5 ms·

DC has a stronger IT job market than possibly Silicon Valley and New York. DC has been a top city for IT talent and is probably the best of the three due a sig

DC has a stronger IT job market than possibly Silicon Valley and New York. DC has been a top city for IT talent and is probably the best of the three due a significantly lower cost of living.

sudosteph 8y ago
Interesting, I always heard the nice parts of DC are about as expensive as Seattle, and the traffic is even worse. I've known a few people to take software gigs for government contractors in that area, but none of them stayed around very long - said the salaries were not great and that they weren't getting any of the perks of tech culture that are common elsewhere (no casual dress code, were micro-managed, lots of lazy coworkers). I imagine it was just the specific body shops that hired them that were the problem though.
- chrshawkes 8y ago
  Northern VA - McLean/Tysons is the third wealthiest zipcode in the country currently. Houses are a million plus for 3 bed 2 bath ramblers. As far as the traffic, it's the worst in the country just about, usually fluctuates between the worst or 2nd worst. Most major tech companies have some presence in DC and those that don't are coming here everyday it seems.
  - joejerryronnie 8y ago
    >Houses are a million plus for 3 bed 2 bath ramblers In the Bay Area, that's a heck of a deal.
    - randcraw 8y ago
      Maybe, but salaries around DC are WAY below SV or NYC. The pay and perqs of gov't/DoD contracting can never compete with SV startups or NYC finance; not even close.
esonderegger 8y ago
Unfortunately, all of the programming jobs here are either in publishing (low pay) or government contracting (bureaucratic headaches). And while the cost of living is less than NYC and SF, it ain't exactly cheap either. Amazon's decision to come to Crystal City makes sense to me because there are a bunch of young college grads and no competition from the other FAANG companies. If you're a young, ambitious, programmer trying to decide where to start your career though, I'd suggest going to SF/SV, NYC, Seattle, or Boston because those places provide more options.

DC has a stronger IT job market than possibly Silicon Valley and New York. DC has been a top city for IT talent and is probably the best of the three due a significantly lower cost of living.

sudosteph 8y ago

Interesting, I always heard the nice parts of DC are about as expensive as Seattle, and the traffic is even worse. I've known a few people to take software gigs for government contractors in that area, but none of them stayed around very long - said the salaries were not great and that they weren't getting any of the perks of tech culture that are common elsewhere (no casual dress code, were micro-managed, lots of lazy coworkers). I imagine it was just the specific body shops that hired them that were the problem though.

chrshawkes 8y ago
Northern VA - McLean/Tysons is the third wealthiest zipcode in the country currently. Houses are a million plus for 3 bed 2 bath ramblers. As far as the traffic, it's the worst in the country just about, usually fluctuates between the worst or 2nd worst. Most major tech companies have some presence in DC and those that don't are coming here everyday it seems.
- joejerryronnie 8y ago
  >Houses are a million plus for 3 bed 2 bath ramblers In the Bay Area, that's a heck of a deal.
  - randcraw 8y ago
    Maybe, but salaries around DC are WAY below SV or NYC. The pay and perqs of gov't/DoD contracting can never compete with SV startups or NYC finance; not even close.

esonderegger 8y ago

Unfortunately, all of the programming jobs here are either in publishing (low pay) or government contracting (bureaucratic headaches). And while the cost of living is less than NYC and SF, it ain't exactly cheap either. Amazon's decision to come to Crystal City makes sense to me because there are a bunch of young college grads and no competition from the other FAANG companies. If you're a young, ambitious, programmer trying to decide where to start your career though, I'd suggest going to SF/SV, NYC, Seattle, or Boston because those places provide more options.