Out of all the hypothesis outlined, "Management location dictates office location" seems most accurate to me. The highest programming salaries are at big tech c

Out of all the hypothesis outlined, "Management location dictates office location" seems most accurate to me. The highest programming salaries are at big tech companies in SF/NYC because those companies make so much money per employee that they don't blink an eye at $500k/yr comp packages. Meanwhile no bootstrapped founder in their right mind would try to hire in SF to build an MVP unless they've got VC investors with deep pockets adamant on it. The smarter move would be to hire remotely, vastly opening up the talent pool and getting significantly more bang for your buck. If you're a U.S. citizen, you can always move to SF/NYC and make those high salaries. You just might choose not to because you don't want to move there. If you're Swiss, there are plenty of high paying jobs, not just in IT but other fields. If you're a Ukrainian citizen, you don't have the option to make $500k+/yr at <insert big tech company> (unless you're willing and able to go through the immigration process into the U.S., which is difficult). Naturally that leads to less bargaining power. Ultimately wages are just a negotiation.