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I feel like there's a hard split between California software developer compensation (sometimes) and the rest of the country.

I'd be curious to see an actual disciplined distribution of software developer salaries, with and without salary data from California.

I feel like there is a staggering difference between the two as someone who works closely with professionals who collect this data regularly.

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Specifically within California, the cost of living for things like housing is sky high if you live local to SF or SV. I live in a lcol and own a home, but home ownership with my same salary would be impossible in a HCOL area. I would easily pay 3-4x as much for the same amount of property. To relocate and keep the same standard of living, my salary would need to effectively 1.5-1.7x just to offset the costs of a higher mortgage payment. And renting in an average apartment in the area would cost at least much as my current mortgage.

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