This can't be up-voted enough. I turned down a very good paying (relatively) job in a midwestern town near family because it was 50% of what I could earn in th

This can't be up-voted enough. I turned down a very good paying (relatively) job in a midwestern town near family because it was 50% of what I could earn in the bay area, while being more than 50% of the cost of living. Compounding that problem was that the majority of other roles in the area were no-growth developer roles, and there were also few of them. Sometimes I think companies don't realize that potential employees engage in the same kinds of cost/benefit analysis for themselves that the companies engage in. As an addendum: frankly I consider the software pay in the Bay Area to be below the cost of living for anybody but: a) singles; b) couples with little or no debt. Sure it's good pay, but compared to the cost of housing it's not that good. My experience is that it's typically worse elsewhere, and especially in lower cost of living areas.