Hi. A bit of info about me. I graduated college in 2018 with a Computer Science BS. I ran track and XC all 4 years at a small private school. I'm currently a software developer living in Pittsburgh, PA who is considering moving within the next year or two. I like it a lot here, but I'm looking for a change. The problem is that salary for software developers tends to cap off around $110k - $125k, which doesn't seem to be an issue in a lot of other tech hubs.
My main goals are to:
1) Make as much money as I can while on salary
2) Create a startup (Access to networking, venture capital, test market?)
Which city/metro area would be the most conducive to this? New York City, San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, LA? You would think the Bay Area, but the problem I had when I visited is that everyone seems like they're working in tech. There was literally no one else I talked to doing anything besides that. Does Seattle have this problem? I have also heard that Seattle feels a lot like a company town with a few large players (Amazon and Microsoft mostly) dominating the job market. In LA, I'd have to own a car and deal with LA drivers, which would be aggravating. In New York I feel like I wouldn't run into these issues but I may be wrong. What about Boston? I've never been there. My secondary question is access to running talent: What are running groups like in these different areas? I'd like to at least stay in shape as it's good for health and well-being, if not get in better shape. Any thoughts or opinions? I'm planning a visit to LA later this year so we'll see how I like it. Thanks in advance!
Where should I move to?
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Stay were you are. Pittsburgh like many other cities in fly over country will have a revival because of the insane housing costs on the east and west coast.
You might earn $300000 in Silicon Valley but you also pay 2 Million Dollars for a small crappy house in the middle of nowhere. Make sure you research the housing part extensively before you sign up for your high paying job. Basically they are only paying that much because otherwise nobody could live there. -
Fargo
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Don't exclude the Washington D.C., Northern Virginia area. With government present salaries are very high, real estate is expensive but nowhere near silicon valley pricing.
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I'm not a SWE, but kind of a related field. Isn't Pittsburgh a pretty good city for the tech jobs these days? A couple self driving car companies, have a ton of talent (and pay well), more startups happening, and a few big legacy companies that have huge development departments if you want the 9-5
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Let's say for a hypothetical $250,000 salary you take home $12,889, or $154,688 after taxes in California. I looked on Zillow and found a 1 bedroom on Rinconada Ave in Palo Alto for $2,500 a month. $2.5kx12 would be $30k, so at this point we have $124,688. Let's say another $500 a month for living expenses like electricity, water, internet, renters' insurance, groceries. 12x$500 would be $6k, putting us at $118,688. At this point the rest of the money would go to the following things:
1) Maxing out a retirement account, no brainer. $5,500 for an IRA, $18k for a 401k. Puts us at $95138.
2) Finishing paying off student loans (currently $20k left)
3) HSA, if eligible
4) Car, if necessary. Would probably pay cash for a small sedan (Impreza, Corolla, Civic), don't own one right now
So I'm saving about $15k more than I'm making right now! So Silicon Valley doesn't have a good ratio of compensation vs. COL, but there is still a high amount of money left over. I doubt I'd be able to do more than just save that $95k every year. I would probably just put it away into investments or a high-yield savings account. Maybe a vacation to Europe every once in awhile. -
Good point, I will look into that! I also find central and southern Virginia very beautiful and I'm sure there's plenty of outdoor stuff to do! Is that right? Plenty of good trails for running?
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It is, especially compared to metros of similar size. I looked at Columbus, Indianapolis, Raleigh and a few others and found that for the most part I can do what I want here. There are good paying jobs but it's been pretty tough trying to get into the Facebooks and Argo AIs of the world. It'd be a lot easier if I had a degree from CMU, lol
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I'd rather move to Salt Lake or Couer D'aleane but who knows!
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If you move to silicon valley, you'll be surrounded by tons of other software developers and software development startups. I really feel that staying in a place further away from places like that is a great move. Every company needs software developers, and many contract that work out to software development companies. Every city, like Pittsburgh, has a bunch of companies that need that work done, they're not all in San Francisco. So you having your company in a high population area, that isn't California, is a good move. And same with the cost of living, no need to spend most of your salary on housing. Consider Kansas City as well. Even cheaper than Pittsburgh, lots of room for growth because it's in the Midwest, and it's already good sized. And the weather is decent since it's not too far north.
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Work wise - LA. Traffic isn't that bad if you know where to live and how to avoid it.
The weather is perfect for running, but not many major running groups here.
Do it. -
RE expert wrote:
Stay were you are. Pittsburgh like many other cities in fly over country will have a revival because of the insane housing costs on the east and west coast.
You might earn $300000 in Silicon Valley but you also pay 2 Million Dollars for a small crappy house in the middle of nowhere. Make sure you research the housing part extensively before you sign up for your high paying job. Basically they are only paying that much because otherwise nobody could live there.
^This. 100%. Unless you don't mind paying a much higher percentage of your income for housing. -
NYC can be good because the market for soft engr is strong. You can make a ton. And rent is expensive, but if you do it right you can be paying
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Swaglord wrote:
NYC can be good because the market for soft engr is strong. You can make a ton. And rent is expensive, but if you do it right you can be paying
you can be paying like -
https://www.jump-startingamerica.com/technology-hub-map
This is an interesting website that ranks tech hubs. From a business perspective, there is a growing advantage to staying out of the major tech hubs like SF, Seattle, NY, etc. -
I find the Billy Joel reference from a recent college grad interesting.
Is that all you get for your money? -
Boulder bro
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Hackensack also features prominently in an old Cole Porter song, I Happen To Like New York:
"I took the train to Hackensack,
I took one look at Hackensack
and took the next train back" -
Star wrote:
I find the Billy Joel reference from a recent college grad interesting.
Is that all you get for your money?
Good eye, spotted the Boomer troll! -
I live in Redmond, WA the home of Microsoft and a zillion other tech jobs. Lots of good places to go run. Summers are great but not long enough. Winters are wet and this week snowy. The snow will be gone but the wet won't be. The two other big problems are the traffic. It's pretty bad. If you can live close to where you work that's a huge plus. The downside is that housing is very expensive here.
There's a lot of job opportunities here because there are so many companies looking for the same type of people.
