I think - and obviously this is speculation - that “real” software companies (where their primary product is a software thingy with appropriate unit economics)

I think - and obviously this is speculation - that “real” software companies (where their primary product is a software thingy with appropriate unit economics) will not really be able to lower comp regardless of where it is. There’s a reason engineers in SF get paid 300-500k TC easy, and it’s because they generate multiples of that in return. Software is ridiculously high-margin and (not to toot our collective on horn, but) it’s not something anyone can just do, especially at the mix of technical and soft skills that many FAANG type places require you to be at once you’re at senior/staff levels. And let’s be honest, if places really could, they would’ve already outsourced to people where COL is 99% lower instead of 20-50% lower. I do think people tend to overestimate how much cheaper it is to live in flyover country. Even real estate isn’t that% much cheaper unless you’re literally buying a farm with no good internet. And iPhones cost the exact same. So it’s not like companies will be eyeing Kansas as the next India or Estonia. It’s just not enough of an arbitrage to be worth it. Most places I looked at recently were only geo-adjusting base comp by either 0 or 10%. This is all for senior software eng positions though. Junior and mid positions might be a very different story due to supply being so much higher.