Seriously? It's very cost of living dependent. I'm not a greedy or ambitious person; money is merely a way to make people leave me alone so I can do stuff I enj

Seriously? It's very cost of living dependent. I'm not a greedy or ambitious person; money is merely a way to make people leave me alone so I can do stuff I enjoy. If I can get paid to do stuff I enjoy, so much the better. I need enough to pay for a house, utilities, groceries, etc, plus some to pay for toys/vacations and invest in retirement. I don't know what the Bay area (or other metropolae) are like cost-wise, but judging from replies to your comment, my current wage requirements are well below theirs, but only because where I live is dirt-cheap (comparatively). Unfortunately, most offers I have received have also wanted me to relocate, and I flat out don't want to, especially while taking a virtual pay cut. Even doubling my current salary, as one recruiter offered, would only barely keep my same standard of living in New York. All that aside, I don't consider myself a "rockstar ninja ubercoder". I don't think I even crack the top 25%; I might be in the top 40-45%. I could also be wrong. And much as I love writing software, I also like my other hobbies too much to work on software more than about 50 hours a week. Of course, I've always been of the opinion that it's not the hours that matter, but the value produced, and I'm always looking for ways to do things faster and with less effort.