I think from a logical perspective, you're right, but not from a practical perspective. For better or for worse (especially at large companies) your title basic

I think from a logical perspective, you're right, but not from a practical perspective. For better or for worse (especially at large companies) your title basically defines where you are on the totem pole, and if the average salary for your title is lower than someone else's average title, that de facto puts you lower in the hierarchy. That's why I think PMs need to make as much as the devs pretty much everywhere and why the managers need to make more than the managed pretty much everywhere - it's not because these jobs each produce exactly that much value, or even that the skills to do the job have that particular rate on the market, but that you need these relative salary relationships to create a stable working environment. Also, if engineering management paid less than engineering, I think you would mostly end up with non-technical engineering managers which doesn't sound like a very pleasant experience.