These numbers strike me as wildly below current market rates in the Valley, based on my discussions with people in it trying to hire. I'm willing to be wrong on that.
If you can get a job at a rate that seems "too high", then that's the market rate.
It's fully realistic for non-management senior engineers to earn up to $150k, however.
On the one hand you have startups & companies with Bay Area caliber talent, including more high profile ventures such as OPower and Living Social. On the other end of the spectrum are budget web-dev PHP shops that maintain web pages for government agencies.
Nonetheless, I've never heard of salaries as low as those you're quoting - and they're most certainly not the norm.
While I've never worked for a contractor, in my experience their salaries are quite competitive - although they may be strict about degree requirements both for better and worse.