contracting work. Sometimes it's not the code itself that ultimately matters, it's the solution as a whole.

not really, in my experience on Upwork for 25$/hour you can't really find someone who is a competent engineer and also speaks solid english (no matter the country).

short answer: signaling has enough power to stop freelancers from competing on price until zero