> Are the living costs higher in that state (I'm Australian)? Yes, average cost of living in California is about the highest in the US, although there is large

> Are the living costs higher in that state (I'm Australian)? Yes, average cost of living in California is about the highest in the US, although there is large variation within different parts of the state. A comparison point might be that the average teacher in California is paid about $82,000/year: https://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/teaching_now/2019/04/which_states_have_the_highest_and_lowest_teacher_salaries.html https://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/teaching_now/2019/04/which.... My impression from the overall range of numbers for the different states is that nurses are paid a considerably above average salary for a a difficult job. > You're asking the wrong person for their opinion Outside opinions are good --- I don't think there is a clear answer here. As an American, I was somewhat surprised by how high the nurse salaries are compared to other essential professions like teaching. I also agree that they seem very low compared to many tech professions. The question then is whether one should view the tech professions as overpaid or the nurses/teachers as underpaid. The easy answer is that under capitalism, paying for a more expensive programmer can help you make even more money; while paying more for a nurse or teacher doesn't necessarily improve your profit.