Recently had a friend who moved from the Midwest to the Bay area to work for a well known established tech company. He was back for a visit recently and said he

Recently had a friend who moved from the Midwest to the Bay area to work for a well known established tech company. He was back for a visit recently and said he had referred me for a data science position in the company. But he said the first thing the hiring manager asked was whether I would be willing to relocate. He couldn't answer for me but it got me thinking and investigating. The cost differential - most notably in housing is crazy. And, then I check the traffic maps one evening about 7 PM Pacific - the freeways were still mostly showing red. It would take a lot more than $120K for me to think about moving there. Buying a comparable home to what I currently have looks like it would be anywhere from 3X with an awful commute to 8X the cost for a reasonable commute.