The bay area has more tech job than socal? The bay area pays so much more for the SAME JOB! Why? (San Francisco: rentals)

[RockhetHD]

The bay area has more tech job than socal? The bay area pays so much more for the SAME JOB! Why?
I want to live in socal SD or LA but i am stuck in "The Bay Area"! The bay area pays so much more for the SAME JOB! My transferring my same job in the LA is would decrease the salary by 10K! IS my company screwed up or is LA and SD salaries just much lower than SF and SJ? Plus it seems socal has less tech opportunities............

[Sassberto]

Silicon Valley is the largest high-tech employment center in the entire world. People from all over the world compete for jobs there. Salaries are higher because the competition for talent is so great.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by RockhetHD

The bay area pays so much more for the SAME JOB!

Other than your one data point, do you have any other statistics to support this?

[LaoTzuMindFu]

The cost of living in San Francisco is higher than any other place in California. I have an HR background and know this to be a fact so most companies grade their salaries higher in Northern CA than in Southern CA to compete for the best talent.

The median home price in SF is much higher than LA as well which companies consider when salary grading their positions.

[JTGJR]

I concur with DaBeez. The tech company that employed me, until recently, did have salary grades depending on certain locations. The Norcal area was the highest. LA and SD were a bit less.

[hsw]

Many SiliconValley tech and financial guys would prefer to live on LA's Westside if they could...far higher QOL for single guys; a more refreshingly open capitalist/hedonist culture...many make do by simply renting a wkend place in LA (IIRC, some 25% of high-end rentals on Westside are rented by those whose primary home is in SV)

That said, for families, SiliconValley's most elite suburbs (Woodside, Atherton, etc) are ~50%-70% cheaper (per acre land costs) than LA's Westside comparables (BeverlyHills, Brentwood, etc)....and QOL for families is arguably far greater in SV b/c of its high concentration of smart, education-focused, high-achieving parents

Unfortunately, LA region dramatically lags behind SV in both leading (and start-up) tech cos. and leading (and start-up) hedge funds, private equity funds and VCs.....thus, much more limited career opportunities for many in LA vs SV....many need to wait until retirement to move to LA full-time