Unfortunately, at least in the US, pay is not very competitive. Even with upward adjustments for cost of living in more expensive markets, many of the people on here with SV or SV-like tech jobs would end up taking a pretty large pay cut to work for the US government. (But it's of course a great option if you're in a bind and your alternative is no job at all. Or if you're a civic-minded individual who does it out of a desire to improve the sad state of our public services.)