There are still very few companies that want to hire pure remote, so demand is low. This might all change: supply goes up as people go remote, demand goes up as

There are still very few companies that want to hire pure remote, so demand is low. This might all change: supply goes up as people go remote, demand goes up as companies look to hire remotely. It’s unclear what this market will look like, but I sincerely doubt it will mean higher compensation than the current Bay Area salaries. Cost of living has nothing to do with it. The density of employers (and capital) in the valley plus a desire to hire locally leads to high compensation. This leads to engineers moving to the valley. The high density of high earners and demand for housing is what is responsible for the high cost of living in the Bay Area, not the other way around (high costs of living leading to high compensation).