Along the same lines, it's worth remembering that Bay Area companies aren't just competing with other Bay Area employers, they are also competing with equivalent jobs in areas with lower costs of living.

That means that Bay Area compensation packages need to keep ahead of the explosive growth of the cost of living in the Bay Area in order to stay competitive with an equivalent company in Denver or Houston.

In particular, I'm curious how much the cost of housing is driving growth in base salaries for Bay Area technologists.