Yeah, same here. If I max out the possible compensation by setting lead w/ a lot of experience, it's roughly 60% of what I make now (as a non-lead with a lot of

Yeah, same here. If I max out the possible compensation by setting lead w/ a lot of experience, it's roughly 60% of what I make now (as a non-lead with a lot of experience). The kicker is that I'm employed remotely by by a company based in a city whose CoL hit is even larger than the one I currently live in. The NYC range they give is plausible for me as someone who lives in a place that is much cheaper than NYC, but it's not exciting and wouldn't really motivate me to apply. GitLab's numbers may look right on paper (and they do explain their methodology in the second link, discussing rent indexes, etc), but they're absolutely not comparable to what good people earn in the real world. Good talent commands good wages everywhere. A skilled remote worker is not going to come to GitLab for an average-for-their-area salary. Even when working locally, talented people make much more than the average for their area. I know this because I've hired many good people and unless they're entry-level (meaning they're good but haven't had a chance to prove it yet), they don't start coming in the door until you're offering at least a 50% price premium over the reported median. In fact, we had a lot of bad candidates come in asking for around that much. The senior people I hired would make more than double the median for their nominal role. The stats on these government reports don't account for seniority, skill, niche demand, etc., and likely include some people that self-report as holding a title when they're really just aspiring to that position. Once you're a mid-level dev, you should be pulling in a bare minimum of 80-85k, no matter where you live. I say this not as a bubble-dwelling San Franciscan (who surely finds such numbers laughable even for entry-level), but someone who has lived in various parts of "flyover country" his entire life. When local opportunities for at least this compensation are not forthcoming, go contract or remote. There's no reason for good people to leave money on the table, and GitLab doesn't appear to get that.