The real differentiation between west coast/{"non-traditional"|LCOL} areas seems to be around non-base compensation offerings. I've got a friend who is a remot

The real differentiation between west coast/{"non-traditional"|LCOL} areas seems to be around non-base compensation offerings. I've got a friend who is a remote L6 solutions architect with AWS. His compensation is decidedly west coast: ~30% annual bonus and insane RSU grants, while his base is near or below mine. Stock offerings are atypical in the companies in many of these areas, and 30% bonus is unheard of for technical people. So while LCOL areas may have better base comp, people expecting six figures worth of stock grants aren't going to bite. What that means I'm not smart enough to know. :)