<prompt> Human: Hello PF! TL;DR Version: 120-150k in Silicon Valley, is about the same as 60-70k in other places, so why work at these companieslive in this area? Seems like 60k goes a LOT farther at normal CoL than what I could get in SV at double salary. nbsp;Alternatively, nbsp;50,000 dollars in Indianapolis should be 207k in SV so how can GoogleFacebookApple only pay 120-150k? nbsp; nbsp;This has been bothering me for quite some time as I do have plans on moving out to the West coast at some point, but I cant for the life of me understand why anyone would want to work for Google Apple Facebook for the on-going salaries they offer out of Silicon Valley due to the absurd cost of living. nbsp; nbsp;For example Glassdoor references: Google: Software Engineer Base: 127,070 Facebook: Software Engineer Base: 125,346 Apple: Software Engineer Base: 121,762 I understand most of these companies also offer compensation, such as stocks, but just comparing Apples to Apples nbsp; nbsp;San Fran area: Monthly rent for 85 m2 900 Sqft furnished accommodation in EXPENSIVE area: 4,307 Monthly rent for 85 m2 900 Sqft furnished accommodation in NORMAL area: 3,493Now, most of my friends, including myself live in normal cost areas but make between 60-80kyear. I dont consider ourselves to be anything but average in terms of skill level, whereas I presume most people working at high end tech companies are on the upper skill levels which will net 80-100k here, but thats another discussion nbsp; nbsp;Heres where I live: Monthly rent for 85 m2 900 Sqft furnished accommodation in EXPENSIVE area 1,304 Monthly rent for 85 m2 900 Sqft furnished accommodation in NORMAL area 1023 So considering at 60-80kyear take home pay is 3500-4000month and 1300 for rent and assuming 500 for all utilities, internet, tv, cell phone, etc that leaves us with 1700-2200month for food and savingsspending money. nbsp; nbsp;Compared to SV, which is about double, we can estimate 7000month take home - 4000 for rent 500 for utilities, etc, would leave us with 2500month. Its simply comparable, until you start looking at what that kind of cash actually gets you there. nbsp; nbsp;I live in a home built in the mid-90s thats 1300 square foot, and it costs me 1150month or about 30 of my take home income, and its less than 5 minutes from my work place as an added perk. If I took a job at Google paying 120k, it seems Id be living in a tiny studio paying 3500 over 50 of take home pay. Owning a home out there is RIGHT out, as a 1300 square foot decent house out there already runs 8000month nbsp; nbsp;The apartments that I would consider living in just based on what I can get here on current salary are about 5000month in SV. Here, they would run no more than 1500.I dont get it, I may be getting an offer soon to one of these companies, but I dont think I can justify moving to the area just with the cost of living increase. Can anyone provide some insight as to why people actually enjoy working at these places so much? Just based on the math, Im considering turning a job down at one of the three big tech companies.  <response>: One thing to remember is that proportionally, it may be about equal. But dollar for dollar, its not. Working in SV can lead to early retirement even if the cost of living rises proportional to salary.What I mean is, lets say you spend 30 of your income on housing, 40 on other bills and food, and set aside a very healthy 30 for retirement. In a rural area, you do that with 60k, setting aside 20kyear for retirement. In SV, you do that with 120k, setting aside 40kyear for retirement. You work for 20 years.When you retire, and heres the key...you dont retire in Silicon Valley. You retire somewhere where it costs you 50,000year to live. And you now have twice as many dollars in your retirement account, lasting you 33 extra years at 2 APY. 