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Comment by blackguardx | Hacker News Reader

I am surprised that the average starting salary in silicon valley was only $50,000 in 1999. I was under the impression that tech salaries never returned to the dot com boom levels.

The average starting salary now must be at least $10,000 more.

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Inflation. $50k in 1999 is roughly $63k now. http://www.usinflationcalculator.com/

I didn't realize that inflation was that high.

I also have an anecdotal reference point. A friend of mine who worked at the same company I do in the dot com years made over 80k in an entry level position. I make significantly less than 80k right now, albeit in a different field.

That's an extremely low starting salary even though you said 'at least'. I made over $10,000 last summer as an undergraduate intern at a not so big company. Full time graduate jobs I imagine would start you with at least $50,000. Despite it not being the dot com boom, it's the time and age where companies realize that technology is needed to increase efficiency. Therefore CS majors are in quite high demand in my experience. Companies come recruiting for us, we don't really come to them (with companies like Google as the exception).

"at least $10,000 more", not "at least $10,000 or more". That's at least $10,000 more than the $50,000 he already mentioned, or "at least $60,000". Which is not an extremely low starting salary.

California must be really expensive.

$40,000 seems to be standard here (North Carolina).

The silicon valley is insanely expensive; other places in California have more reasonable costs of living. In my hometown (Sacramento), $40k/year can buy you a modest house and a comfortable lifestyle. In San Jose (where I live now), you'd better be making at least double that (for a modest home).

I hear that. I'm making about double that and am barely keeping up with my rent in Campbell. Granted, I have a wife, kid, and a lot of debt to pay down.

Don't suppose you know of any HN/YC-related meetups in the area?

http://www.meetup.com/Hackers-and-Founders/

But I've never been, mostly due to being dependent on others for rides.

I've been going to Hackers and Founders off and on for the last six months and always enjoyed myself. Jonathan does a great job of making it a welcoming and friendly environment. Bring your side project, or help give feedback to other people about their side project. It's a great way to get an outside perspective on technology (that is, apart from the people you normally work/socialize with).

In big companies in the valley, I guess the starting salary for a software engr is 80K+

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