> There are plenty of non-Bay Area markets that have thriving software scenes and even places that offer you more disposable income once housing costs are facto

> There are plenty of non-Bay Area markets that have thriving software scenes and even places that offer you more disposable income once housing costs are factored in. This is technically true but elides tons of context. "Thriving software scene" does not touch on the quality of the "scene" in question. Places that have software industries with similar perks (e.g. flex time, flexible or absent dress standards, etc.) generally have the same housing and CoL issues that the Bay Area has, relative to the salaries they pay. Places without these perks also have a much higher ratio of employers who tend to offer significantly lower salaries and benefits and have jobs that are of a poorer quality (job titles like "programmer/analyst"). They also generally don't have a sufficiently large employer base to allow the movement we see in SF, Chicago, Austin, etc. Job security in these places is a thing and almost always not in the employees' favor.