Like others have stated, depends on your willingness/ability to travel. I will say that the 10k more for consulting is actually probably significantly higher t

Like others have stated, depends on your willingness/ability to travel. I will say that the 10k more for consulting is actually probably significantly higher than that when you calculate a few other items into the equation: 1. Food - if you are on the road, you're gonna get paid decently to eat! You may get a per diem, or allowed to expense "at cost." This is a HUGE cost savings for most people and you'll be eating very good. You will get sick of nice restaurants! 2. Miles and Points: You travel like crazy, you get points like crazy. You won't be buying any airline tickets for personal travel for a long time and you will be staying in nice hotels for free with all those points. Get a credit card that rewards with points, and you'll be getting points for all those meals you expense too. Oh, and rental cars and ... you get the point. 3. You get to see a wide variety of people and tech challenges. This is good. Think of it as "technical culture" -- much like world travelers, but for tech systems. This list could go on for a while, but those are the major advantages. Don't be fooled though! Disadvantages are many. It's hard living this kind of life. It gets old and I think it ages people prematurely. Don't let it factor down to a money thing. Let if factor down to what you really want.