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Is this adjusted for living expenses at all? New York may have high salaries but they also have high cost of living.

by Rusky 15y ago

mguarascio 15y ago
Agreed - that would be interesting to see cost of living weighed in. Speaking from experience, Suffolk/Nassau counties in NY may have higher salaries - but the cost of living is rough (e.g. property taxes).
jerf 15y ago
Personally I'm not a huge fan of so-called "cost of living" adjustments. I've lived in a range of "cost of living" areas, and areas with a higher CoL are generally nicer, by which I mean, everything in the area is just generally nicer. Stores don't have missing tiles, produce is fresher, crime is lower, the lights on the stores outside don't have missing bulbs for long, the roads are smoother, the houses are nicer, and the local culture is richer, in most senses of the term. If we're talking about things like global levels of true wealth, you probably shouldn't adjust for CoL. Areas with high CoL are areas with a higher ambient wealth, and for questions of who is better off, trying to normalize on CoL lines someone in semi-rural China vs. a Manhattenite is normalizing away a critical truth.
- lsc 15y ago
  I find this especially true in labor markets. I've moved from the central valley to the silicon valley and back several times during my life, and yeah, silicon valley has higher wages (and higher rents) - but you know what? it also has higher expectations. I noticed that whenever I went to silicon valley, I was, well, mediocre. I had to put some effort in just to stay in the middle of the pack, and I've had some jobs where it took my all just to keep my head above water. In the central valley? almost everywhere I worked, I was like a little god, even without all that much effort. Sure, the average worker gets paid more here in silicon valley; but if you hire the average silicon valley sysadmin/programmer, you are getting a whole lot more than the average central valley sysadmin/programmer.

Is this adjusted for living expenses at all? New York may have high salaries but they also have high cost of living.

by Rusky 15y ago

Is this adjusted for living expenses at all? New York may have high salaries but they also have high cost of living.

Agreed - that would be interesting to see cost of living weighed in. Speaking from experience, Suffolk/Nassau counties in NY may have higher salaries - but the cost of living is rough (e.g. property taxes).

jerf 15y ago

Personally I'm not a huge fan of so-called "cost of living" adjustments. I've lived in a range of "cost of living" areas, and areas with a higher CoL are generally nicer, by which I mean, everything in the area is just generally nicer. Stores don't have missing tiles, produce is fresher, crime is lower, the lights on the stores outside don't have missing bulbs for long, the roads are smoother, the houses are nicer, and the local culture is richer, in most senses of the term. If we're talking about things like global levels of true wealth, you probably shouldn't adjust for CoL. Areas with high CoL are areas with a higher ambient wealth, and for questions of who is better off, trying to normalize on CoL lines someone in semi-rural China vs. a Manhattenite is normalizing away a critical truth.

lsc 15y ago
I find this especially true in labor markets. I've moved from the central valley to the silicon valley and back several times during my life, and yeah, silicon valley has higher wages (and higher rents) - but you know what? it also has higher expectations. I noticed that whenever I went to silicon valley, I was, well, mediocre. I had to put some effort in just to stay in the middle of the pack, and I've had some jobs where it took my all just to keep my head above water. In the central valley? almost everywhere I worked, I was like a little god, even without all that much effort. Sure, the average worker gets paid more here in silicon valley; but if you hire the average silicon valley sysadmin/programmer, you are getting a whole lot more than the average central valley sysadmin/programmer.