I'm sorry but... if you were a senior software engineer in Sacramento (a metropolitan city) and asked for 200k at intel, hp, oracle, apple, etc., someone would quietly hang up the phone hahaha. A laughable amount is even closer to 150k if it wasn't a tech giant ie. Sutter, Blue Shield, Proctor & Gamble, PG&E, Franklin Templeton, etc.

Lead, architect, principal... they may not hang up but I would expect a double take and a "let's be realistic."

This whole conversation is about pay at tech companies, where developers are the primary revenue generator, as opposed to other industries where developers are generally considered a cost center.

Agreed, doesn't take much looking on sites like glassdoor to confirm.. Most salary bands for principal roles are 120-150k w/ 15-20k bonus and occasionally same in stock.

When Sacramento is a 2 hour drive away, why don't you move to Fremont and work in SF, Mountain View or San Jose?

> Are you at a large company in a metropolitan area?

...on the West Coast or Northeast, sure. It's my understanding that $250k is a little high for other cities, unfortunately. Hopefully the corporate culture there catches up.

Otherwise, a lot of engineers are getting used to living off of some sort of bubble.