4 ms·

For programmers in Indianapolis, there's numerous opportunities. Salesforce has helped advance the salary curve. Job interviews are pretty straightforward. Not

For programmers in Indianapolis, there's numerous opportunities. Salesforce has helped advance the salary curve. Job interviews are pretty straightforward. Nothing like the FAANG grind. Salaries are $80K fresh out of college. Surpassing $200k is doable at places like Salesforce, Eli Lilly, etc.. Lots of "routine" programming jobs are in the $100-$140k range going from Senior to Staff. Higher levels of IC and management of course go up from there. A nice house costs $200k.

pb7 6y ago
Can you link to a nice house as a reference?
- rubidium 6y ago
  https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/8150-Birchfield-Dr-Indianapolis-IN-46268/69391760_zpid/ https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/8150-Birchfield-Dr-Indian...
  - cvhashim 6y ago
    Seems like a 20-25min drive into the city
    - rubidium 6y ago
      It’s in the city limits, and there’s tech firms located all over the city and suburbs. It’d be about 20 min to get downtown though, yes.
    - 35fbe7d3d5b9 6y ago
      There's lots of sprawl in cities like this, especially Indy. Everything is 20 minutes from everything else ;) If you wanted a house in a more trendy, downtown neighborhood: https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/1627-Fletcher-Ave_Indianapolis_IN_46203_M30919-04576 https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/1627-Fletc...
  - pb7 6y ago
    Appreciate it. Exactly what I was looking for.
    - lotsofpulp 6y ago
      The higher income people in Indianapolis with children tend to gather in the northern suburbs of Carmel/Zionsville, etc. Those house prices ($500k+) are similar to the higher income suburbs of many other higher cost of living cities.
whimsicalism 6y ago
> Salaries are $80K fresh out of college. I think this is changing (for the higher) in some low cost of living areas (although I can't speak for the midwest) as tech talent moves out of SF. My good friend just got a $120k offer for a pretty "routine" new grad job. e: for clarity
- geogra4 6y ago
  what location and what company (if you can share?) Most ranges I've seen around this parts are 80-120k and upwards of 140-150 for senior talent.
  - whimsicalism 6y ago
    Y'know - a bit of a brain fart on my part, because I forgot we were discussing the midwest in particular and not low cost of living in general. This was an offer in North Carolina for a testing role, but I'd rather not share the company without asking her.
geogra4 6y ago
similar here in detroit but anything above 140k is going to be extremely rare. You probably would have to have some serious negotiation power/leverage to be able to get that.
throwaway713 6y ago
The problem is the compensation ceiling in these cities. It’s not the Midwest, but when I was searching in Atlanta for tech jobs to stay closer to family, the upper limit was about $150k, which I think was at Square. There are other non-tech companies that offer SWE positions (The Home Depot, Warner Media), but you will always be treated as a cost center and the career growth is limited. Meanwhile, SWE comp at FANG can end up closer to $350k for senior engineers and $600k for staff positions. With a lot of these companies now offering permanent remote work, even a 50% pay cut is better than the local offerings.
- whimsicalism 6y ago
  FAANG is currently pretending that the high-pay given to high-quality Bay area engineers is due to the cost-of-living. I think once remote work really starts in full swing, we'll see wages in remote regions rise as companies realize that they are essentially negotiating with the same people, who still expect to be paid highly for their work.
  - lotsofpulp 6y ago
    The people making the hiring decisions are providing high pay because if they don't, then the person they want to hire has the option of working elsewhere for high pay. The people accepting the high pay are able to get the high pay because they have the option of selling their labor to someone else who will give them high pay. Price is based on supply and demand curves, and cost of living isn't directly a causal factor. If it is true that FAANG can keep printing money while hiring people willing to accept lower pay, then that will happen but it will be because the FAANG's prospective supply of labor would have increased.
  - asdff 6y ago
    I think you'd sooner see wages fall than rise. People are working those salaries in cheap areas because they couldn't get a higher salary elsewhere, after all. There is a finite amount of these highly paid positions and far more qualified people.
    - 6y ago

pb7 6y ago

Can you link to a nice house as a reference?

rubidium 6y ago
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/8150-Birchfield-Dr-Indianapolis-IN-46268/69391760_zpid/ https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/8150-Birchfield-Dr-Indian...
- cvhashim 6y ago
  Seems like a 20-25min drive into the city
  - rubidium 6y ago
    It’s in the city limits, and there’s tech firms located all over the city and suburbs. It’d be about 20 min to get downtown though, yes.
  - 35fbe7d3d5b9 6y ago
    There's lots of sprawl in cities like this, especially Indy. Everything is 20 minutes from everything else ;) If you wanted a house in a more trendy, downtown neighborhood: https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/1627-Fletcher-Ave_Indianapolis_IN_46203_M30919-04576 https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/1627-Fletc...
- pb7 6y ago
  Appreciate it. Exactly what I was looking for.
  - lotsofpulp 6y ago
    The higher income people in Indianapolis with children tend to gather in the northern suburbs of Carmel/Zionsville, etc. Those house prices ($500k+) are similar to the higher income suburbs of many other higher cost of living cities.

whimsicalism 6y ago

> Salaries are $80K fresh out of college. I think this is changing (for the higher) in some low cost of living areas (although I can't speak for the midwest) as tech talent moves out of SF. My good friend just got a $120k offer for a pretty "routine" new grad job. e: for clarity

geogra4 6y ago
what location and what company (if you can share?) Most ranges I've seen around this parts are 80-120k and upwards of 140-150 for senior talent.
- whimsicalism 6y ago
  Y'know - a bit of a brain fart on my part, because I forgot we were discussing the midwest in particular and not low cost of living in general. This was an offer in North Carolina for a testing role, but I'd rather not share the company without asking her.

geogra4 6y ago

similar here in detroit but anything above 140k is going to be extremely rare. You probably would have to have some serious negotiation power/leverage to be able to get that.

throwaway713 6y ago

The problem is the compensation ceiling in these cities. It’s not the Midwest, but when I was searching in Atlanta for tech jobs to stay closer to family, the upper limit was about $150k, which I think was at Square. There are other non-tech companies that offer SWE positions (The Home Depot, Warner Media), but you will always be treated as a cost center and the career growth is limited. Meanwhile, SWE comp at FANG can end up closer to $350k for senior engineers and $600k for staff positions. With a lot of these companies now offering permanent remote work, even a 50% pay cut is better than the local offerings.

whimsicalism 6y ago
FAANG is currently pretending that the high-pay given to high-quality Bay area engineers is due to the cost-of-living. I think once remote work really starts in full swing, we'll see wages in remote regions rise as companies realize that they are essentially negotiating with the same people, who still expect to be paid highly for their work.
- lotsofpulp 6y ago
  The people making the hiring decisions are providing high pay because if they don't, then the person they want to hire has the option of working elsewhere for high pay. The people accepting the high pay are able to get the high pay because they have the option of selling their labor to someone else who will give them high pay. Price is based on supply and demand curves, and cost of living isn't directly a causal factor. If it is true that FAANG can keep printing money while hiring people willing to accept lower pay, then that will happen but it will be because the FAANG's prospective supply of labor would have increased.
- asdff 6y ago
  I think you'd sooner see wages fall than rise. People are working those salaries in cheap areas because they couldn't get a higher salary elsewhere, after all. There is a finite amount of these highly paid positions and far more qualified people.
  - 6y ago