The problem with these numbers is that adjusting an entire salary for cost of living only makes sense for people living paycheck to paycheck. The real question is how much wealth a tech worker can accumulate in each city. If you're saving 10% a year no matter where you live, you're best optimizing for salary and ignoring cost of living.

Except that saving 10% makes you a homeowner in some places and a roommate in others.

If you view your job as temporary pain and plan to relocate or retire before starting “real life,” that makes sense. If you’re trying to build a long-term sustainable and fulfilling life that includes a tech job, not so much. Nominal value in a bank account is useless; you need purchasing power.

Well, the argument is the same with respect to most consumer goods. The new XPS 13 is the same price in Wyoming and San Fransisco. Adjusting the electronics budget of a household for cost of living generally doesn't make sense, which was my actual point.

What kind of household is spending enough on consumer goods for that to matter? I am not exactly thrifty or a Luddite, but electronics, clothes, etc. have never been more than 5% of my spending. I don’t feel comfortable spending on travel at all given the Herculean savings targets needed for an emergency fund or down payment here. Rent is 67% of my outflows, followed by food (my main luxury purchase is not having to cook).

Regardless, good cost of living calculators don’t just take the ratio of housing prices, they use a typical consumer’s basket of goods, some of which may be the same price.

Here's the 2018 report: https://hired.com/state-of-salaries-2018