I'll echo this. The 6-7 years of "California" tech experience pays dividends in other countries. Ended up moving to Taipei so my example is a bit extreme, but I

I'll echo this. The 6-7 years of "California" tech experience pays dividends in other countries. Ended up moving to Taipei so my example is a bit extreme, but I have quite a few friends making "low end" California $100k-120k USD/year wages while living in the middle of nowhere Canada. I still wanted to live in a city, and Taipei has all the amenities Los Angeles or San Francisco had (nice bars, hipster coffee shops, great out doors areas). My friends wanted big wide open space and being close to family in Canada. I was being paid on the "low end" for an engineering manager in California but in the top 1% in Taiwan. For anyone considering trying "location arbitrage", whether that be in a "normal" city in a middle state of the USA, or a more extreme example like myself, I high recommend giving it a shot. You can _always_ move back to SF, LA, NYC, London, Hong Kong etc. The only risk you're making is the slope of your savings account decreasing slightly. Remember, you'll never have _more_ time and _less_ responsibility then right at this moment. You'll only get less time and more responsibility as time passes on.